Divine Solutions and Human Solutions
His Holiness Pope Shenouda III discusses the subject of divine solutions and human solutions, explaining that every person encounters problems and trials in life and must choose between relying on personal wisdom or waiting for God’s intervention. He emphasizes that human solutions may achieve quick and outward success, but they are not always according to God’s will and may leave painful consequences and long-term effects. Divine solutions, however, may appear slower, but they carry blessing, wisdom, and stability. He explains this through many biblical examples, including Abraham, Rebekah, Jacob, Moses, the Apostle Peter, David the Prophet, and Joseph the Righteous. These examples show that even the saints experienced the temptation to depend on human methods, but God guided them to the better way. He teaches that true success is not measured by the speed of obtaining a result, but by whether it agrees with God’s will. Therefore, he calls believers to trust God’s providence and not surrender to quick solutions that may contradict spiritual principles.
Spiritual Message
The teaching emphasizes that God works at the proper time and in the proper way, and that a person must believe that God sees everything and cares about every detail of life. Waiting for the Lord is not weakness or passivity, but an expression of complete trust in His wisdom. He also warns against relying only on human intelligence, because the mind, when separated from God, may lead to deception, sin, or hasty decisions. Joseph the Righteous is presented as a living example of someone who patiently waited for God’s intervention until his suffering was transformed into glory. He also presents David, who refused to take revenge himself and left judgment to God, so God preserved his conscience and gave him the proper solution. He confirms that God’s way is characterized by calmness, purity, and wisdom, while human ways are marked by haste, violence, and the desire for quick results.
Educational Lesson
Pope Shenouda teaches that walking in divine solutions requires three essential virtues. The first virtue is faith, which is confidence that God is able and willing to solve the problem in His own way. The second virtue is prayer, offered continually and persistently while seeking God’s intervention without despair or weariness. The third virtue is patience and waiting for the Lord until He completes His work at the time He sees as appropriate. He emphasizes that these virtues give a person spiritual experience through which they come to know God’s goodness and learn to depend on Him in every circumstance. He also explains that God does not act with haste, but leads a person step by step until the goal is reached in a safe and blessed manner.
Practical Application
His Holiness encourages every believer to examine each decision before making it and to ask whether it comes from divine wisdom or from quick human thinking. He encourages resisting the tendency toward haste, violence, and deception in dealing with problems, while holding firmly to prayer, calmness, and trust in God. He also urges believers to accept delays in God’s response as an opportunity to grow in faith, patience, and spiritual experience. He affirms that divine solutions, even if they seem slower, lead to lasting and blessed results, whereas human solutions may achieve temporary success but cannot provide true peace. He concludes by calling everyone to walk in God’s way and to rely completely on the Lord in every aspect of life.
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