The hiker and his dog sat on a mountaintop overlooking a quaint New England village. The sun was behind them and they could watch the shadows of night edging their way from home to home. Ducks created V’s on the pond below as geese formed them in the sky above.
During a late summer storm an oak tree had fallen across the path to this mountain summit. Hikers had already started a new path around it. Obstacles are like that. Obstacles are just obstacles and nothing more. People find ways around them. Sometimes they are minor blips along life’s way, but sometimes they are major interruptions on the way to a dream. Smart people, innovative people, brave people, undefeatable people always find a way around. This is the way it is supposed to be. Obstacles teach us lessons. Obstacles make us stronger and wiser. Obstacles make the moment of success all the sweeter.
In Hebrews 12: 2 we read, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
The cross was not the end. It was only an obstacle.
Written September 22, 2002