Have you ever had a problem you cannot solve? What do you do with a problem you can't solve? But really, there's a better question to ask when you have a problem that's before you that you cannot solve. There's a better question to ask. The better question to ask is, what is God doing when I face a problem I cannot solve? We're in a series on the life of Elisha entitled Daring to Follow God's Call. And Elisha was the prophet that dared to leave his established comfortable life to follow God's call. He dared to follow the leading prophet of his generation in spite of the hardships that would necessitate. He dared to become the voice of God and righteousness in a nation, the northern kingdom of Israel, that was in moral and spiritual decline. He dared to be different when compromised religion was the order of the day. He dared to impact his generation and the next. He dared to ask God for more power. Learning from his life is not for people that are satisfied with comfort and convenience. No, learning from the life of a man like Elisha is for those who are daring and who will dare to follow God's call. So my encouragement to you is as we study his life, let's be bold. daringly follow God's call. So today, turn with me in your Bible again to the book of 2 Kings, where we read of the life of Elisha. 2 Kings 2. 2 Kings 2 is I'll give you a few moments to find it. And when you find chapter two, you want to find verse 19, and then we will read through verse 22, or rather, yes, verse 22. Are you there? All right, let's stand together to read the scriptures. Follow along as I read the scriptures aloud. 2 Kings 2, beginning in verse 19, and we will read through verse 22. And the man of the city said unto Elisha, Behold, I pray thee, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my Lord seeth, but the water is not, and the ground barren. And he said, Bring me a new cruise, and put salt therein. And they brought it to him. And he went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast the salt in there, and said, Thus saith the Lord, I have healed these waters. There shall not be from thence any more death or barren land. So the waters were healed unto this day, according to the saying of Elisha, which he spake. So let's talk today about The blessings of the problem you cannot solve. Now that doesn't make sense, does it? The blessings of the problem you cannot solve. And I say, yes, the blessings of the problem you cannot solve. Let's pray and ask God to get his mind on it and ask him to speak to us and then you can be seated. So Lord God, we are coming in faith. We've come in faith, we are praying in faith, believing that you're a God that still speaks to people and that from your truth, you are speaking to us by your spirit from your word. You are speaking to us where we are because in our generation, as in those generations many years ago, you did a work and you are doing that work even now. And you're doing that work in the people that have assembled in this service today. So God, the Spirit, we pray for your help and ask you to speak and ask you to prepare us to receive what you have and do this work today. As the preacher, I ask for the enabling of the Holy Spirit, and as a hearer on behalf of these friends, I ask that we all would receive from you as the word is preached and your spirit speaks to us. So God, we need you. We ask for supernatural help and power, and we pray it in the wonderful and powerful name of Jesus. Amen. Thank you. Please be seated. So let's talk about the problem you cannot solve. First, I want you to notice the reality of the problem you cannot solve. Because here's the reality. You and people around you will face problems you cannot solve. How many of you have ever been in a situation where there's a problem and you just can't solve it? You know what I'm talking about? Yeah. It's the reality. You and people around you will face problems you cannot solve. So what was the problem the people of Jericho could not solve? Well, look in your Bible again, 2 Kings 2, verse 19. And the men of the city said unto Elisha, Behold, I pray thee, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my Lord seeth. And they looked at their city and they said, boy, we have a great situation. This is prime real estate. If you were a real estate agent and you were selling property in Jericho, You would love it because you would know location, location, location. What a great place to live. It's not too far from Jerusalem, not too far from the Jordan Valley. The land is a little arid, but there's springs here. What a great place to live. They say, we have a great place to live. But there was one problem they couldn't solve. Did you see what their problem was? Read your Bible again. Verse 19, yeah, the situation of the city is pleasant as the Lord seeth. But the water is not, and the ground barren. Here's our problem. We have bad water. And our land is drying up. Nothing can grow. What happened to their water supply? Well, it's unknown exactly what happened to their water supply. All we know is it is bad water. They couldn't drink it. It caused the ground not to grow food. The Spring of Jericho provided not only water for the people that lived there, but it was