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Eden Valley SDA Church

How to Solve Problems

Frank Fournier

How to Solve Problems- Part 1

I'm going to invite you to turn with me to Job chapter 14.

Job was quite an expert on this topic of problems.

And we can safely go to Job to find out what problems are all about.

Job 14 verse 1 he says, and it is Job speaking, Man that is born of a woman is of a few days, that is, he doesn't live very long, and he is full of trouble.

I guess that it pretty well includes, I think the word man here is very generic.

Now, how many people are born of a woman?

Well, they're all born of a woman except Adam, and even Adam had his trouble.

Yeah, and not just is there trouble, It's full of trouble.

Now, if you go to Job chapter 5, and verse 7, I've often used this verse, yet man is born unto trouble as the sparks fly upward.

This is what Job is trying to get across to us.

And do you know that I have never met anyone that does not have trouble?

It's amazing to me a few minutes ago we asked for prayer requests and The very first prayer request is of someone that's in an overwhelming situation.

And almost all the other prayer requests have to do with some kind of trouble in our lives or in someone else's life.

How many of you can vouch that this is so?

The question, of course, is not, do we have problems, but how do we relate to the problems we have?

This is really what we want to talk about this morning.

We're going to meet a man here in Psalms 46 who really knew how to relate to problems.

It's not that he had no problems because he was born of a woman.

Psalms 46 verse 1, God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

Therefore, because this is so, because God is there to help us in every trouble, therefore we will not be afraid.

Have you ever had, I mean, We already have established that we've all got problems.

And not only do we all have trouble, we're full of trouble.

No fear even though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea, though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof.

And friends, there's coming a time when the mountains will shake with the coming of all kinds of trouble.

But the people of God will not be afraid.

Would you like to be able to dismiss your problems that easily?

As David was able to say, hey, no fear, No problem.

Bring on the troubles, I have no problem with this sort of stuff.

Would you like to be able to handle it that way?

Would it be worth getting into trouble so that we could have this experience?

I tell you what, I say yes, it would be worth getting into trouble so that we could experience God's deliverance.

But never mind, you don't have to go looking for trouble.

Trouble is already looking for you and it will find you.

Many, that's what it says, Many are the afflictions of the righteous.

Well, because God knows that He can introduce Himself at that point.

Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but The Lord, who sees everything, by the way, the Lord delivers him out of how many of them?

If God is for you, who can be against you?

Now, I wish we had time this morning, I wish we had time to, everyone, starting right here, 1 by 1, you stand up and tell us what your troubles are.

You know, sometimes we hear too much of what the troubles are, right?

And we ought to hear a lot more about the solution.

God says, call upon Me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver you.

Because He says, when I deliver you, you will glorify Me.

And God is trying to draw us closer to Himself.

He'd love to be glorified by His children in this world.

And so, He has organized in this world to curse the ground for our sake.

And a man that is born of a woman is treading on cursed ground.

6, David says, this poor man cried And the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles." How many?

How to Solve Problems- Part 2

A month ago, I began a study on the science of problem solving.

But in any case, that's how it's gone this time.

Now, we've been looking at the problem of problem solving.

Now, we saw back then that the solution to our problems is in the problem itself.

And I just want to take a minute to review that if I can just a little bit.

I used to live in British Columbia in the Fraser Canyon and in the Fraser Canyon, as would be in any canyon.

There's a great river there called the Fraser River, and it's a major river.

And we had friends on the other side of the river.

Now, we could find the bridge to go see our friends, but they lived only 20 miles away, and if we found the bridge, it was 60 miles away.

And so there they were, living across the river, and we couldn't get our – find our way to them unless we traveled 60 miles.

But somebody decided that they would harness the problem to solve the problem.

They put a cable across the river, they tied a barge to it with pulleys that would go up and down on this cable, and they put a paddle at both ends of this barge.

So a car would come, they would tie the barge to the side of the river, a car would come drive on it, and Then they'd untie it and put a paddle in the river.

When they put the paddle in, the current would take it, swing the barge around, and the current from behind would push the barge over to the other side.

At the other end, they'd put the paddle in.

On the other end of the barge, it would swing the barge around to the other way, and the current would take it to the other side.

And so they took the problem and they solved the problem with the problem.

And so we saw in Psalm 77, verse 19, the way, thy way, Talking of the Lord now, thy way is in the sea.

Was the sea ever a big problem to the Israelites?

The Egyptians were chasing after the Israelites.

The Israelites were led by a cloud, and the cloud led them between 2 mountains right to the Red Sea.

And there they were caught between the Red Sea in a hard place.

Now, what did what was it that solved the problem?

Yesterday I was speaking with our Livestock guests and I quoted a little phrase or a sentence from Mount of Blessings, page 61.

That which you look upon as disaster is the door to highest benefits.

Anyways, I finished last week, last month, the sermon with this quotation from Christ's Object Lessons 332.

Opposing circumstances should create a firm determination in the right direction.

