Who Gave You the Problem?

When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?" He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do. (John 6:5-6)

Has Jesus ever let you face problems that don't seem to have a solution? It might be health or family problems that just get worse. It could be the debts that just pile up or that job you can never seem to find.

You sought Christ for salvation and hoped your problems would at least get better. But, have you ever thought of him as someone who would give you even more problems to solve? After all, where do our problems come from, God or the devil? Ever since the enemy approached Eve the human race has known no peace! It's just been one problem after another.

But, not all the problems we face come from the enemy. The problem the Lord gave Philip didn't have a human solution. But, Jesus had a solution and knew what he was going to do. The serpent, when he tempted the woman certainly "had in mind what he was about to do" as well. He created a problem that didn't exist ("Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?" – Gen 3:1). From there he helped Eve find a "solution" on her own, without God's help.

The problem Jesus presented to Philip lead him to believe more in God and his providence.

The enemy, leading the woman to look out for herself, lead her to question God's very character.

Jesus lead men to trust in God.

The devil leads them to doubt.

The devil leads us to try to solve everything ourselves.

Quite often the problems the enemy brings us we manage to solve, while the ones God presents us with seem to be without a solution. With the problems we manage to solve we begin to trust in ourselves, when we should be giving glory to God. With the problems we can't solve we begin to question God's love, when we should trust him more. Shouldn't it be the other way around?

The next time you are faced with a problem apparently without solution, remember, it could be better than one that has a solution, your solution, but that was brought to you by the devil. Trust in God, because only he can turn the unsolvable problem itself into a solution — the strengthening of our faith. In the end, according to Jesus himself — faith, belief in Him, is the very solution to the greatest of all our problems.

Jesus said, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" (John 11:25-26)