M E D I T A T I O N & I N S I G H T S (Part 1)

5. PROBLEMS, SOLUTIONS, AND PROBLEM-SOLVERS

Problems and challenges abound in the world of the living. And we dare not deceive ourselves by hoping that they will all end some day. The day that one ceases to have issues to contend with is the day he bids the world goodbye. To lend credence to this fact, the Bible records

 in the book of Job 5:7 that man is born to trouble as indubitably as the sparks fly in no other direction but upward. So having established the fact that problems and challenges abound in the world in different forms and sizes, how can they be solved as they arise? Where does one run to for solution when confronted with challenges? There are a number of recourses available for men to explore in solving the various challenges of life, such as one’s learning, past experience in handling a similar situation, parents, friends and loved ones, a consultant/counsellor etc. While any or all of these measures can prove to be very helpful, however, the most effective solutions are those given by God, and the best answers to all our questions are found in the presence of God. I derived this insight from the Holy Bible, the book of Judges

Chapter 21. The Israelites were faced with a major problem; preventing the extinction of one of the 12 tribes that formed the pillars of their nation, the tribe of Benjamin. They had themselves launched a reprisal war on the Benjamites (read Judges Chapters 19 & 20 for details) and killed hundreds of thousands of them in the war, as well as every living thing that were found in their land. Only 600 men of the Benjamites who fled from the battle front and went to hide in the rock remained, every other person had been killed; old and young, men and women. And since the Israelites had vowed before God not to give their daughters as wives to the Benjamites, then the tribe faced the risk of total extinction, as there were only 600 survivors left in the whole tribe, and they were all men! This made the Israelites went to the house of God to seek counsel on what should be done. And there they found the answer to their question. Without speaking through a prophet, God gave them a circumstantial direction on what to do to get wives for the men of Benjamin without having to break their vow.