12 FOUNDATION STONES—CLASS 11A THREE STEPS TO VICTORY OVERCOMING PROBLEMS, PART 1.3 ------------------------------- Step 2: Find the Solution ------------------------------- ------------------------------------- ((a)) Pray and ask the Lord for help! As we saw earlier, we all have times of trial and need, and when those times come the Lord is more than able to help us.—So one of the first things to do when facing a problem of any kind is to ask the Lord for His help! Ask, believing that He can and will help you! 2 Samuel 22:7—In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried out to my God; He heard my voice from His temple, and my cry entered His ears. Psalm 34:4—I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. Psalm 50:15—Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me. Hebrews 4:16—Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Use His strength! A small boy was trying very hard to lift a heavy object. His father coming into the room and noting the son's struggle asked him. "Are you using all your strength?" "Yes, of course I am," the boy impatiently exclaimed. "You are not," the father answered. "You haven't asked me to help you." Let the Lord lift you! During the construction of one of the bridges over the East River in New York, the engineers were baffled by an old sunken barge which lay embedded in the river bottom. Powerful engines, steel cables, derricks, and tugs were powerless to remove the obstruction. A young man, fresh from technical school, thought he could solve the problem. At low tide, he had a large barge towed out to the spot and had cables attached to either side and fastened to the sunken derelict. As the tide came in from the Atlantic, the barge rose, bringing with it the submerged wreck. The young engineer had linked to his task the limitless power of the ocean tides. ------------------------------------- ((b)) Confess your sins to the Lord, and if necessary to others ------------------------------------- Psalm 97:10a—You who love the Lord, hate evil! You'll never be able to correct the problem or find the solution if you deny it exists and keep saying everything is all right.—That doesn't solve the problem at all. In fact, it makes it even worse! You'll never get the victory over such a problem until you honestly face it and confess it. Proverbs 28:13—He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy. The Lord promises forgiveness, and God says everything He can in His Word to encourage you to have faith to be delivered from your problems! But deliverance is dependent on your willingness to be honest and confess your sins and your faults. If you're willing to recognize and face your problem, then you can attack it and overcome it! So confess your sins to the Lord and ask Him to forgive you. > Confessing to others James 5:16—Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. There is also a time when you should not only talk to the Lord about your sins, but sometimes you also need to confess to others who were affected by your mistakes. If others have been hurt by your actions, you should apologize. If you've done something for which you should be sorry, by all means say so. David's prayer of repentance Psalm 51 is a beautiful expression of repentance of sin. ------------------------------------- ((c)) Take a stand against your problems. Don't give up! ------------------------------------- Once you've recognized that you have a problem and you've confessed it, then you've got to take a stand against it. When you're determined to forsake a spiritual problem and you call out to the Lord with a whole heart to deliver you, He does His part and will fulfill His promises: Ezekiel 36:26—I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. 2 Corinthians 2:14—Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. The Lord will be faithful to answer prayer and do His part. But then you've got to do your part by exerting the effort to forsake and "put off" the old negative patterns and bad habits. His Word says: Ephesians 4:22–24—That you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, (23) and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, (24) and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness. 2 Corinthians 10:3–5—For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. (4) For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, (5) casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. You don't always necessarily get over this sort of thing in a day, it often takes a while. > It can be a struggle… If you have a tough struggle getting the victory, it may be because the Lord is testing you to find out how much you want it, and how much you're willing to fight for it before He's going to reward you with it. But if you do your part, the Lord will certainly do His, and you will win!