Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison.
Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing (Matthew 5:25-26).
Jesus is stressing here the instruction contained in his injunction to “watch and pray.” It is ever so much easier to overcome a difficulty if you tackle it at its first appearance than it will be after the trouble has had time to establish itself in your mentality—to dig itself in, as the soldiers say. The moment a difficulty presents itself to your attention, quietly affirm the Truth, giving it no chance to dig itself in.
On the other hand, by thinking about your difficulty, you incorporate it into your mentality, and if you go on doing this long enough, it may be exceedingly difficult to get rid of it.
Jesus, when he wished to drive home a particularly important point, employed a graphic illustration from everyday life. In those times the law governing debtors was extremely severe. When a man found himself in debt, it behooved him to come to terms with his creditors as quickly as possible. Even at the present day it is important for the debtor to keep his case from coming into court, for the longer the case drags on the more lawyers’ fees, court dues, and expenses of various kinds accumulate, all piled on top of the debt proper. So it is with the various difficulties that present themselves to us in our daily lives.
How much time and effort have we invested in arguing and disagreeing with one another. What if we invested half of that time into seeking agreement and accommodation? The problem is that we can’t argue and seek common ground at the same time. We can not defend a position and seek accommodation simultaneously. The reason is simple. When we are arguing, we are focusing on the problem instead of seeking a solution. That does not mean we should give in to every disagreement and always go along with the other person. It means we must refocus our attention on the solution instead of the problem. That requires that we think of the other person and what is the right thing to do considering both parties.
The same principle applies to other problems in our lives. The more we struggle with the challenge, the more power we give to it. If we instead turn to God and focus our thoughts, words and deeds on God, then we have refocused our attention on the solution. In all these things, we must quickly turn to the solution, or face the prospect of living with a growing problem. So, let us not put off dealing with that which troubles us, but let us address it quickly and with God’s help seek the solution. When we do this, our time in the Garden increases and our troubles becomes our blessings.
Seeking solutions,
Z gardener
Good Morning Garden 
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