A Way To Resolve Big Problems

The solution may not be to spend more time and money

Photo by Michael Owen of boulder blocking Highway 1 in California.

Often we think that the best way to resolve a problem is to put in more time, effort or money into a solution. But is it the best way? The way out can be revealed by doing something for someone else. 

There is a famous scene in the Torah when Hagar is traversing the desert with her son Ishmael. They are dying of thirst. She can’t bear to see her son die, so she distances herself from him. The child is crying. He is scared and in pain. God tells Hagar “Come, lift up the boy and hold him by the hand,” and your son will become the father of a great nation.

They are dying of thirst in the desert. How will her son become the leader of a great nation? 

Hagar must have thought that she was hallucinating. She was hearing voices in her head. She must have felt that delirium was setting in and death was not far away. But she listens to the Voice. She goes back to the boy. She  lifts him up and then, “God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water.” 

The well had been there all along, she just couldn't see it. Her salvation was there all along, but she didn't know or see it before. The Midrash explains that really everything in the world is hidden until God opens our eyes. 

How did Hagar have her eyes opened? By an act of chesed, loving kindness. Hagar returned to her son, she took him in her arms. And her eyes were opened.  

If you face an insurmountable obstacle, an intractable problem, you have a choice. Do you believe that you have all the brains, power, and money to find an answer? Or do you recognize that all that you posses won’t guarantee a positive outcome? 

God places these tests for us along our way. God gives us chances to recognize that everything we accomplish was made possible by the hidden hand of God. 

But there are times when that hidden hand is indeed hidden, that a solution is not obvious, and we need Divine assistance.

When you face an intractable problem, don’t first throw more money or time at the problem. Rather, go and do something for someone else. Give to those in need. Help another person. Go out of your way to offer encouragement, support and love. 

That act of loving kindness will open our eyes to the solution which was likely there all along.