What kind of problem is it?

One morning I went to leave but I couldn't find my keys.  I always hang them by the door, and after looking in a couple of other spots they were nowhere to be found.  I had one last spot to look: in the truck.  I had got in the habit of leaving them in there, even in the ignition.  This is only possible because I live in a small town and have a 27 year old truck no one would want to steal. But when I got to the truck, in a hurry now to get where I was going, I saw that I had locked them inside the cab.  With only one set of keys I quickly found a coat hanger and set to work.

I knew what the problem was, and so I set out to fix it by unlocking the door.  After 20 minutes and two coat hangers i finally got  it open.  I had a problem, I found a solution.  But one thing I never did was pray over my locked doors.  My problem wasn't spiritual, it was physical, and I could take care of it myself. 

In the new year many are looking for solutions to what ailed them in the past year.  New habits, routines, diets, and more.  The problem might be poor health or bad habits, and the solution seems obvious.  If we work harder and double down then we can fix our problems and have a great new year.  

We all encounter problems, and we all seek solutions. But often we seek the wrong kind of solution to the problem that we face.  In Acts 12, James the brother of John has been arrested and beheaded by Herod, and after seeing it that it pleases the Jews, he makes plans to do the same to Peter.  Acts 12:5 lays out the problem, and the church's solution.

"So Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer for him was being made fervently by the church to God."

Acts 12:5 (NASB)

Peter being in jail could have been seen as a political problem, so the solution is to call in political favors, to pull some strings, and get him out.  Someone might have seen it as a physical problem, so the physical solution is to bust him out of jail, Ocean's Eleven style with all the apostles.  But the church saw Peter being in jail about to be beheaded as a spiritual problem, and so they sought a spiritual answer through prayer.

By all means work to have a good year.  But all of us need to know that the biggest problem we have is a spiritual one.  Our sin separates us from God, and the solution to that problem is not trying harder.  We all have a spiritual problem, and the only solution is Jesus Christ.  Make sure that this year you spend more time with Jesus, as our greater need is Jesus.  Don’t spend all your time looking for physical solutions to your spiritual problems.   

Use common sense.  If you need to lose weight, then eat right, don't just pray about it.  If the keys are locked inside your truck, go find a coat hanger.  But if you are struggling with your family, with your focus in life, with things beyond your control, with a situation that seems hopeless, then go to God in prayer.  He’s the only one who can truly fix what ails us.  We would never seek spiritual solutions to physical problems.  So why do seek physical answers to spiritual problems?  

Ask yourself what is the root cause of your problems.  Recognize that many (if not most) of the problems that plague people and families are spiritual problems at their core.  And then seek the one who has all the answers, no matter how big the problem might be.