Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father but through Me.”   John 14:6 NASB

When someone gets all tangled up in the smaller problems and fails to see the big problem, or worse yet even the simple solution, we sometimes say that they can’t see the forest for the trees. I am sure that at one time or another a problem has loomed large in your life and you set about trying to fix that one problem and fail to see the bigger problem that is the root cause of many smaller issues.

A prime example of this is our medical pharmaceutical industries today. Time and time again you see these commercials on tv. They will cure your psoriasis or tummy ache or headache, but the side effects are cancer, lung disease, stroke, heart attack and I love that they add the phrase “which may be fatal” in there just to cover themselves. So, you can cure the one problem but you may be opening yourself up to a whole host of others. I go to a naturopathic doctor and what I love about going to her is that she gets to what is causing the problem and we clean that up through taking natural supplements.

But we can’t be too hard on the medical and pharmaceutical industries because in all honesty, don’t we often do the same thing? I don’t know about you, maybe I’m the only one, but sometimes I get fixated on a problem and plot on how I can change things or even change people. How crazy is that? Only God has that kind of power. So, wouldn’t that make God the answer to our problems, all of them? Wouldn’t that make prayer the first thing we should do in any and all circumstances (Philippians 4:6). Often times when we are upset about something going on in our lives or the life of those we love and we set about thinking about how we can fix it, there is a much bigger problem at work that we are not seeing. In other words, we are not able to see the forest for the trees.

For most of us, it’s just our human nature to want to fix what we see as broken. This includes people that we love. When we see a problem, we want to roll our sleeves up and get right on in there and fix the thing. But sometimes that is the worst thing we can do. Perhaps God is using this problem to teach someone something and there we go busting in there and getting in God’s way. We never want to do that.

One of the hardest bible verses for me to obey, and I will admit there are several, is Psalm 46:10. This verse says be still and know that I am God I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth. Here God tells us to stop striving and struggling to do His work. When we do the work, we expect the glory don’t we? We expect those around us to pat us on the back and commend us for our diligent efforts. But when we stop and allow God to work, we can give God all the glory. God can be lifted up. Those around us that may not believe can see what God has done in our lives or the lives of those we love. They can see the positive power of prayer. Perhaps through our being still the problem cannot only get solved, but we can help to lead others to Christ.

Please just take a minute and think about whatever problem you are facing today. Have you been busy trying to fix it. If so, then know that the devil has been able to use this problem to distract you. You see when we are busy trying to solve a particular problem we are usually forgetting to pray. We are usually forgetting to read God’s Word and stay in constant communication with Him. We may even be too upset to go to church where the bible study may be dealing with your specific problem and the sermon may be also dealing with the same issue. So, if you have been trying to tackle a particular problem, please stop here for just a minute and pray and give that problem over to God. Turn loose of it, don’t play tug of war. Give it all over to Him.

I’ve learned a lot of things the hard way over the past few years. One very important lesson I have learned is that God wants you to come to Him with all things no matter how small or how big the problem may be. He wants you to trust in Him and love Him with all your heart, all your mind and all your soul. When you do this, He will take care of your problems and work them all out for your good (Romans 8:28).

The simple solution to any problem we face is Jesus Christ. If you have a good solid relationship with Him then you give it all to Him. He truly is the way, the truth, and the life. We go to God through Jesus Christ, He is the only way. He has the answer for any question you may have and He can solve any problem you may face. But you must trust in Him and His timing.

My prayer for you today is that you turn to Jesus and look to Him for help, strength, and guidance. Then and only then will you be able to see that huge forest that looms before you and not just one or two of the trees that are in there.

Have a great day!