How can I overcome obstacles in my life?

Jeremiah 32:27“I am the Lord, the God of all the peoples of the world. Is anything too hard for me?”

The first step to overcoming an obstacle is remembering that God enjoys making happen what we think is impossible.

Psalm 18:4-6The ropes of death entangled me; floods of destruction swept over me. The grave wrapped its ropes around me; death laid a trap in my path. But in my distress I cried out to the Lord; yes, I prayed to my God for help. He heard me from his sanctuary; my cry to him reached his ears.

Psalm 61:2From the ends of the earth, I cry to you for help when my heart is overwhelmed. Lead me to the towering rock of safety,

Psalm 69:2-4Deeper and deeper I sink into the mire; I can’t find a foothold. I am in deep water, and the floods overwhelm me. I am exhausted from crying for help; my throat is parched. My eyes are swollen with weeping, waiting for my God to help me. Those who hate me without cause outnumber the hairs on my head. Many enemies try to destroy me with lies, demanding that I give back what I didn’t steal.

Psalm 138:3As soon as I pray, you answer me; you encourage me by giving me strength.

When encountering an obstacle, we should pray. Honestly talking with and listening to God, will help us face and overcome life’s obstacles. Prayer invites God, who has no limits, to work in the situations we face.

Nehemiah 4:10-11Then the people of Judah began to complain, “The workers are getting tired, and there is so much rubble to be moved. We will never be able to build the wall by ourselves.” Meanwhile, our enemies were saying, “Before they know what’s happening, we will swoop down on them and kill them and end their work.”

Nehemiah 6:15-16, 19So on October 2 the wall was finished—just fifty-two days after we had begun. When our enemies and the surrounding nations heard about it, they were frightened and humiliated. They realized this work had been done with the help of our God. . . . They kept telling me about Tobiah’s good deeds, and then they told him everything I said. And Tobiah kept sending threatening letters to intimidate me.

Psalm 27:14Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.

Psalm 31:24So be strong and courageous, all you who put your hope in the Lord!

After asking God for strength and guidance, we need to be patient. The balance between waiting patiently on God and “building the wall” is courageous obedience to what God calls us to do one day at a time. We may think that we can’t do the big work God has planned for us, but we can do the little tasks for God today while we wait for him to show us the way. In taking those small steps of obedience each day, we may find that we have been building a great work for him one stone at a time.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10Each time he [the Lord] said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

The obstacles in our lives are opportunities for God to reveal his power. When we have this perspective, the obstacles we face may not seem so overwhelming. The weaknesses within us and the hardships we face that frighten us may be tools that God is using to shape us into his kind of people.

Luke 4:1-2Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River. He was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where he was tempted by the devil for forty days. Jesus ate nothing all that time and became very hungry.

1 Corinthians 10:13The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.

Being filled with the Holy Spirit did not prevent Jesus from facing the obstacle of temptation; rather, it prepared him to overcome his temptation. As long as we live, we will be tempted to do what is wrong, but we can have the power to overcome, resist, and defeat temptation.

Hebrews 12:1-2Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.

Hebrews 12:3-4Think of all the hostility he [Jesus] endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up. After all, you have not yet given your lives in your struggle against sin.

Having Jesus as our example will helps us overcome obstacles. “What would Jesus do?” is more than a cliché; it is a good way to deal with life’s problems.

Genesis 17:17Then Abraham bowed down to the ground, but he laughed to himself in disbelief. “How could I become a father at the age of 100?” he thought. “And how can Sarah have a baby when she is ninety years old?”

Genesis 18:14“Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return about this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”

Genesis 21:1-2The Lord kept his word and did for Sarah exactly what he had promised. She became pregnant, and she gave birth to a son for Abraham in his old age. This happened at just the time God had said it would.

Amos 7:12-15Then Amaziah sent orders to Amos: “Get out of here, you prophet! Go on back to the land of Judah, and earn your living by prophesying there! Don’t bother us with your prophecies here in Bethel. This is the king’s sanctuary and the national place of worship!” But Amos replied, “I’m not a professional prophet, and I was never trained to be one. I’m just a shepherd, and I take care of sycamore-fig trees. But the Lord called me away from my flock and told me, ‘Go and prophesy to my people in Israel.’”

Acts 4:13-22The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men with no special training in the Scriptures. They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus. But since they could see the man who had been healed standing right there among them, there was nothing the council could say. So they ordered Peter and John out of the council chamber and conferred among themselves. “What should we do with these men?” they asked each other. “We can’t deny that they have performed a miraculous sign, and everybody in Jerusalem knows about it. But to keep them from spreading their propaganda any further, we must warn them not to speak to anyone in Jesus’ name again.” So they called the apostles back in and commanded them never again to speak or teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied, “Do you think God wants us to obey you rather than him? We cannot stop telling about everything we have seen and heard.” The council then threatened them further, but they finally let them go because they didn’t know how to punish them without starting a riot. For everyone was praising God for this miraculous sign—the healing of a man who had been lame for more than forty years.