strategic because it was also a source of water for the region all around. It's called the Plain of Jericho. So that the people living around the city and the livestock and the crops, all of it really depended on the fountain flowing from the Spring of Jericho. Here are people that had a problem that they could not solve. Let me ask about you. What is your problem that you cannot solve? Is there a spiritual bondage issue that is so controlling you and you've tried everything, you just feel like, I can't break. Are there physical restrictions that are beyond your capacity? You've been to the doctor and they're trying different things, but still. You can't solve it. It may be that there are some circumstances that are in your life that are beyond your control and that's the problem you cannot solve. It may be family, it may be relational, there may be spiritual battles, there may be job battles that you're facing. But what is the problem that is in your life that you cannot solve? Do you have it in your mind? Do you have it in your mind? Let me ask you this. Did you ever feel like, when you have a problem you can't solve, did you ever feel like, I feel like I'm the only person in the world that ever runs into this? How many of you ever feel that way? Did you ever feel that way? I'm gonna tell you something. Look all around you because everybody in this room has a problem they can't solve. So it's the reality of the problem that you cannot solve. So let's talk about something else. Let's talk next about your response to the problem you cannot solve. We've talked about the reality of the problem you can't solve. Let's talk about your response to the problem you cannot solve. Because in the middle of the problem they could not solve, who was in the city of Jericho? Who was the guy that was in their city? Yeah, Elisha, the prophet of the Lord God. And you remember the story, right? Elisha was in training for 10 years following the great man of his day, Elijah. And just a few days before the people of Jericho had this happen in their lives, just before this, a few days, Elijah and Elisha actually walked through their city. And then they crossed through their city and they went just a few miles and they crossed over the Jordan. And there it was that while they were talking, the fiery chariot came from heaven and swooshed down and picked up Elijah and took him to glory. The mantle falls off of Elijah and Elisha picks it up. Now he's the prophet. And he takes the mantle and he goes to the Jordan River and he slams it onto the ground and he strikes the ground. Where is the God of Elijah? And as it had been for Elijah, it was for Elisha. God opened up the Jordan River and he walks across. Well, you remember what, there are these prophets, these preacher boys, that were watching all of this from a distance, you remember? And they come to Elisha, oh, Elisha, what if God Almighty dropped Elijah? He might have dropped him in a valley or a mountain. We need to send out a search and rescue party. Can we please send out a, no, don't, God isn't gonna drop him. No, we need to send a search and, okay, go ahead. When you come back, I'll be over in Jericho. So for three days, there they go, and they're looking high and low, high and low, and sure enough, they couldn't find him, and God didn't drop him. So while they're out, Elisha's waiting in Jericho. And the people of Jericho, with this problem they cannot solve, realize, hey, the prophet of God is here. And it brings us really to the first of three questions that you and I need to ask whenever we come to a problem that we cannot solve. When you come to the point in your life and even the problem that you're thinking of that's the problem you cannot solve, you need to hear the questions you need to ask. The first of the three questions is this. When I face a problem I cannot solve, where do I turn? Where do you turn? For the people of Jericho, where did they turn? A prophet of God was with them. Hey, let's ask him. He can give us God's instructions and God's help. And if the Lord God doesn't help us, we're in trouble. So let's ask God's prophet. Now, where do you turn when you're in a problem you cannot solve? See, some people turn to a substance. Some people turn to a person, hoping that person's going to solve all their problems and fill every need. Some people turn to some form of escape, something that gives them temporary relief and it makes them feel better, but it doesn't help them. It's the person who goes into their video game and their video game becomes their ultimate reality. Or the person who says, oh, I feel so bad. I think I'll go shop. And you feel good for a little bit until the bill comes. And then you don't feel nearly as good. It's the person who is looking for an escape, and so they binge watch, or they You see, all of us have devices where we tend to escape and where we're running when we face problems that we cannot solve. So where do you turn? Do you turn to whatever your go-to escape is? Or do you turn to the Lord God? Do you say, oh Lord God, I'm in this, I don't know what, this is a problem I can't solve. God, would you help me? Would you show me something in your word that's gonna give me guidance of how to