First deal with the elephant in the room

Then a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute was brought to Jesus, and He healed him, so that the mute man spoke and saw. All the crowds were amazed, and were saying, "This man cannot be the Son of David, can he?" But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, "This man casts out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons." And knowing their thoughts Jesus said to them, "Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and any city or house divided against itself will not stand. "If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand? "If I by Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? For this reason they will be your judges. "But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. "Or how can anyone enter the strong man's house and carry off his property, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house. - Matthew 12:22-29 NASU

Most people don't want to deal with the big problem in the room. They instead deal with the smaller ones, even if that means continually. And it will always be if you don't deal with the biggest problem in the room. The biggest problem often creates the smaller ones as well.

Jesus, in the book of Revelation, talking to the seven churches, dealt with the strong man in each church if there was one. Every church has problems. Not every church has an elephant in the room, causing big messes everywhere he goes.

You have this problem with your children as well. You point out the big problem they need to solve, and they redirect to more minor issues they rather do than the one they are told to face. Go clean your room. And they head for the lone coffee cup on the floor next to the couch.

We would rather check off as many to-dos on our list than face that one big one that will give us a greater return than the rest of the list. We feel accomplished, but the elephant is still in the room. And the same problems we checked off today will return in the morning because of the elephant we ignore.

If you want to address the elephant but are unsure what it is because you become comfortable living in a circus, then find some honest people in your life and ask them what they think is the biggest problem in your life that will bring about the greatest return if solved.

Jesus ultimately went after the fallen angel Lucifer. The slyest of all the beasts of the garden, defeated, will one day be thrown into the bottomless pit, and all the smaller demons will follow like a barrel full of monkeys.