Hebrews 11:8-9, 11-12It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going. And even when he reached the land God promised him, he lived there by faith—for he was like a foreigner, living in tents. And so did Isaac and Jacob, who inherited the same promise. . . . It was by faith that even Sarah was able to have a child, though she was barren and was too old. She believed that God would keep his promise. And so a whole nation came from this one man who was as good as dead—a nation with so many people that, like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore, there is no way to count them.

Ordinary people can do extraordinary things and have extraordinary courage with God’s help. No matter what God calls us to do and despite the obstacles we face, he will always give us exactly what need to accomplish it.

Joshua 1:7, 9“Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Then you will be successful in everything you do. . . . This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Judges 6:13-15“Sir,” Gideon replied, “if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? And where are all the miracles our ancestors told us about? Didn’t they say, ‘The Lord brought us up out of Egypt’? But now the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over to the Midianites.” Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you!” “But Lord,” Gideon replied, “how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least in my entire family!”

1 Samuel 17:4-7, 32-33, 37, 45-51Goliath, a Philistine champion from Gath, came out of the Philistine ranks to face the forces of Israel. He was over nine feet tall! He wore a bronze helmet, and his bronze coat of mail weighed 125 pounds. He also wore bronze leg armor, and he carried a bronze javelin on his shoulder. The shaft of his spear was as heavy and thick as a weaver’s beam, tipped with an iron spearhead that weighed 15 pounds. His armor bearer walked ahead of him carrying a shield. . . . “Don’t worry about this Philistine,” David told Saul. “I’ll go fight him!” “Don’t be ridiculous!” Saul replied. “There’s no way you can fight this Philistine and possibly win! You’re only a boy, and he’s been a man of war since his youth.” . . . The Lord who rescued me from the claws of the lion and the bear will rescue me from this Philistine!” Saul finally consented. “All right, go ahead,” he said. “And may the Lord be with you!” . . . David replied to the Philistine, “You come to me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies—the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. Today the Lord will conquer you, and I will kill you and cut off your head. And then I will give the dead bodies of your men to the birds and wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel! And everyone assembled here will know that the Lord rescues his people, but not with sword and spear. This is the Lord’s battle, and he will give you to us!” As Goliath moved closer to attack, David quickly ran out to meet him. Reaching into his shepherd’s bag and taking out a stone, he hurled it with his sling and hit the Philistine in the forehead. The stone sank in, and Goliath stumbled and fell face down on the ground. So David triumphed over the Philistine with only a sling and a stone, for he had no sword. Then David ran over and pulled Goliath’s sword from its sheath. David used it to kill him and cut off his head. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they turned and ran.

1 Chronicles 28:20David continued, “Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Don’t be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. He will see to it that all the work related to the Temple of the Lord is finished correctly.”

2 Chronicles 32:7“Be strong and courageous! Don’t be afraid or discouraged because of the king of Assyria or his mighty army, for there is a power far greater on our side!”

Psalm 46:1-2God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. So we will not fear when earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea.

Psalm 49:5Why should I fear when trouble comes, when enemies surround me?

Proverbs 28:1The wicked run away when no one is chasing them, but the godly are as bold as lions.

1 Corinthians 16:13Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong.

We will have courage to overcome temptations and other obstacles when we are obedient and firm in our faith. Then we can be confident that God is with us and wants to help us.

2 Corinthians 10:3-5We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ.

Ephesians 6:10-18A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.

1 John 5:4-5Every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith. And who can win this battle against the world? Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God.

Satan specializes in putting obstacles in our paths; God specializes in helping us overcome them. He equips us to do this with his armor and his weapons of truth, righteousness, peace, God’s Word, and the gift of salvation.

Psalm 5:8Lead me in the right path, O Lord, or my enemies will conquer me. Make your way plain for me to follow.

We can overcome some obstacles simply by avoiding them when we see them ahead. Living by God’s rules will keep us alert to potential obstacles.

1 Peter 1:13So prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world.

Trusting in Christ alone and exercising self-control will keep us from doing what we should not.

Zechariah 8:6, 13, 15“This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: All this may seem impossible to you now, a small remnant of God’s people. But is it impossible for me? says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. . . . Among the other nations, Judah and Israel became symbols of a cursed nation. But no longer! Now I will rescue you and make you both a symbol and a source of blessing. So don’t be afraid. Be strong, and get on with rebuilding the Temple! . . . But now I am determined to bless Jerusalem and the people of Judah. So don’t be afraid.”

God gives us the encouragement and strength to overcome obstacles by speaking to us in his Word, through the prompting of the Holy Spirit, and through godly counsel.