He Can Turn Our Problems into Possibilities

 

In the book of Numbers, when the children of Israel finally made it to the Promised Land, God had delivered them from slavery, destroyed the armies of Pharaoh and parted the Red Sea for them. He brought them across the wilderness and made sure they were fed and had plenty to drink. He led them with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. He led them to the edge of the Promised Land and said, “There. Go take it for yourselves. It is yours.” But first they sent a dozen spies in to check out the land. Ten of them came back and said, “They are giants! And we are so small! We are like grasshoppers compared to them.” This caused the people to tremble in fear. Because of their fear they went back and stayed in the wilderness for 38 years. They had to wander there until every last one of the original group died before returning to claim the Promised Land.

Far too often we see only the problems and not the great problem solver who is right there with us. Nothing is beyond Him, and yet we tend to focus on the problem at hand. We focus on the giants infesting the land, and allow our fears to take over. We forget this great God who has led us through the desert: this God who stands with us as pillar of fire; this God who tells us we can do anything. He will give us the victory!

One of the power tools that I enjoy is the chain saw. I’ve cut many trees and branches over the years with this incredible little power tool. I recently had to a repair that required taking the chain off. After putting it back on, someone borrowed it and returned it saying, “This just doesn’t work on the tree I’m trying to cut. I need to get someone to come and cut it themselves.” I was surprised by the conversation. This past week, I had the occasion to use the chain saw again. I started it up and proceeded to try and cut the tree. The saw didn’t  work. I turned it off to take a look at the problem. There it was: the blade was on backwards. Let me tell you what a difference it makes to have the blade on correctly. Now it worked like a charm. That is what I mean about turning problems into possibilities!

Go with God,

Pastor Qualley