Opportunities Vs. Obstacles
“They left and went up into the hill country, and came to the Valley of Eshkol and explored it. Taking with them some of the fruit of the land, they brought it down to us and reported, ‘It is a good land that the LORD our God is giving us.’ … Where can we go? Our brothers have made our hearts melt in fear. They say, ‘The people are stronger and taller than we are; the cities are large, with walls up to the sky. We even saw the Anakites there.’”
—Deuteronomy 1:24-28
Observation:
When Moses sent out the twelve spies from the twelve tribes of Israel two of them returned with reports of opportunities to overcome obstacles and ten of them returned with reports of obstacles that would overcome opportunities. All twelve of the spies looked at the exact same data but there were two vastly different interpretations of the data.
Application:
When you are confronted with a problem do you see an opportunity or an obstacle first? Far too many times we see obstacles that overcome opportunities in our lives instead of opportunities to overcome obstacles. The way that we see problems will drastically affect our ability to be successful. If we see obstacles first we will always feel a sense of defeat even before the challenge confronts us, and thus it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. But if we see opportunities first we will always have a sense of a victory just waiting to happen even in the face of failure. I cannot remember who said this next statement but it has had a tremendous effect on me; “there are no problems until you have solutions.” Meaning that problems are only opportunities to find solutions and once you find solution the opportunity becomes a problem past. It is far too easy for us to see the obstacles first and develop a fear of failure, as ten of the twelve spies did, then to see opportunities first and develop the courage to take on the challenge.
In my life I have shied away from way too many opportunities because I saw obstacles first. But it is funny any time that I did take the opportunity I began to find ways to overcome the obstacles. Dave Ramsey said the difference between people who are successful and people who are not is that successful people find themselves standing on a pile of failures instead allowing themselves to be buried by them. I would add that those who do not take the opportunity to overcome the obstacles are even bigger failures because they let imaginary piles of failures bury them.
If we are the type of person that sees opportunity first, we will begin to even see failure as opportunity. Take Thomas Edison and the invention of the light bulb as an example. A reporter asked him how it felt to have failed a thousand times before making a light bulb that worked. To this Edison responded, “I didn’t fail 1,000 times. The light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps.” Every failure in the eyes of the person who sees opportunity first is not a failure but a step towards success.
Prayer:
Lord, give me the sight to see opportunities first and then give the courage to tackle every obstacle. Lord, I want to live a life like Joshua and Caleb defined by a heart wholly devoted to you and thus unafraid. In the name of Jesus I pray Amen…
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