Problems or Problem Solving?

Recent problems with the website sent me into a dilemma – what did it mean? Has the daily posting run its’ course? Maybe I need to do something else – or…? Or, maybe I need to persist until the problem is fixed!

Problems will either drive us to one solution or another – and often we fail to utilize the gift God has given us to PROBLEM-solve! As an educator, i stress to my students daily the importance of teaching their students to problem-solve. From the simplest exercise to the most complex analysis – what separates man from the rest of God’s creation is our ability to use this very intricate brain we have.

One thing I noticed over the years I’ve been in the church is the passive nature too many Christians have regarding exercising their abilities. Recently I heard a message on the parable of the parable of the talents – this particular preacher talked about the God-given talents and abilities each of us have been given – particularly the believer. It reminded me of a passage from one of Myles Munroe’s books that states that the richest place on the planet is the graveyard – where tons of treasures went to the grave with the deceased!

Why was the master so hard on the servant with the one talent, who hid it in the ground. After all they didn’t risk it, they played it safe. We really see the answer in the reply of the master:

24 “Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’
26 “But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. 27 So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. 28 So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents. Matthew 25:24-28 (KJV)

At the very least, the servant could have put that one talent in the bank so it could draw interest, at least his master would have had that gain.

God is not unjust – He has given us the ability to seek out a way to gain increase in the Kingdom – and that does not always mean an increase in money. In fact, when we explore what the kingdom really is about – we find that the concentration is not on money – after all “the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof.”

We are now in the third month of this new year. Are we looking forward to a quarterly increase? Can we say that we used that which God has given us toward pleasing the master?

God Bless You,
Maria