And circumstances, that's opposing circumstances now, will be your helpers and not your hindrances.

What kind of circumstances will be our helpers?

Was the sea a helper or a hindrance to the children of Israel?" It was a helper.

Well, anyways, we're studying how to solve problems and the Lord has given us a science in it.

By the way, I was working on this last night and and worked on this this morning also.

And it's amazing how often a sermon will have a mind of itself.

But anyway, the Lord had other plans, and so I'm hoping this will make sense this morning.

I have preached on this before, and so we probably are good if I only preach once a month to preach on this subject for about a year.

And we're going to look at what poor old Job had to say.

Verse 2, Job 6 verse 2, Oh, that my grief were thoroughly weighed in my calamities or calamity laid in the balances together.

For now it would be heavier than the sand of the sea.

Therefore, my words are swallowed up for the arrows of the Almighty are within me.

The poison where whereof drinketh up my spirit.

The terrors of God do set themselves in array against me." And then in verse 8, Oh that I might have my request and that God would grant me the thing that I long for, even that it would please God to destroy me, that he would let loose his hand and cut me off." Wow.

Because he was overwhelmed, I'd never had kind of problems that he's had, not to the extent that he's had them.

And so here he is, he's a man, the Bible Or the book starts by saying God is saying to Satan, have you have you considered Job that he's perfect and he's upright?

And then the Lord is turning around and this man has done what's right in the sight of the Lord.

And he ends up with more problems than anyone has ever had.

And it's it's become overwhelming for him.

Have you ever felt at least to some degree that way?

Did he have friends that had advice for him?

It wasn't what Job wanted to hear, though, was it?

So God comes along, finally, and decides that he's going to settle the situation.

Now, it's a fairly long book, the book of Job, 42 chapters at least.

And there's a lot of arguments going on between Job and his friends.

But finally, God, after he lets them all exhaust their wisdom, whatever it was, God comes along and he settles the whole thing.

Did God say, hey, your buddies say that this is the problem and you say no, that this is the problem?

Did God explain to Job about Satan's challenge?

Did God explain to Job why the wicked prosper and why the righteous suffer?

How to Solve Problems- Part 3

In chapter 20, we began a series actually in January called How to Solve Problems.

In lesson 1, we saw that the solution to our problems are in the problems themselves.

As you remember, the Israelites found themselves at the Red Sea and the Red Sea posed to them a huge problem.

Do you remember what it was that solved the problem?

That which you look upon as disaster, Mount of Blessings 61, paragraph 1 says, that which you look upon as disaster is the door to highest benefits.

So, where's the door to the highest benefit?

Then we went on to lesson 2 and we saw that God there presents Himself more as a teacher rather than a surgeon.

Now, there's a lot of people we saw, of course, that would like that God would act more like a surgeon.

They would like God to take them and put them on the table, put them to sleep, perform this operation and when they wake up, everything that was wrong has been righted.

And how Christianity would be easy if it was that way.

Jesus says, I will show you the path of life.

And if he presents himself as a teacher, In cooperation with him, we can hear his voice saying, here, I want you to study.

See, I'm the teacher, you study to show yourself approved unto God.

And by such ways, anyhow, we're studying on how to solve problems.

As you know, I hope you know, you're beginning to know anyway, that life is a school and God is the teacher.

Now, in this school, God uses 3 great textbooks.

The first textbook is the Bible, of course, which is the written word.

The second textbook is nature, which is the word illustrated.

And the third textbook is the experiences of life.

Now in school, whether it be in formal school here in this world or in the school of God, there are 2 phases to the education.

And so, there is a theoretical phase and there is an experimental phase.

If you were to go into a chemistry class, the chemistry teacher would probably stand before you as I am today and would lecture upon whatever subject she wants to lecture on or he wants to lecture on for half an hour, for an hour, whatever it is, but then all the students would have to be transferred to the laboratory so that they could experiment with the theory that they've just heard.

If there isn't that kind of a cooperation, excuse me, between the theoretical and the experimental, education begins to fall apart.

Now, of course, the Bible is a book of theory, it's a book of theology, it's a book of principles, and in nature we make observations.

But then, friends, we must take these theoretical observations and bring them into the laboratory of human experience.

And, friends, there are far too many so-called Christians who are only Christians in theory, Christians in theology.

As a matter of fact, I believe in my mind that this is what makes up the Laodicean Church, a whole church, a whole Christian era of people who are converted intellectually but who do not take the truth into the experimental laboratory of their lives.

Okay, They are spectators and not participants.

Alright, well anyway, you know that life teaches us that.

Can a person become a seamstress by reading a book only?

Would you take your car to a mechanic if all that he knew about mechanics is what he read in a book?

Would you take your dress or would you take your material to a seamstress who has never used a sewing machine?

All that she knows is what she's read in the book.

Well, I know, we wouldn't do that in a very practical world, but it's amazing to me how we tend to want to do that in the spiritual.