—So don't give up! 1 Timothy 6:12—Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. Ephesians 6:10–11—Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. (11) Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Galatians 6:9—And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. > Keep trying! Having prayed for the Lord to help you overcome a certain problem doesn't mean you will now automatically do all the right things—especially if you've had a certain habit or attitude for any length of time. When you realize that you are wrong about something and you repent and the Lord delivers you, you start out again with a clean slate. But because your thought patterns have gone in a certain direction so long or you have some sort of negative habits, you have to learn to do things differently, and even to think differently in many areas. It may take some falling and getting up again before you can walk very far without stumbling. In this sense, you may have to pay for your sins by continuing to fight them for a while. But if you keep persevering, the Lord will reward your determination—sometimes so quickly, it's truly miraculous—and you'll find you're hindered less and less by those old habits cropping up. Proverbs 24:16a—For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again. Proverbs 4:18—But the path of the just is like the shining sun, that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day. "Go to the ant!" "Go to the ant, … consider her ways and be wise" (Proverbs 6:6). One king used to relate to his friends an anecdote of his early life. "I once was forced to take shelter from my enemies in a ruined building, where I sat alone many hours," he said. "Desiring to divert my mind from my hopeless condition, I fixed my eyes on an ant that was carrying a grain of corn larger than itself up a high wall. I numbered the efforts it made to accomplish this object. The grain fell 69 times to the ground; but the insect persevered, and the 70th time it reached the top! This sight gave me courage at the moment, and I never forgot the lesson." Struggle: Shake it off and step up A story is told of a dog that belonged to a certain farmer in what had once been a gold-mining area. One day, while the farmer was walking with his dog in bushland near the farm, the dog fell into one of the many old abandoned mineshafts. Although the shaft was dry and quite narrow, it was not so deep and the dog managed to survive the fall without breaking any bones. The farmer could hear his dog barking pitifully, but could not get down the narrow, crumbling shaft to get him. After carefully assessing the situation, the farmer decided the only thing to do was to end his dog's distress as soon as possible. He decided to bury the dog in the old shaft and put him out of his misery. He went back to his farm, got some tools and on returning, began to shovel earth quickly into the shaft. Initially, the dog was terrified as the earth fell on him in the darkness. But as the farmer continued shoveling and the dirt hit the dog's back ... the dog shook it off and stepped up. Clod after clod rained down on him. "Shake it off and step up ... shake it off and step up ... shake it off and step up!" the dog seemed to be saying to himself. No matter how painful the blows, or how hopeless the situation appeared in the dim depths of the shaft, the dog fought his panic and just kept right on shaking off the dirt and stepping up until at last he was within reach of the farmer who joyfully hauled him out to safety. ------------------------------------- ((d)) Be positive ------------------------------------- Philippians 4:8—Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. We all go through experiences sometimes where we think negative thoughts instead of listening to the Lord. If your thoughts are not according to His Word, or cause you to be discontent or bitter, dissatisfied or unhappy or critical of yourself or others—these things are not of the Lord, and you must rebuke the Enemy in Jesus' name when he tempts you with these kinds of negative thoughts. I John 4:1—Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. Romans 12:9b—Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. A lot of people feel bad because they think an unloving or sinful thought. But as the saying goes, "Even though you can't keep the birds from flying over your head, you can keep them from making a nest in your hair!" Thinking the thought is not sin; it is the dwelling on it and letting it fester in your mind that is. Resist all such negative thoughts and think positively! When a room is dark, you don't go around trying to chase the darkness out of the room.—You let the light in and the light chases out the dark! Fill your mind with the Light of God's Word and the darkness will flee. The way to get rid of temptations and negative thoughts is to think of good things, Godly things. Read your Bible, pray, think about Jesus, and then you don't even have time to think the other thoughts.—Which is why Isaiah says, Isaiah 26:3—You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. If you watch your thoughts and watch your words and fill your heart and mind with the Lord and His Word, you will be well protected and fortified and surrounded by God's angels of protection, and you will be freed from the Enemy's critical and confusing static and negative accusations and doubts. ------------------------------------- ((e)) Praise the Lord. Keep cheerful! ------------------------------------- One of the greatest things in the world that anyone can learn is to be content in whatsoever state you're in, whether it's to be abounding or to be in want. Philippians 4:11—Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content. 