Keith Battle - When Problems Become Opportunities

I’m going to give my subject right now. The subject I’m going to use is «When Problems Become Opportunities.» The way I’m going to deal with this subject is by using a case study of three people in the Bible who had problems. I want to look at how they addressed their problems, how they approached their issues, and use this as a case study for us. One of the things we can do is take how they managed their problems and see if we can apply similar strategies in our lives. Now, the three people I’m going to focus on are Jesus, Nehemiah, and David. Just to clarify what their problems were, let me describe Jesus’s problem that I’ll focus on in this conversation. He had a friend named Lazarus, as mentioned in John chapter 11. Jesus received word that Lazarus was sick; in fact, he was so ill that Lazarus’s sisters, Mary and Martha, sent a message to Jesus, saying, «Can you please come? Your friend is sick.» They hoped that Jesus would come and heal him. However, due to the way Jesus approached this particular problem, he did not respond to their requests right away. He delayed his response until Lazarus was dead, which created a bigger problem. Now, Jesus’s problem was that Lazarus was dead, but he eventually solved that problem. I want to make a distinction: dead friends and loved ones is not something that all of us can solve; that’s a God thing. Nonetheless, I believe we can take some valuable lessons from it. God doesn’t always bring people back from the dead; even in biblical history, you can count on one or two hands how many times he has done that, but the lessons we learn about how He managed that problem are important.

The second person is Nehemiah. Nehemiah’s problem was that his hometown had been demolished and destroyed, and the gates surrounding his hometown lay in shambles and ruins. He saw that as an opportunity to rebuild it. Jesus saw Lazarus’s death as an opportunity to resurrect him. So, both of them saw their problems as opportunities, and we’ll talk about how to transition into that perspective. The third person we will examine today is David. The problem I will focus on in David’s life may be familiar to many of you. It was a problem he discovered while he was following his father’s directions to check on his brothers, who were at war. He found out that there was a giant named Goliath intimidating the armies of Israel, posing a threat to the people of Israel. David saw that obstacle, or problem, as an opportunity to confront the threat. Each one of them had a problem that was turned into an opportunity.

In this case study, I will give you about seven things to keep in mind. The first one is to notice their emotional responses to the problems. Each of them had an emotional response to the challenges they addressed. For example, in the Scriptures, when David approached the scene in 1 Samuel chapter 17, he was taking food to his brothers to check on the battle. When he arrived, this giant was intimidating the army of Israel every day, challenging them to send someone to fight him one-on-one. The winner would secure victory for their nation, yet all the armies of Israel hid in fear. David came out one day and saw it, and he was furious. He exclaimed, «Who is this uncircumcised Philistine?» He didn’t even call him a giant; he was upset that anyone would defy the army of the living God. His emotional response was one of anger.

In Nehemiah chapter one, he received news from a friend named Hanani. When he asked Hanani about what was happening back in his hometown, Hanani replied that things were not well; it was a mess. The homeland was in shambles, the gates had been torn down, and everything lay in ruins. When Nehemiah heard what Hanani said, the Bible states he was deeply saddened. He felt depressed and began to cry. Interestingly, when Jesus arrived at the scene where Lazarus lay dead, the Bible presents something intriguing about His reaction: it states that Jesus was angry, and then He began to cry. It amazed me; I had missed this all along. People often say, «Jesus wept,» but before He wept, the Bible says He was angry. I wonder if you have ever been so angry that you cried.