respond? God, would you help me to trust your character and show me who you are? And would you help me to have my mind fixed on who you are and what you say about yourself so that my hope isn't in my circumstance, but my hope is in you? God, would you help me to see what you might be teaching me in the midst of this problem I cannot solve. Would you help me to look at this, not just from my perspective, but would you help me to step back and see what you could be doing that I don't get right now, but you are working, and so God, would you help me? You see, people that dare to follow God's call, are people that when they are faced with problems they cannot solve, they turn to the Lord. And in your spiritual journey, God will do this for you. He will bring you repeatedly in your life to problems you cannot solve. And he does so, so that you will come to the end of yourself and you will turn to him. So where do I turn when faced with a problem I cannot solve? Now, so they go to the prophet Elisha, and I want you to notice what happens in verse 20. And he said, verse 20 in your Bible, bring me a new cruz, that's a new jar, a new bottle, and put salt therein. And it brings us to the second of the three questions you ask yourself when you're in a problem you cannot solve. And it is this, who do you listen to? Who do you listen to? Now you'll find when you're at a place where you have problems that you cannot solve, there are all kinds of voices. You'd be amazed the voices and all kinds of people and all kinds of circumstances. You'll hear all kinds of things, let alone the voices in your head. And I don't mean, you know, the voices in your head. I mean, you're thinking to yourself. Now, maybe for some of you, I mean, the voices in your head, I don't know. But believe me, there are gonna be all kinds of voices that are clamoring. And thoughts that are running through your mind, there'll be all kinds of things with the places you go and the people that you can hear. And there'll be places you can turn and people you can turn to. And at times you will be overwhelmed with voices calling out. But who do you listen to? You see, for the people of Jericho, oh, they had a problem they couldn't solve. But they come to a point where they seek the Lord and God made himself very clear when they needed it. And you know, he'll do that for you. How many of you ever wondered, Lord, what am I going to do? And you say, Lord, would you show me? I don't know, would you show me? But you found that over time, God has shown you what you needed to know when you needed to know it. You know what I mean? And when you reach a point in life when you have problems you can't solve, sometimes you say, Lord, you need to hurry this thing up. But that's not how the Lord grows people in faith. So whenever they needed to know, God made this abundantly clear. And when you get hungry enough to know what God wants for you and to know God, to seek God, God will reveal himself to you. The prophet Jeremiah addressed this very issue in his prophecy, the 29th chapter of his prophecy, and listen to what Jeremiah writes, writing for God here, and he says, then, this is verse 12, and then verse 13 of Jeremiah 29, then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me and find me when ye shall search for me with all your heart. Do I listen to God? Am I listening to his voice and I'm seeking God? I want to know. I want to know what you want. And it leaves you with the question, who do you listen to? You see, God is speaking, and he's using the problem that you cannot solve in your life. So the question then you have to ask is, will I listen to his voice? And then that brings us to the third question. When you're at a problem you can't solve, here's the third question you need to ask, and it is this. What do you do, or what do I do with God's instructions? See, when God speaks to me, what do I do with it? You see, and that's what people who dare to follow God's call, that's what people that dare to follow God's call and live boldly, that's what they do. When God speaks, I'll do it. So what is it that Elijah says, or Elisha rather, says to the people of Jericho? Look in your Bible again, 2 Kings 2. 2nd Kings chapter 2, he said, bring me a cruise and put salt therein. Now that's a strange, would you please pass the salt? Pass the salt? Now wait, we have a water problem. And you're asking for salt? That doesn't make sense to me. Pass the salt. But Lord, I don't see why you want me to pass the salt. Pass the salt. Well, Lord, I think that baking soda would be better. Pass the salt. Well, Lord, what good would it do? Please pass the salt. Now, as long as you argue with God, you won't dare to follow God's call. You're gonna stay right where you are. That's where you're gonna be. But when God's clear, pass the salt, and you say, okay, Lord, I'll pass the salt. And that's the difference between people who dare and people who don't dare to follow God's call. The people who dare, when God says, pass the salt, all right, Lord, I'll do it. So you look at your Bible and you read verse 20. And they brought it, that's the jar of salt to him. They said, okay, okay. So God is speaking to you and you're at this time when you're very