Obstacle or Opportunity?

Have you ever tried to succeed in something only to be met with resistance?  Did you turn around and quit, or did you keep on pushing until a door was opened to you?

I think children are our best examples of putting our all into something.  Whether they are playing, eating, napping or pestering their little brother or sister, it's an all or nothing mindset. Yet, as we grow older it seems as if we somehow lose some of that drive.  We give up.  Throw in the towel.  Hang up our coat and cross off whatever it is that's beat us down, naming it as "unconquerable".  What a sad delusion coming straight out of the pit of hell.

Indulge me for a moment and allow for a short story...  

Once there was a little billy goat who loved eating the green grass in his pasture.  Day after day he would walk a little further eating and enjoying the sweet grasses that grew in the warm sunshine, until one day he came to a large stone wall.  The goat had heard about this wall.  Many of his other goat companions had come up against it only to turn back in frustration settling for the ordinary greens this side of the wall.  He had also heard from his bird friends, of the wonderful grasses on the other side near a beautiful trickling stream.    This little goat was determined to conquer the wall and partake of the glorious grass on the other side.  Day after day through the heat, the rain, gusty winds and storms, the little goat would roll rocks with his nose to the edge of the wall, piling them higher and higher until the pinnacle moment when he could finally climb the rocks, scale the wall and enjoy the delicacies on the other side. He had made it and was now enjoying not only the grasses and the refreshing stream, but also the satisfaction and thankfulness of overcoming his obstacles and enjoying the blessings.

So what's up with this goat story, you may ask?  Frankly, many of us give up too quickly.  Whether it be in a marriage, on a job, in a ministry or just in life in general, when things don't seem to be working out so well and there's a big ole wall in our way, instead of staying the course and finding a way to scale it, we retreat and settle for something less than God's best for us.

Ultimately, our lack of endurance costs us rich blessings we could have received if we would have only stayed the course and taken the wall.

If you're reading this and have somehow given up and thrown in the towel at first sight of the obstacle in your life, don't despair!  God often places or allows those walls in our lives to strengthen our endurance and faith in Him.

Take another hard look at it.  Pray for God to open your eyes to see what purpose He has for you through this.  Ask Him to show you how to overcome it and to give you the ability to scale it, then enjoy the fruits on the other side.  I believe you'll be thankful you did. :)

Blessings,
Kristi

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13