My son’s car had to go in for a service at the dealer. We told them that the windshield wipers weren’t working and that they needed to fix them. After thousands of rands, we got the car back with a note from the mechanic: “You have to take the car to an auto electrician, because I don’t know why the fuse keeps blowing.”

So, I took the car to a friend who has his workshop in town. He knows about cars. He called the next day. He found the error and made a plan so we didn’t have to buy the expensive part.

I’m just upset that we didn’t take the car to him from the start. It would’ve saved me a lot of money and effort.

Although Wilhelm is very good with cars, I don’t go to him if something is wrong with my body. Then I knocked on the door of my other friend, Herman, a doctor. He knows what to do, and I soon walk out with a packet of pills to cure what’s bothering me.

I also know that if I take my problem with my car to my doctor friend, he will rub his chin and laugh out loud because he just about knows how to change a flat tire.

As the English say: Horses for courses. Everyone is a specialist in their field. This is what they’re trained for and what they’re good at.

In the same way, we must learn to take our problems to the One who has the power to solve them. When you’re in a crisis, facing a challenge, when some curve ball comes flying at you, you must take it to the One who knows exactly the solution.

¹³Are you hurting? Pray.

Just as Wilhelm knows where to look for a problem in an engine and Doc Herman knows what to prescribe for a cough, stomach or knee, God knows exactly where the solution lies for what makes the way difficult for us.

Do you have some kind of crisis in your life? Make it known to God in prayer and supplication. Talk to God about it. Just remember that talking means conversation, a two-way conversation, where we also have to give God time to say what He has to say.

Maybe God wants to teach you something through the challenge. Maybe He wants you to do something different. Maybe He wants to cut off something that doesn’t fit well into His picture of you. In these conversations with God, our world shifts over God’s world, and we see where we need to do things differently.

Perhaps you’ve already laid many of your challenges at God’s feet. Maybe you feel God doesn’t hear you. Try it again, and while you are struggling with the One who knows exactly where the solution lies, also listen to what He has to say to you.

Scripture
James 5:13-20

Reflection
Do you believe that God can help you?
Do you believe in prayer?
What should you do?

Prayer
Father, I believe that You have the answer to all my questions and challenges. Though I believe in prayer, I still struggle. It’s as if the answers just don’t come fast enough. Help me to pray. Help me to pray and listen and do right. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.