1 Timothy 6:6—Now godliness with contentment is great gain. We all need to learn to count our blessings! The Lord wants us to think on the positive things, and try not to set our minds on all the negative things and trials and doubts and fears that the Devil tries to get us preoccupied with. Think about your many blessings! When Jonah finally shouted, "Salvation is of the Lord!" that old whale that had swallowed him just couldn't take it, and he spit him up! Jonah 2:9–10—"But I will sacrifice to You with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord." (10) So the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land. Even if God lets the Devil send along a whale-of-a-lot of trouble to swallow you up, you've just got to keep praising the Lord! The Devil can't stand that, and the trouble can't stand it, and God will deliver you! But if you get all down in the dumps and go around complaining and doubting, you'll just sink deeper and deeper to the bottom of the sea. When the Enemy tempts you to get down and critical or complaining about something, fight back by praising the Lord and counting your blessings! Psalm 150:6—Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord! We could all praise the Lord more and be more positive! Thank Him for the health you do have! All kinds of things could be wrong with you, but thank the Lord for the blessings you do have! Stay positive, thankful and full of praise to Jesus! Whenever possible, express your praise in words, preferably out loud. Just saying it in your mind is good but sometimes it is just not quite enough. You need to say it out loud, because if others are listening, it is a declaration to them that you are trusting the Lord. It shows your confidence in the Word and your belief in praise. Psalm 71:8—Let my mouth be filled with Your praise and with Your glory all the day. Psalm 34:1—I wWill bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. David—A sample of praising through troubles Poor King David, he had lots of troubles just like us sometimes, and he had his groanings. The Psalms always comforted me, because when I have my hard times and troubles and my groanings, I can remember, "Well, dear King David had the same problem sometimes!" Sometimes he was sure he was finished! Once he said "I shall someday surely die at the hand of Saul!" (1 Samuel 27:1). That was really not much faith, was it? He thought he was surely going to get killed by his enemies. But he didn't, did he? He died in peace at a ripe old age when he was clear up in his 80s. He never got killed by his enemies and all of his worries about his enemies killing him never happened. So he might as well have not done all his worrying, just like I shouldn't worry. The nice thing about all David's Psalms and all of his time that he gets down in the dumps and weeps and groans and cries and laments is that he never stays there! He always pops back up again and winds up on a positive note. I think the Lord probably let him have all these problems and troubles so he'd write about them and show how you can pull out of them by looking to the Lord. A positive outlook Among the students at a well-known college there was a young man who had to get about on crutches. He had an unusual talent for friendliness and optimism and so won the deep respect of his classmates. One day a student asked him what had caused his deformity. "Infantile paralysis," he replied briefly, not wishing to elaborate on his difficulties. "With a misfortune like that, how can you face the world so cheerfully?" inquired his classmate. "Oh," replied the young man, smiling, "the disease never touched my heart." ------------------------------- > Quick summary of step 2: Find the solution ------------------------------- Let's review how to find the solution. (a) Pray and ask the Lord for help. Ask Him to solve the problem. Sometimes we have not because we ask not! (b) Confess your sins to the Lord and if necessary to others. Of course, you cannot do this until you recognize your problems. Remember, Jesus will forgive you. The keys to receiving forgiveness are repentance and confession. Also bear in mind that sometimes, particularly if your actions have hurt others, you need to confess and/or apologize to other people. (c) Take a stand against your problem. Then, don't give up! Sometimes if you are trying to overcome a bad habit, it can take awhile to establish a new, better habit in its place. You'll get tested along the way. But keep going! Victory belongs to those who persevere. (d) Think positive thoughts. Fill your mind with good things, and there won't be room for the Devil's doubts and discouragement. Use the Word in your fight. Memorize and quote Scriptures. Sing uplifting songs. (e) Praise the Lord. Keep cheerful! Victories are often found along the path of praise. (Continued in Class 11B)