JOURNEY GUIDE: Why Doesn’t God Remove Obstacles?

Our positivity can cripple us.

Maybe we’re naively optimistic because we’ve seen many barn wood plaques with Bible verses saying God only has good plans for us. Perhaps we think true faith anticipates only problem-free agendas. Maybe we’ve heard too many passionate preachers declaring that God is ready to knock out our Goliaths. Or we simply translate our wants into our expectations.

Such smooth-sailing anticipations befuddle us because the ocean rarely stays smooth. No one moves very far forward without challenges, especially Christ-followers.

What if we tossed this hyper-positive, trial-free, simplistic version of Christianity and joyfully embraced Jesus’s view—an outlook that expects obstacles that can enhance our lives?

He teaches us to expect difficulties so we’ll not be overwhelmed and we’ll find peace through them. Beginning in John 13, he tells his followers about his coming death, the Holy Spirit’s role in assisting them, and the persecution headed their way.

We come to these words, the reason for his warnings, the hope in the looming darkness.

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33, NIV, italics mine).

One situation is unavoidable. The other is optional.

We will encounter difficulties, some mild and others suffocating. Jesus used a word for trouble that means great and pressing affliction. It’s a given. We all deal with oppressive obstacles.

We can possess peace if we rely on Jesus. It’s optional and must be developed. We all have the opportunity of peace—profound, calming, refreshing confidence and contentment. That supernatural peace provides clear-headedness to find a way forward.

If we don’t anticipate resistance, two things often happen when it comes:

1.    We question God. Sometimes we simply doubt his goodness, but at other times we rage against his silence and inaction—tempted to disbelieve and leave him.

2.    We lose heart and then get clobbered. The trouble shocks so much it paralyzes.

What if we expected roadblocks?

What if our response wasn’t stunned surprise but pliable acceptance, allowing us to pivot and determine a way through?

Military leaders expect to pivot. They draft specific strategies but also live by this saying: No plan survives contact with the enemy. They bank on resistance and prepare to improvise and adjust.

With Christ’s help, we can be experts at pivoting.

Here’s the Journey Guide:

Our faith doesn’t remove obstacles; it empowers us to adapt and overcome them—all of them.