Gods Sabbath

P UTTING T HEORY INTO P RACTICE

357

1. Resist the disposition to solve problems yourself. Once our daily consecration has been made, we arise from our knees and move into the work of the day. In the course of this we will come face-to-face with conflicts and, from time to time, we will be confronted with new problems. When this happens, the natural inclination is to devise possible solutions and then select one of them as the best way out. But this is the Babylonian way of formulating solutions to problems and then asking God to supply the power necessary to effect them. We must resist this temptation as soon as it appears. If a solution has already formed in the mind when the prob lem arose, the first work is to ask God to cleanse it from us. Once our minds are cleansed of our own solutions, the next move is to go before God in prayer and ask Him to search our hearts and reveal to us wherein our mistakes or sins have brought this problem upon us. For instance, it was David’s flight to Philistia and his lies to King Achish that developed the prob lem confronting him when he was obliged to march to war with the Philistines. All this needed to be repented of and confessed, before the Lord could deliver him. 3. Give the problem to God and leave it there in peace. Our problem must be given to God with no conditions at tached, leaving Him to apply any solution He chooses without interference from us. The Saviour can never handle any prob lems that are not fully given to Him. Therefore, at this stage we must make very sure that we have really given the difficul ty to our divine Problem Solver, and that it is entirely out of our own hands. One evidence that this has been accomplished is the presence within us of a restful confidence that the matter is in competent hands, and that we have no further worries in regard to it. On ly after being relieved of the burden of our problem is it possible to experience the peace of God. “You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.” Isaiah 26:3. 2. Ask God to show you if the problem is the consequence of your own sin.