We like to read the Bible, And because we read the Bible, we consider that we are Christians.

But I tell you what, reading the Bible will not make you a Christian if that which you read in the Bible is not included in your everyday experiment of life, in your life.

Ministry of Healing, 4.56 says this, an acquaintance with facts and theories important in themselves.

Is it important that we learn facts and theories and theologies even?

We wouldn't have an idea if we didn't learn what, you know, theoretically, what we have to learn.

And so, they are important in themselves.

An acquaintance with facts and theories, important in themselves, is of little value unless put into practical use.

And so, we need to take the things we learn, we need to apply them in our lives.

Who is it that said, I will lead you in the path of life?

Who is it that said, I will instruct you and I will teach you?

I will send the Holy Spirit and He will teach you all things." Who said that?

Now, does He lead everybody in the same path?

Do we take a bunch of little kids, 30 little kids, and we cram them in 1 classroom, and then we feed them all the same curriculum?

Now, in a sense, there is only 1 Bible, right?

And nature surrounds us and the nature that surrounds us is the same nature for everyone else.

But I'll tell you what, when it comes to the experience of life, when it comes to this laboratory experiment in life, God takes every individual individually.

And He does not want you to be any less unique than you are.

You are an individual, and it's amazing to me, but in the book of life, there's a page totally dedicated to you.

And in that page, you're going to have an experience in life.

Your life will be absolutely, completely, totally different from the lives of everyone else in the whole world.

I mean, you can go to the Bible and see it for yourself.

Well, who in the Bible is just like anybody else in the Bible?

Who in the world do you know that's just like somebody else?

Even if you have identical twins, you know that there are huge differences, that they are not just the same.

And God doesn't want them to be the same either.

And so, He's elected Himself to be our Teacher.

Alright, turn with me now in Revelation 20.

This of course is the last great judgment.

And here's what it says, verse 12, Revelation 20, verse 12, And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God.

So notice, everyone's dead, but now they're all standing before God.

How to Solve Problems- Part 4

Well, like I said, I started a little study on how to solve problems in January.

Our first lesson, in our first lesson, we saw that the solution to our problems is in the problem itself.

I'm just going to do a little review of what we've seen so far, but we saw in Psalms 46 verse 1, and it says there, God is our refuge and strength, a very present help, where?

And we will not fear, though the earth be removed.

And there is coming a time when the earth will be removed.

There's coming a time when the mountains will all shake.

There's coming a time when everyone's face will turn pale, except those who know that in spite of what's happening, the whole world disintegrating, they will know that there's a God behind this thing and that He works everything out together for good to them that love the Lord.

And so there will be a group who love the Lord.

In Dezar of Ages 330, it says, in every difficulty, he has his way prepared to bring relief.

That's what we saw in our first in our first little study together.

The people of Israel were caught between a rock and a hard place.

They were by the sea, the Red Sea, and they had the children of Egypt.

In our second lesson, we saw that God presents himself not as a surgeon, but as a teacher.

There's a lot of people who would wish that God would present himself as a surgeon in all of their troubles.

They wish they could climb onto the operating table, be put to sleep, and then the Lord as a surgeon would work out our little problems, right?

And when he's all done and he's all finished and we wake up from the operation, everything is finished.

And there's a lot of people who wish Christianity was like that.

But if God is the teacher and he does the teaching, what does he expect of us?

And so he says in 2 Timothy, chapter 3, verse 15, Study, right?

Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that need not be ashamed.

This God who is a teacher in lesson 3, we found out that he has 3 lesson books, The Bible, nature and life's experiences.

We can read the Bible and in there we find a theory for life.

We can go to nature and observe life as it is demonstrated by God in nature.

But friends, Let me tell you what, if we don't take the theory, if we don't take that which is demonstrated in nature and bring it into the laboratory of life's experience, then all of it will avail nothing.

I am convinced personally that the book of life's experience is the most important book of all.

Not that we can't learn a lot of lessons from nature.

Series

How to Solve Problems

How to Solve Problems- Part 4

Transcript

Parent Series

Sponsor

Recorded

How to Solve Problems

How to Solve Problems- Part 3

36m

A Witness to all Nations

27m

Sabbath School 3rd Quarter: The Book of Mark

11 Taken and Tried

22m

Healing Rain: The Latter Rain for the Soul

2. Facing the Pain

1h

Peter Chung: How Can I See Jesus in the Final Crisis?

Following The Star At Night, Session 1 (Part 1)

59m

From Shame to Glory

6. Christ-ians: Persecution and Pain

1h 13m

A Faith Prepared for Eternity

40m

At Wits End

46m

Plenary

Final Charge

26m

A Joyful Heart/Source of Resilience

Tired and Alone: How to Live an Abundant Life, While Avoiding Burnout in Medicine and Ministry

59m

One Thoughtful Hour

43m

The Final Hours

1. They Wouldn’t Listen

43m

Sound Doctrine