Some treat problems as if they are at war.
The battle is set between them and the opposite side, words are about to fly, a challenge is about to flung, slings and arrows are about to do their deadly work. It’s about to get downright dirty and nasty!
Everything is ready to tackle the situation…
But problems are problematic (a thing that produces problems or difficulty).
Each difficulty demands different results, hence, the tools used to solve them are probably as different as night is from the day. How we handle problems may take a circuitous route, and cause extra steps in the process, as in,
To fix a problem may require some un-fixing first.
Recently I heard my bride say, “I’ve been collecting the wrong thing.” as she played a game on her iPad… It struck me as a truth that applies to so many things of our life, hence this blog!
Sometimes we miss the right step
because we fail to properly identify the need
or the difficulty we face!
Still, the biggest problem we often face is finding the right tool, for the right job. You know the old saying, “To a hammer, every problem is a nail.” Well, this was first stated in 1966 by Abraham Maslow. It has been given a number of names and titles, but the one I like the best is the concept known as:
“The Law of the Instrument“.
Every instrument and tool was designed and created for a specific purpose. Some have multiple uses, while others are for singular use.
This is why we know that a good mechanics toolbox has many tools, unique and specific for the job to be completed successfully. One single wrench will not do, even if it has many heads… it does not take into account the length or angle that it may be required, nor the strength or leverage required to accomplish a task.
Carpenters may have 4 or 5 hammers. Different lengths. Different size heads. Different size claws. The same can be said about their saws!
Eventually, the toolbox grows in size and number to
handle all the potential tools needed for a situation.
This is the original toolbox I received for Christmas before I ever owned a car. It was full of Craftsman tools, to which I most likely still own. I’ve not taken accounting in a long, long time, but the box mostly sits empty for its intended purpose – I now have a big rolling tool box loaded with the original tools and then a couple of more!
This concept applies to every single career, job, or hint of a problem you face in life. You never have just one tool to handle all the problems you encounter. When we face challenges, we rummage through our arsenal and find the correct way to respond. Right?
Equally, just because you have a tool for a particular job it doesn’t mean you know how to use it efficiently!
Let me share a thought with you regarding a familiar biblical story. David and Goliath, found in 1 Samuel 17.
The Problem
David, the youngest of a passel of brothers, and a keeper of the sheep for the family went to the battlefield to take food to his brothers.
As he approaches, he hears the Challenge of Goliath and is amazed that there is no champion among the army of Israel to stand up to the problem.
“Have you not seen him?” they ask of David when he makes an inquiry. “He’s huge!”
David drove to the heart of the problem.
It was not the giant. It was not the battle. It was not even fear…
David asked the soldiers standing nearby, “What will a man get for killing this Philistine and ending his defiance of Israel? Who is this pagan Philistine anyway, that he is allowed to defy the armies of the living God?”
1 Samuel 17:26 NLT
The simple problem is that the giant was making Israel forget who they had on their side!
The real problem we struggle with is correctly identifying the problem! Too often we focus on the attributes of the problem. He’s huge! Did you see his armor? He has more power in his little toe than we have in our regiment!
This is typical. And it is Wrong! The problem has nothing to do with the angle you perceive, more it’s about your perception and fear!
A Probable Solution
David steps into the gap that is left between the King and his men!
“King Saul, I have killed a lion and a bear.
This giant is nothing!
I will fight him!
He is nothing more than the wild animals I have already killed!”
spouts David.
The response?
“You are a youth. He is a man of war from his youth.”
Finally, somewhat convinced, Saul puts his own armament on David, but it is refused as not appropriate for the engagement. David is too small. King Saul was a head and shoulder above everyone else! Here’s a thought: Let’s not use what we have never used in our life.
Keep your focus on using what you’re comfortable with!
This is an important aspect. Unless you are trained to use a variety of options, something new may not make sense at the time. But do not ignore a probable solution just because it doesn’t fit your thought of what could work.
- Saul nearly did, but David was the right fit for the problem.
- David was given something to use he had never proven in battle, so he was right to reject that which was not the best probable tool for the problem.
The Real Solution
It’s a really simple thought, but often our problems should be addressed with a simplistic approach.
David took his staff, and sling, and chose 5 stones from the brook.
These were the regular tools of his trade.
He hears the Challenge of Goliath and the words that would surely cause a normal person to quake from fear. But David defies him with the only words that matter.
“You come with your armament.
But I come in the name of the Lord of Hosts,
the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.”
I wish we could replicate David’s approach to all our problems! Some focus on his youth, his simple shepherd’s equipment, and the fail to recognize where his real power to stand up to Goliath comes from!
David writes about his Trust in the Lord of Hosts in one of his psalms. (Psalms 46:1-11)
To the chief Musician for the sons of Korah, A Song upon Alamoth.
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah.
There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High.
God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early.
The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted.
The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.
Come, behold the works of the LORD, what desolations he hath made in the earth.
He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire.
Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.
The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.
Psalms 46:1-11 KJV
Somewhere in David’s youth, he established himself as one who knows his focus comes from the Lord of Hosts!
He kept the identified problem in front of him
and was not dissuaded from the proper approach.
What is that proper approach?
Regardless of the challenge,
do whatever preparation you think you need,
but put God into the equation!
Sometimes, you only need to realize the problem has nothing to do with size or equipment that challenges you. If God is on your side, who can be against you? (Romans 8:31)
Keep your focus on the real problem. Not the false problem.
The Outcome
David responds to the Challenge of Goliath with the only words that make sense to me!
Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcasses of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the LORD’S, and he will give you into our hands.
1 Samuel 17:45-47 KJV
Notice!
He never mentioned his Staff, Sling or Stones! It’s not the weapon of man’s warfare that is important!
It’s knowing who is your Strength and who is in your Corner!
David charged the problem. He hurried and ran, says one translation. Goliath was not prepared for the fleetness. Think about it. That giant may have had strength and a long reach, but the old adage is true:
The Bigger they are? The Harder they fall!
As David ran, he put a stone in his sling and slung it. Goliath is critically wounded from a blow to his forehead and falls to the ground. Defeated! David uses Goliath’s own weapons to finish off the win!
Sometimes we overwhelm ourselves with the problem we see in front of us, assuming the probable outcome from our viewpoint, but God always has a different plan and outcome! Click To TweetHere’s a thought for you today: Take a moment from fighting your problems, analyze them from a different and God-filled perspective, and then prepare to change your approach with God leading in the front! Map out your steps to handle the problem, grab the correct tool required to fight the problem, and then trust in the outcome that you have not yet seen.
That’s the Faith of the moment.
If you fail in the attempt, and it is most probable that you will have failures, then be like Micah’s statement, a minor prophet in the Old Testament.
Do not rejoice over me, my enemy;
When I fall, I will arise;
When I sit in darkness,
The LORD will be a light to me.
(Micah 7:8 NKJV)
Falling is not a failure! Failure is never getting back up!
This is how we handle our problems! Put God first! Grab the right tool! Then be prepared to let God Lead Us into the Problem properly equipped and prepared.