tuned to him because you're at a problem you can't solve. See up to this point you've been doing okay, you're just making it through. But now there's a problem you can't solve. And the Lord is speaking to you and he's saying to you, for you very clearly, this is what it means for you to pass the salt. And you have to decide, Lord, Am I willing to trust you and do what you said? You see, this is the power of humility that brings grace. It's the power of overcoming grace. Because in the humility that you finally say, Lord, all right, I'll pass the salt. Okay, Lord, I'll pass the salt. When you reach that humility, then the grace of God begins to flow and enable and empower you. Does that mean that all of a sudden that my problem is gonna be solved? Not necessarily right away, but the power, the grace of God, remember what grace is, it's God giving me the opportunity I don't deserve and the power I don't have. When you are that humble that you say, okay, Lord, I am willing. to pass the salt, then the grace of God begins to work in you. He begins to help and change you. And that's if you want to dare to follow God's call, you can only do it with His grace, His enabling power. So we've talked about the reality of the problem you cannot solve. We've talked about your response to the problem you cannot solve. Now let's talk about the Lord's response to the problem you cannot solve. And we read about what the Lord did. In your Bible, look if you would, verse 21 and then verse 22. And he went forth unto the spring of the waters, and he cast the salt in there. And he said, Thus saith the Lord, I have healed these waters. There shall not be from thence any more death or barren land. So the waters were healed unto this day, according to the saying of Elisha as he spake. And you read about it, and we celebrate. Great! This is so exciting! We cheer with the people, and we say, good on you, we're so glad for you. It's fantastic. Look what God did for you. And we should celebrate. But I want you to know, as wonderful as that was, that God was doing so much more. I mean, it's wonderful to change salt water to fresh water. Wonderful. But oh, God did, on this day, God was doing so much more. When you consider what God was doing, let me tell you what God was doing in the life of the prophet Elisha. You see, in the life of the prophet Elisha, remember he had just a few days from this time, he had just, his companion Elijah, the leading prophet, had gone and now he had taken the mantle and he took the place of Elijah as the leading prophet in his day. And it was a confirmation whenever he, God healed the waters that indeed, He was fulfilling the role that God had confirmed his place in authority as a prophet. And it confirmed the power of God. Remember what he asked God for before Elijah left? Oh Lord, if I could have a double portion of thy spirit, I want your power on my life. He had the first miracle, the crossing of the Jordan. This was the second miracle in these days that God revealed to him that indeed my power is on your life. Oh, what that did in the life of Elijah, or Elisha. But God was doing something else that was wonderful. God was working in the life of the people of Jericho. Now the most obvious and exciting of all that God was doing for them and the most immediate was their water problem was solved. Great! This would mean for their health, it would mean for their land, it would mean for the people all around, it would allow them to cultivate crops, it would allow them to raise livestock, to farm, it would help them, it would give them what they needed for survival. But there was a greater work that God was doing. You say, well, God was doing something greater than this? And I'd say, yes, God is doing something greater than this. Do you know what the greater thing that God was doing was? God allowed them to experience the reality of his power in their lives, in their midst. Now remember, they're in the Northern Kingdom. The Northern Kingdom has bad leadership after bad leadership. In fact, Elijah the prophet, in his day, one time he said, oh, I'm the only one left. Nobody else is even concerned about the things of God. I'm the only one. And God said, no, there are many others. And here they are in a nation in moral and spiritual decline, a nation that has now, after generation and generation, turned from the Lord, and yet here is a city that watched the power of the Almighty God work in their midst. Wow. They never forget the day that God The God of the ages dealt in their lives and he manifested himself. And you know, when you come to that place of a problem you cannot solve and you turn to the Lord, in these times, as God works in your life and you humble yourself and God says, pass the salt and you pass the salt, what will happen is you get to experience the power of God to become reality in you. He isn't just a God you read about in the pages of history or hear people talk about. He is a God that becomes real and you experience him in your life. Wow. You see, what was God doing? God was doing great things in the life of the prophet Elijah. He was doing great things in the life of the people so that when Elisha cast the salt into the spring, Speaking for the Lord