Numbers 11:4 And the mixt multitude that was among them fell a lusting: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat?

5 We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick:

Introductory Thoughts

Most men have no trouble creating and recognizing the trouble they have created but often experience great difficulty in finding any necessary solutions. In the wilderness, the children of Israel readily identified problems, but rarely, if ever, offered suitable solutions for these problems. Their expectation was that someone else could provide the solutions so long as they found satisfaction in complaining. Even today, this scenario repeats itself in businesses, churches, and family lives. People can complain about problems and often lack the ambition or the wherewithal for finding any lasting solutions. The average person finds enjoyment in expressing his complaints but leaves the solutions to others. This has greatly troubled the workplace, the home, the church, and every nation.

Devotional thoughts

  • (For children): In Acts 6:1, we read about a problem in the early church. The ones who complained only offered a problem but no solution. Eventually, the apostles had to solve the problem (Acts 6:2-5).
  • (For everyone): How does it demonstrate a lack of character when we are willing to offer up complaints but unwilling to be a part of the solution to the problems we identify?
  • Why is it that man naturally causes or is involved in problems but has little to no concept of how to resolve those problems? How could one improve in this area?

Prayer Thoughts

  • Ask God to teach you how to solve problems.
  • Ask God to build this character in you and your loved ones.

 

SONG: I AM RESOLVED

 

 

 

Quotes from the next volume

(VOLUME 4, WEEK 27)

Subject: Suffering and Death

On this side of eternity, few men ever grasp the purposes or the benefits of suffering affliction.

Trials are certain to come; heartaches are unavoidable, but the believer must praise the Lord despite the difficulties.

Trials, afflictions, and heartaches presently abound, but those who know the Lord can rejoice in knowing those things are only “for a season” (1 Peter 1:6).