Problems and challenges abound in the world of the
living. And we dare not deceive ourselves by hoping that they will all end
someday. 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/counselor, 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 on
their land. Only 600 men of the Benjamites who fled from the battlefront 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.
While the whole congregation of Israel was in the
presence of God mourning, weeping, and offering sacrifices, the inhabitants of
Jabesh Gilead were not represented. Therefore, in making good their word, the
Israelites sent warriors to the city and killed all the children, the men and
every married woman in that land. They spared only the virgins whom they
brought to the camp and then gave as wives to the men of Benjamin.
Another insight I derived from this new
development is that it is those who do not spend time in the presence of God
that will be made to pay the price or be used as pawn to execute the solutions
that those who spend time in the presence of God come up with. The people of
Jabesh Gilead who were found wanting in God’s presence were the ones who
forfeited their lives so that their virgins could be given to the Benjamites as
wives.
This underscores the need for every one of us to
cultivate the habit of spending time in God’s presence, so that we do not
become perpetual tools (for the accomplishment of the purpose) of those of who
do.
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