Obstacles or Opportunities?
I’m currently facing a number of substantial roadblocks. I’m sure you’ve been there too…those unplanned, unwanted obstacles that make for challenging days as you navigate through this bumpy course called life.
It makes me tired and weary just thinking about how I will overcome some of them. My tendency is to avoid and take the nearest exit route to find a temporary rest stop – a place you go when you don't want to think nor deal with what’s in front of you. Eventually though, you have to get back on the road and face the course ahead, right? I am learning there are two ways to look at this in our faith journey.
Obstacles can either keep us from God or become an opportunity to experience His love, power and purposes as we walk through them.
THE QUESTION I HAVE FOR YOU IS:
What is obstructing your full view of God's purposes for the obstacles you are encountering in this season of your life?
Oswald Chambers says, “God did not give us an overcoming life: He gives us life as we overcome.”
I love this reminder because it helps us see obstacles not as something negative and to be avoided, but as opportunities for God to show us how to experience the very essence of life, Jesus himself. Imagine if we embraced our obstacles with this mindset?
SO HOW DO WE EMBRACE THESE OPPORTUNITIES AS WE MOVE THROUGH LIFE’S OBSTACLES?
Tell God openly and honestly how you feel about your obstacles. Don't feel like you have to have the right Christian response. You can wrestle, dislike, be fearful, and even angry about what you are encountering. God is a BIG God and cares more that you come to Him in your moments of distress rather than hide because you can't conjure up a Christ-like response to Him.
Look back and remember how God worked in your faith through other obstacles you encountered. Remember how faithful God was, how He provided for you, the people God used to encourage you, how He grew your faith as a result of that difficult season, and how He brought good out of it. What a great way to quickly replace a bad attitude with gratitude! Take a moment and shout out to God about that!
Be bold enough to ask God how He is looking at this obstacle in your path. Most likely you are not in agreement at this point. He would say, “Dear daughter, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.” (James 1:2-3) I would say, “Yeah, no!” At least initially, right?
Our lives are marked by lots of attempts to manage our comfort and discomfort levels. Who of us says “Yes, sign me up for a life of obstacles and challenges!” But deep down, I kind of do desire that, because more than anything I want to be close to God and dependent on Him for everything.
Comfort keeps me from the fullness of God and discomfort is an opportunity to bring me back to God, to see Him do impossible things not just in my circumstances but within my life.
Think about your obstacle today. It could be a difficult relationship, parenting challenges, marital crisis, ongoing health challenges, depression, a temptation of any sort, insecurity, jealousy, to name a few…
Your obstacle is an opportunity for you to experience God and for Him to do The Impossible. Yes, God will move you through the obstacle to the other side. But always His way and on His timeline according to His promises!
The Impossible is exactly what He is going to do in your life and faith as a result of you trusting Him with your obstacles. Maybe it will be a changed heart, a new attitude, a forgiving spirit, greater patience, or even a “face lift” as He changes your countenance from despair to joy and peace!
A FEW THOUGHTS TO REMEMBER:
Keep your eyes on God, not your obstacles. God knows how inconvenient and overwhelming they are to you, but for God, no biggie. He's got IT and He certainly has YOU.
Surrender whatever that obstacle is to God as many times a day as you need to. It is a great practice to let go of whatever you are overwhelmed by, and let God work. Jesus invites us to cast our burdens on Him 24/7. Keep the convo going with God as you through your challenges.
Take steps to draw close to God. Maximize your obstacles according to God's purposes for your life. He wants you to learn how to trust and depend on Him, mature in your faith, and be a testimony to others watching of what life looks like with God in charge. Our obstacles are used well beyond our own spiritual growth but become places to spur on the spiritual growth of others
The Holy Spirit is your power source. He is your guide and will tell you every move to make on your bumpy course as long as you depend on him.
Find some time this week and open up your Bible to learn the endless ways God uses obstacles for the benefit of others. Observe how men and women in the Bible overcame their obstacles and what the result of that was for them. Same will be for you.
The reality is we can push through obstacles on our own, apart from God, but we will miss out on the endless opportunities to experience life that happens when we move through them God's way. Why would we choose that?
And why would we not heed Jesus words in Luke 18:27(MSG): “No chance at all,” Jesus said, “if you think you can pull it off by yourself. Every chance in the world if you trust God to do it.”