The Blessing of Obstacles

Do you ever see those signs while you're driving that say, "Hazard" or "Construction Up Ahead"? They let you know what's coming so you can be prepared. The thing is that you drove along so far before you actually run into the hazard or the construction, that by the time you do see it, you've almost forgotten about being warned. If only life came with warning signs, right?

Actually, I believe it does and we tend not to see them. We go through life with blinders on ignoring the warning sign when we find ourselves in deep Doo Doo wondering how on earth we got there. Trouble comes to make us stronger and to teach us lessons. I find I keep encountering the same types of situations until I master the lesson. I keep running into the same personality types over and over again until I learn how to deal with them. Can you relate? Until you pass the test, you can't move on to the next grade with God. He just doesn't allow for half-stepping.

Obstacles are placed in our path to prepare us for our calling. If we're going to represent Christ, we can't be thin-skinned and reactive. We can't take things personally and fly off the handle when things don't go our way. We have to learn to be flexible and resilient and to take things in stride. We have to roll with the punches and be able to care more about others than we do about our own comfort. I can admit that I still have a good amount of work left to do. How are you doing?