(1st Samuel 1:1-8)
In pre-colonial India, the British Colonialists had a problem: there were too many cobras in the Country!
So they had a meeting.
The Governor General, all his cabinet members gathered in a hall to think of a solution to the problem. These are the top government officials who determined the fate and destinies of millions of people. These are the people who practically hold the lives of people in their hands: they could make or break millions of people through a change in policy. They had POWER. You would expect they had WISDOM too.
But, alas…
They deliberated on the Cobra Menace and came up with a solution: they offered money for dead cobras! In their wisdom (foolishness!) they thought that would reduce the cobra population.
The monetary reward would motivate the people to kill all the cobras, no?
It actually did: and it did much more than they expected!
The Indians started rearing snakes, knowing they could make cool money by killing them and taking the dead snakes to the Government Officers! The people were cashing out but the problem was getting worse!
It quickly dawned on the British that they did not really think it through. Despite all the “wisdom” of the British leaders with years of experience in Governance and Policy Formation, they dropped the ball badly on this Cobra Situation.
That was a classic example of proffering the wrong SOLUTION to a problem because of a wrong DIAGNOSIS.
In the Book of 1st Samuel, we read the story of Prophet Samuel’s parents, Elkanah and Hannah.
Elkanah had 2 wives, Hannah and Peninnah. Peninnah had “sons and daughters” (verse 4) but Hannah had no child.
But Elkanah loved Hannah more than he loved Peninnah!
That got to Peninnah and she used Hannah’s barrenness to ridicule her. She would taunt her and flaunt her own children to upset Hannah.
And she did get to Hannah and she became depressed.
Now herein is a problem! Hannah was depressed.
Why?
Because her husband’s other wife was making fun of her, provoking and irritating her (verses 6 and 7).
Hannah was so depressed, she could not even eat.
Now, her husband Elkanah knew there was a PROBLEM.
And just like the British Colonialists in India, he thought up a SOLUTION.
He told Hannah: “Why are you weeping? Why don’t you eat? Why are you downhearted? DON’T I MEAN MORE TO YOU THAN 10 SONS?”
Elkanah dropped the ball! He didn’t get the REASON Hannah was downcast, why she was depressed! He thought her depression was because she had no children, so he tried to cheer her up, telling her he should mean more to her than 10 sons. But her depression was because she was taunted daily by Peninnah!
Elkanah diagnosed the problem wrongly, so he offered a wrong solution.
Well, he was right in thinking the solution was in talking, but he talked to the wrong person: he would have been more effective if he had talked to Peninnah instead!
If he had told Peninnah, “Stop making fun of her! Stop provoking and irritating her!” he would have been more successful in his quest for peace in his home.
In the Book of Numbers, Chapter 25: 1-13, we read a story about the Israelites. They had a problem: their men were sleeping with the Moabite women.
God was angry and He sent them a plagued to destroy them.
Moses and the Leaders knew there was a problem: Like the British Colonialists in India, they thought it through and came up with a solution: let us plead with God! Let us beg Him for mercy! So they gathered in front of the Temple, they knelt down and wept, raising their hands to heaven, seeking God’s mercy over the congregation.
In that moment, one of their men walked past them with one of these women. He waved to them: “Hello, Guys!” and he took the woman into his tent for sex!
Phinehas saw this play out and it dawned on him: we have diagnosed this problem wrongly! We are proffering the wrong solution! PRAYER is definitely NOT the solution to this problem: ACTION is!
He got up from the Prayer Meeting, picked up a spear, walked over to the man’s tent, entered and thrust the man and the woman through with the spear, killing them both!
And God said, “Yes! I absolutely LOVE your zeal, Phinehasl!!!”
And the plague stopped immediately!
The reason your challenges persist may just be because you diagnosed it wrongly, so you are applying the wrong solution.
You have High Blood Pressure, but you diagnosed it wrongly thinking it was just a Headache, so you take aspirin and you expect it to go.
You have Typhoid Fever, but you are taking drugs for Malaria, expecting it to go.
If we diagnose problems right, we will probably proffer the right solutions.
Shalom,
Haruna Daniels