22 Then He came to Bethsaida; and they brought a blind man to Him, and begged Him to touch him. 23 So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town. And when He had spit on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him if he saw anything. 24 And he looked up and said, “I see men like trees, walking.” 25 Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up. And he was restored and saw everyone clearly. 26 Then He sent him away to his house, saying, “Neither go into the town, nor tell anyone in the town. Mark 8:22-26
Leadership expert and author John C. Maxwell said that the easiest way to gain leadership is to solve problems. Every company employs solution-oriented people. The company I work with, Kruger Brent Security, solves fundamental problems of securing lives and properties. Zoomlion is a multinational company because they solve international waste problems. Whether a company or an individual, we are rewarded according to the problems we solve in society. You are as worthy as the problems you solve. So, if problems lift us up in life, how do we go about them? Jesus Christ gives us four clues to problem solving in the passage above.
New Strategy. Think about new strategies. Until this moment, Jesus had never employed a new strategy in the way He solved problems. “And when He had spit on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him if he saw anything” (v. 23). You have heard it said severally that there are so many ways of killing a cat, but I add, you can use only one at a time. Albert Einstein made a profound statement that, "The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them." Sometimes we are not able to deal with challenges because we are stuck with old strategies. New strategies can be gotten by obtaining new skills. Think differently and you can do different things.
Buy Time. If you do not make time to spend time with a problem, it may overpower you. Sometimes we give up in the face of problems because we do not spend time to think through other options available. Scriptures say about Jesus that, “So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town” (v. 23). In other words, He simply bought time in order to understand the man’s problem. It doesn’t matter how many problems you have solved or how many you have not solved, what matters is how you go about the current one. Every problem instills a new solution. Buy time to understand the problem for the solution.
Try Again. In my days at the university, there was a particular course in psychology that I failed at my first attempt. There were two options I had: One, quit and get over it. Two, re-sit and try again. I chose the second option and sat for the paper again. I did better that the first attempt. Such was the same with Jesus. When He tried the first time and did not succeed, He tried again. Verse 25 says that, “Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up.” The spirit of perseverance produces results. Keep trying.
Resolve To Succeed. It is not enough to try again. You must be result-oriented not effort-oriented. One cardinal saying in professional sales is that it is not about efforts but about results. You must keep trying until you see results. Not all efforts produces success but all successes require efforts. The Bible says in verse 25 that, “And he was restored and saw everyone clearly.” Your efforts must yield results.
In our part of the world, we are not trained to solve problems. You are considered a “good boy” if you do not fall into troubles. I think that is a bad mentality. You cannot become a problem solver without facing problems. Indian revered leader, Mahatma Gandhi once said that, “The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world's problem.” Consider this principle in your quest to become a problem-solver: Try what you have not tried before and you will get the results you have got before. Get Connected; Stay Connected with Jesus
© 2012 Eric Otchere
Email: eric.otchere@ymail.com
(The author is an infopreneur passionate about
building individual and corporate capacities
through knowledge-based products.)
