Problems and Their Solutions for Life’s Most Reoccurring Problems from Romans 8
Illustration:If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.
Abraham Maslow, Eating Problems for Breakfast by Tim Hansel, Word Publishing, 1988, p. 54.
Thank God He has given us multiple ways of solving all of our problems through His word, His Spirit and His will.
Illustration:You cannot force a solution to a problem to come to mind. But you can keep your mind open so you can recognize possible paths to solutions when they present themselves.
Bits & Pieces, June 24, 1993, pp. 9-11.
1a. Problem - What should I do when people criticize me and say I am no good?
1b. Solution - There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Particularly for those who walk not after the dictates of the flesh, but after the leading ofthe Spirit of God) (Romans 8:1)
2a. Problem - Why do I sometimes feel powerless to overcome all my anger, jealousy, bitterness, frustration, anxiety, worry, fear, resentment, shame, guilt, and ordinary struggles of life?
2b. Solution - For what our fleshly efforts could not accomplish in fulfilling the laws’ demands, the Holy Spirit helps us subdue, overcome and overpower. (Romans 8:3)
3a. Problem - How can I avoid the temptations that seem to be so commonly given into by people around me?
3b. Solution - The mind of the flesh (which is sense and reason without the Holy Spirit) is death that compromises all the miseries arising from sin, but the mind led by the Spirit is full of life, peace . and happiness. (Romans 8:6)
4a. Problem - What should I do when I feel so weak, fearful and inadequate?
4b. Solution - If Christ lives in you, the body is dead by reason of sin and guilt, but your spirit is alive because of the righteousness imputed to you in our Lord Jesus. (Romans 8:10)
5a. Problem - What should I do when people try to cast dispersions, shame, and blame on my reputation?
5b. Solution - The Holy Spirit comes to our aid and bears us up with His graceful sufficiency in all our weaknesses. (Romans 8:26) The Holy Spirit pleads on our bchalf with unspeakable yearnings and groanings too deep for human words to express. (Romans 8:26)
6a. Problem - I do not know the best way to pray about all of my overwhelming problems, opponents, and circumstantial difficulties?
6b. Solution - God is a partner in all of our labors as He can cause all things to work together for good to those who love God and are fitting into His purposes. (Romans 8:28)
7a. Problem - How can God turn tough times, uncertainty, and adversity into good?
7b. Solution - He wants to help us to share in more of Christ’s image, attitudes, actions, characteristics and mature perspectives. (Romans 8:29)
8a. Problem - What are some of the reasons why God allows hardships to come into our lives?
8b. Solution - Thank the Lord for His prolnise that says, "If God did not spare I-Iis own Son, but gave Him up for us all, will He not also with Him freely and graciously give us all other things." (Rom 8:32)
9a. Problem - What should I do when I lack resources to accomplish what God wants me to do?
9b. Solution - Remember, if God is for us and working as our advocate, who can be a~ainst us? (Rom. 8:31)
10a. Problem - How should I respond when people are against me, try to discourage me and oppose what I believe and do?
10b. Solution - Nothing, including suffering, affliction, tribulation, calamity, distress, persecutioll, hunger, poverty, peril or sword,lcan separate us from Christ’s overcoming love.(Rom. 8:35-37)
11a. Problem - What should I do when I feel discouraged, frustrated, and want to just give into life’ s pressures?
11b. Solution - Remember we are more than conquerors through Christ. (Rom. 8:37)
12a. Problem - How should I respond to the attacks from the spiritual forces of darkness which cause me so much emotional, physical, and mental anguish?
12b. Solution - Be fully convinced that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor things impending and threatening nor things to come, nor earthly or spiritual powers, nor height nor depth nor any other controls, factors or people in all creation will be able to separate us from the almighty love God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38,39)
Illustration:Experimental psychologists have long been studying the thinking process in solving problems. Here are some approaches you can use to improve your score as a problem solver:
1. Consider the elements of the problem several times, until a pattern emerges that encompasses them all. This helps you get the total picture before you become lost in details.
2. Don’t make a hasty judgment. Avoid succumbing to the first interpretation that comes to mind.
3. Try rearranging the elements of your problem. This may help uncover a familiar pattern previously masked by an unfamiliar arrangement.
4. Attempt a different approach. A proficient problem solver has learned not to persist in one approach if it’s obviously not working. He or she will jump from one approach to another until a solution is found.
5. Take "time out" when you’re stuck. This will permit you to get away from the problem and perhaps to be able to come back to it with a new perspective.
6. Discuss your problem with others. This will cause you to consider aspects you might otherwise ignore. A listener can serve as a useful feedback source to reveal inconsistency in your reasoning if it exists.
Illustration: For more than 20 years Professor Edwin R. Keedy of the University of Pennsylvania Law School used to start his first class by putting two figures on the blackboard 4 2.
Then he would ask, "What’s the solution?"
One student would call out, "Six." Another would say
"Two." Then several would shout out "Eight!" But the teacher would shake his head in the negative. Then Keedy would point out their collective error. "All of you failed to ask the key question: What is the problem? Gentlemen, unless you know what the problem is, you cannot possibly find the answer."
This teacher knew that in law as in everyday life, too much time is spent trying to solve the wrong problem -- like polishing brass on a sinking ship.
The problem is SIN-- The solution is JESUS!
The Visitor, April 1984.
Illustration: When St. Petersburg, one of the most splendid and harmonious cities in Europe, was being laid out early in the eighteenth century, many large boulders brought by a glacier from Finland had to be removed. One particularly large rock was in the path of one of the principal avenues that had been planned, and bids were solicited for its removal. The bids submitted were very high. This was understandable, because at that time modern equipment did not exist and there were no high-powered explosives. As officials pondered what to do, a peasant presented himself and offered to get rid of the boulder for a much lower price than those submitted by other bidders. Since they had nothing to lose, officials gave the job to the peasant.
The next morning he showed up with a crowd of other peasants carrying shovels. They began digging a huge hole next to the rock. The rock was propped up with timbers to prevent it from rolling into the hole. When the hole was deep enough, the timber props were removed and the rock dropped into the hole below the street level. It was then covered with dirt, and the excess dirt was carted away.
It’s an early example of what creative thinking can do to solve a problem. The unsuccessful bidders only thought about moving the rock from one place to another on the city’s surface. The peasant looked at the problem from another angle. He considered another dimension -- up and down. He couldn’t lift it up, so he put it underground.
Bits & Pieces, October 15, 1992, pp. 9-10.
Illustration: The way we generally strive for rights is by getting our fighting blood up; and I venture to say that is the long way and not the short way. If you come at me with your fists doubled, I think I can promise you that mine will double as fast as yours; but if you come to me and say, "Let us sit down and take counsel together, and, if we differ from one another, understand why it is that we differ from one another, just what the points at issue are," we will presently find that we are not so far apart after all, that the points on which we differ are few and the points on which we agree are many, and that if we only have the patience and the candor and the desire to get together, we will get together.
Woodrow Wilson, Bits & Pieces, September 17, 1992, pp. 14-15.
