Problem solved

I don't know about you, but my hardest subject in school was math. I did well, but I had to work very, very hard at learning math. It just didn't come easy to me. Natural sciences, reading, writing,  language work, and all the rest just seemed to come easier. Math took effort and lots of study. It is the one class I actually didn't look forward to - all the others were a delight. When I finally 'got' the method of solving the problem, whether it was a formula I needed to follow, or some principle I needed to consistently apply, it made sense and I held onto that method. Put in another variable and that same method didn't always work! Sometimes you had to adjust the method to get to solution. I am so glad God gives us a little help in the 'problem-solving' department when it comes to sin (another subject I mastered well without much trying!). There is no 'method', nor any particular 'series of steps' we need to take, just trust him to be the solution!

I write this, dear children, to guide you out of sin. But if anyone does sin, we have a Priest-Friend in the presence of the Father: Jesus Christ, righteous Jesus. When he served as a sacrifice for our sins, he solved the sin problem for good—not only ours, but the whole world’s. (1 John 2:1 MSG)

Sin isn't a 'field of study' most of us need to spend a great deal of time 'mastering', is it? We seem to just gravitate to it and get pretty doggone 'good at it' without much effort! On the other hand, getting free from the hold sin has in our lives is way harder than it appears. Those math problems in algebra and calculus didn't look all that 'confounding', but the truth of the matter was that they were beyond my grasp without the intervention of one who already knew how to solve the problems! Sin is exactly like that - beyond our grasp to solve without the intervention of the one who already knows there is only one solution!

The sin-problem is solved for good, but we have to apply the solution. Just as with those math problems, it we don't use what has been provided to reach the end result, we might just find we have been spinning our wheels. We invested a whole lot of effort without reaching the result we really needed to reach! I had pages of 'work' to show I had solved the problem, but oftentimes the 'work' was just that - work. It didn't solve the problem and wouldn't work the next time I tried it! When it comes to my personal character, marred as it is by wrong choices and selfish desires, I am powerless to find the right solution to the problem. What leads me down the path to sin one time is not always going to be what leads me down it a second time. 

The solution to sin's problem in my life, and yours, needs to be consistent because the variables with sin keep changing. There are a whole lot of variables, but thank goodness, there is only ONE solution! The solution is Christ - our advocate - our sacrifice - our problem-solver. The moment we realize there are no amount of 'right steps' we can take to solve sin's problem on our own, the solution becomes quite clear - we need someone to solve the problem for us! There is no admittance of weakness here - just the revelation that sin doesn't just solve itself! If we are to be free of its grasp, we need someone who understands its root. Just sayin!

Don't settle for mulligrubs

It was Winston Churchill who reminded us that if we are "going through hell, keep going"! It isn't one of those places where we should stop and 'enjoy the scenery', for sure! Hell on this earth often isn't so much of a place as it is a condition or set of circumstances that make life just too doggone unbearable that we almost want to just curl up in a fetal position and languish in our misery. Churchill was also the one who said, "The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees opportunity in every difficulty." I think that is how I try to live my life - as one who looks for the opportunities - knowing full well the difficulties are there, but not being willing to settle into them and allow them to settle into me!

3 We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they are good for us—they help us learn to be patient. 4 And patience develops strength of character in us and helps us trust God more each time we use it until finally our hope and faith are strong and steady. 5 Then, when that happens, we are able to hold our heads high no matter what happens and know that all is well, for we know how dearly God loves us, and we feel this warm love everywhere within us because God has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. (Romans 5:3-5 TLB)

When we settle into the difficulties and allow them to settle into us, we are almost creating a misery sure to overwhelm us and take us further down into the mulligrubs. Don't know what that means? Mulligrubs is a Southern term for being kind of ill-tempered, grumpy, or colicky! It means we let the misery of the moment change us, not for the better, but into whiny, temperamental twits! We become 'tainted' by the circumstances - they begin to get under our skin and they annoy the heck out of us, but we don't do anything to change the circumstances. 

The melancholy of the moment is often determined by the difficulties inherent in that moment. You have probably heard it said that we can get happy in the same pants we are getting out of sorts in. We don't need to necessarily change the circumstances, we just need to stop changing into what he circumstances dictate from us! We need to dictate how we will change - for the better and not for the worse! I am not speaking of positivity here - thinking good thoughts to help us make it through. I am speaking of making a break with the ideas that all bad circumstances have to leave us scarred and torn up on the inside.

Every difficulty comes with a chance to 'solve the problem' a little differently. No two solutions will ever be the same in life - regardless of what your math teacher tried to drill into your head! Not all of life is made up of right angles - sometimes you get thrown an obtuse one! You have to be able to recognize the angle you are dealing with and then adjust your attitude (mind and heart) to find the solution. We aren't going to see any solution if we maintain a thought pattern that says the problem is too hard. You are probably right! It is too hard for YOU, but it isn't too hard for GOD! Just sayin!