God, here's what he says, verse 21. Thus saith the Lord, I have healed these waters. God had done it. Don't you want to have the kind of experience, even in the times when you reach problems you can't solve, where you experience God stepping in and you say, God did this in my life, wow. But there's something else God was doing because all that God did in the life of Elisha and the life of the people of Jericho, there's something that God did on this day. that had implications that went far beyond just this day and just these people. In fact, in this day, as God was working, God used the problem that they could not solve to do something bigger than anybody on that day could have ever imagined, that reached further than they could ever imagined. Because God gives a promise. You'll notice again in your Bible, look at verse 22, The promise that God gives is this, not verse 22, verse 21, the end of the verse. There shall not be from thence any more death or barren land. You could go to Israel today and you could go to the ancient city, the ancient remains of the city of Jericho. It's called Tel Es Soltan. And you can go there, and if you were to go to that place, you would find there there's a site that's set up for tourists to visit. But you would go to there, and you would see that there's a fairly large building with a roof over top. And housed in that building are pumps. And those pumps take water that is coming from an underground spring, and they pump water about two kilometers, about a mile and a quarter or so, southeast to the modern city of Jericho. And even today, the spring provides water for the city of Jericho, provides water for the entire Jericho plain. Guess what you would call or what they call that site if you were to visit today? Guess what they call it? They call it the Spring of Elisha. 3,000 years after this day. If you were to travel over to Israel, you could still get a cool drink from the Spring of Elisha. You see, God was... In a problem they couldn't solve, God was doing something that blessed generations to come. And I'm telling you, the problem that to you, you can't solve, God can use this to bless far beyond what you could imagine. He's the God that takes what can be cursing and makes blessing. And that brings us finally to your perspective of the problem that you cannot solve. Do you view the problem you cannot solve, and it's on your mind, and you've been thinking about it all morning, do you view the problem you cannot solve as a blessing or a cursing? And I'm telling you that our God is a God who can take that problem that to us seems like a curse, and he can change it. and from it bring blessing. But there's one decision you have to make. And it's this. Will I pass the salt? When God tells me what to do next, When God shows me where I am and what I need to do to follow him, he says, pass the salt. Will I pass the salt? People that dare to follow God's call, pass the salt. Would you stand with me, please? Our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed. And we're gonna pray together. Well, Lord God, We live far away in time and place from the people that you told us about today. But we like them, each of us have problems that we cannot solve. And so we turn to you. And it is with joy, with faith, that we humbly come and ask for you to reveal what you want to do and how you want us to respond, and we ask for your gracious power to pass the salt. Do whatever you say. Now I'm gonna finish praying in a minute, but I'm gonna talk to you. Is God speaking to you? It could be that you realize, oh, You're aware of the burden of sin and the load of it and the condemnation that you need someone who can save you. The one who can is Jesus, God the Son who died and rose again for you. Trusting Him alone, He will solve that eternal sin problem. You say, I've got things happening that God is speaking to me about and I, I just need to do what he says, but I'm really struggling with it. Listen, I'm gonna tell you, pass the salt. So whatever your need is, I'm gonna pray with you about this. Because God chose today, see this day, there are a lot of days in your life. But God chose this day in this time to speak to you in this way. He never does so accidentally. And so you have a very critical decision to make in your life today. So Lord God, for these friends, as you are speaking to them, dear God, we pray that you would help each one, whatever the point of decision is today to which you have brought that person. I pray, oh God, that you would give them grace and humility to respond to you and believe you. And so we ask for great victory and joy and blessing, even in the problems that we cannot solve, for we ask it in Jesus' name, amen. The instruments are playing, and this is your time to respond to the Lord. You say, I need to come to Christ and be saved. This is your time to do so. You say, I have things I want to pray about. This is your time. You can seek the Lord, these front steps, these front chairs, and you and the Lord have time. If you want someone to pray with you, if you're a lady, we'll have a lady with you. If you're a man, a man with you to pray, to answer questions, just to be here to help you as you're taking this step in your life.