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Thursday, March 31, 2016

 

The problem with problems, is that they cannot be ignored. Things that are ignored, almost never get better. Problems are an unavoidable part of life and are exactly what we have to deal with if we are going to accomplish God’s divine purpose for our lives. I have a tendency to avoid problems hoping they will go away on their own; often times this is not the case. The problems do not go away, in fact, it seems as though they just get bigger and bigger. It is okay to have problems, but it is not okay to ignore them.

 

Nehemiah 5:6-7 NLT

 When I heard their complaints, I was very angry.  After thinking it over, I spoke out against these nobles and officials. I told them, “You are hurting your own relatives by charging interest when they borrow money!” Then I called a public meeting to deal with the problem.

 

Nehemiah was informed that the noblemen and officials were taking advantage of the people of Jerusalem; the very people who had placed their lives on hold in order to rebuild the walls. They did this by loaning them money at interest rates so high they could not repay their debts. This was a problem, and not just any problem, but one that had the potential to halt the entire project. This problem could potentially cause Nehemiah and the people, to forfeit the divinely designed purpose for their lives. This was one problem that could not and should not be ignored.

 

In my capacity as Pastor, I am constantly coming across people who for one reason or another choose to ignore their problems hoping they will disappear. This however is rarely the case; once the problem is fully grown and out of control, they come calling to my office for a fix. Once I’ve had the opportunity to speak with them, I realize this problem was not something that happened overnight. I discover that all along there were signals that went unattended. Like the person who was not feeling well but chose not to see their doctor until it was beyond the doctor’s control. Or the couple that began to experience cracks in their marriage but chose to ignore the signs only to now find themselves getting a divorce, citing irreconcilable differences. Sometimes it is the man or woman who chose to ignore the crevices in their moral standards and now find themselves living addictive lifestyles. Those cracks and crevices are the problems in their infancy stages. Because they went unattended they grew so big that they got out of control.

 

Because so many people were upset about their situation, Nehemiah took time to think over his problems and did not act in haste. Immediately after he calmed down, he dealt with the problem head on, face to face, one on one. Nehemiah understood what we often forget; the things we ignore never get better.