Away from Coronavirus (COVID-19) discussion for now, let us discuss about and on the most important issue in your life right now. Of course, everyone around you believe that you are doing fine, no worries, no serious concern and no issue in your life you want a change or a fix on. Yet, you know that is far from the truth; so much going on right now in your life, in your family, in your relationship, marriage, business, church or community that you are in serious need for a solution. It is even possible that what troubles you is so close to your heart that it brings tears out your eyes in every oppportunity to think about it.
Your own pressing problem may not even be such that you are emotional about; it could be about the state of your bedroom, sitting room or even the general look of your house. You wish it could look different (better); but for a very long time now, it has remained the same. You could even be concerned about the welfare of your family; you are thinking, there should be a way out of the financial difficulty that has prevented you and your family from really celebrating. Each time you think about your inability to have your basic needs met, you often cry and wish perhaps God would RESET the whole earth and REINSTALL the earth so that your situation would be different from now.
Your problem could even be your health, you simply don't feel very alright and you wish your body could be better and you would live healthier; yet, every time you think about your health or any other PROBLEM in your life right now, you hardly see anything that you can do about it – you have this belief that your life events are products of some fate and if you will be better, maybe something will just happen that will make your situation better!
WAKE UP!!! Problems are not as big a deal as you have made them to be or look. And see, there is hardly any problem in your life that is BIGGER than your capcity to handle.
13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to [a]bear it.
1 Corinthians 10:13 (NKJV)
Temptation is like a trial of faith (or ability) – a test given to you to know the true state of your growth or ability. In the book of Proverbs 24:10, Bible says, "If you faint in the day of adversity,
Your strength is small." Temptations, like problems are like ADVERSITY, they come to you, not necessarily because you are a bad person or an unfortunate person; but to EXAMINE your growth and strength level. All that said about TEMPTATION reveals the inherent capacity in humans to SOLVE their own PROBLEMS.
Moving from there, let me show you the secret to having your problems fixed in few hours or days. In the book of Philippians 2:13, Apostle wrote, "for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose." The good purpose of God for you is that you PROSPER, be in HEALTH, even as your SOUL (your spiritual being) prospers. (3 John 1:2). While that is a clear purpose of God, we must understand that not everyone have this testimony in his or her life: for there are countless people across the world today, who know that they are not PROSPERING, neither are they in good health, nor do they prosper in their inner being.
The question then is, "Don't these people desire these great things or states of being?" I believe they actually desire; but what is often missing in many lives is the PARTNERSHIP between them and God. People expect God to FIX their problems; and God is expecting people to FIX their own problems; since there isn't much synergy between God and most people, most PROBLEMS continue and most lives are ruined in silence across lands, languages and genders. What then is the way out of this conundrum?
In the same book of Philippians 2:13, the Bible makes the answer very clear for anyone careful enough to READ to LEARN from. God works in you, both to WILL and to DO! The starting point of the work of God in anyone is the WILL. Until there is a will in any man, there will be no way on any matter. Once the WILL is addressed, the would be no more procrastination or delay or denial; there would be a READINESS to TACKLE the pressing problem.
Most people don't wake up to find many problems piled up around their lives; what happens is that people refuse to deal with their own RELUCTANCE to face their problems early until they now have loads of "PROBLEMS" littering around their houses, families, marriages, business, ministries and lots more. The first step towards solving any problem is ALLOWING God to work on your WILL – understanding that you are only a decision away from your first solution! Indecisiveness, more than anything else has prevented many people from taking any (reasonable) action to FIXING their own problems. They often say they will do it tomorrow, and tomorrow never seem to be any close. However, if you PARTNER with God, that dirty LAUNDRY that you have been piling up would be decided on by you even right now.
Marriages that break up are simply accummulated issues unresolved – they were unresolved because no one thought it necessary and urgent enough to address it ASAP! Your wife needs more attention, your husband needs more care; but you believe he or she can wait till you have ENOUGH time and strength to come to their aid. From lack of time and strength, it graduates to lack of knowledge ("It skipped my mind you called me or requested for something!") and it eventually lead to fights and arguments until the whole marriage is dissolved by family and Magistrates.
If God can succeed in making you to want to FIX the PROBLEM; I believe the problem is half solved. Remember, people often say, "A problem shared is a problem half solved!". Moving on to the final part of the equation; the Bible says in Philippians 2:13 that it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. Therefore, beyond the WILL to solve your own problem, God also works in you to ACT. This is actually the crux of the whole matter! Do you know that you always have great plans for your life, family, business, ministry or career. You are perhaps a person of great INTENTIONS; you have great dreams and your VISION is even contagious. Yet, there is very little you could show for all that; what then is the issue with your productivity or performance?
It is not enough for you to PARTNER with God is wanting to FIX your life problems (not waiting for people around you to FIX things up for you); you must PARTNER with God to actually FIXING the said problems. One after the other, you must allow the STRENGTH, POWER, WISDOM, RICHES, HONOUR, GLORY, and BLESSING of God ENABLE you to FIX every problem in your life, your marriage, your family, your business, and your ministry or career! Don't forget that what you need to get the job done isn't coming from you (things like strength, wisdom, riches, etc.); yet, you must engage whatever God has to FIX things that are not working properly in you and around you.
Enough of complaining that no one is willing to HELP you; are you WILLING to help yourself? If you can't HELP yourself, who do you think will? Of course, you NEED God to even start with; but haven gotten God on your side; let me say very firmly that God also NEED you to finish things up. It is a partnership, and the goal is that every problem in your life should be solved by you through the "hand" (HELP) of God on your life.
Perhaps, my own problem is that am not yet married; can I then get married in 72 hours? You see, you won't get married in 72 hours; but in truth, getting married isn't your problem (it is only your plan or goal or desire). The reason why that goal of getting married isn't materialized yet is the problems lurking around your life (things around your attitude, your seriousness, your temparement, etc.) If you can therefore, begin to address these issues from right now, before 72 hours, God would have shown you areas of your life that requires immediate adjustment (and then, the adjustments will be squarely your OWN responsibility).