When something gets in your way and keeps you from your desired goal, how do you view the situation? Do you see your circumstances as an obstacle to thwart your progress or as an opportunity for you to go up higher? Your attitude will most likely be the difference between failure and success in whatever you attempt.
In 1850 a Bavarian dry goods dealer stepped off a boat in San Francisco with a single bolt of canvas tenting but with no job and no money. What could have been an obstacle was turned into an opportunity by Levi Strauss. Learning that local miners would pay a good price for a pair of rugged pants whose pockets would not tear easily, Mr. Strauss began to manufacture canvas pants with pockets and seams that were reinforced with copper rivets. Mr. Strauss’ Levis and overalls made him the biggest pantsmaker in California within one year; eventually he became one of the biggest pantsmakers in the world.
When Napoleon Hill was in his eighties, he told of a conversation that he once had with Thomas Edison. “Did you really have 10,000 failures before inventing the light bulb?” Mr. Hill inquired, whereupon Mr. Edison ushered him into a room filled with volume after volume of experiments that had failed. The failure totaled over 14,000. When Hill asked Edison what he would have done if he had not found the solution for the light bulb, he replied, “I would still be in my laboratory working instead of wasting my time talking to you.” Then he observed, “I knew that sooner or later I was going to have to find a way that worked because I was running out of ways that wouldn’t.” Failure can be an obstacle or an opportunity. It all depends on your attitude.
As God gave His law to Israel, He warned, “See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction” (Deut. 30:15). God was giving the Israelites a law that could either be an obstacle or an opportunity. It proved to be an obstacle to them because they chose to disregard it.
EVERYTHING that God commands in His holy word can be an obstacle or an opportunity; it all depends on your attitudes toward what God has said. If you look upon His word as a book of laws that were made to keep you from having your own brand of fun, His commands will be in your way. If you see His precepts as an infallible guide to a better life, His decrees will be a blessing. Paul once explained the results of different attitudes in another way when he said, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18).
Along with God’s holy book, the things that come into your daily life can be obstacles or opportunities. Judas was trusted with the high position of being treasurer of the apostles, but his greed turned the position into an obstacle which led to misuse (John 12:6). On the other hand, Paul used his “thorn in the flesh” as an opportunity to let Christ’s power be demonstrated in his weakness (2 Cor. 12:7-10).
Everything written in God’s word and every situation that God allows to come into your life is meant for your good. But whether what is written and what happens from day to day is a hindrance or a blessing depends upon YOU. By your attitude of heart and your commitment, life and all of its blessings will be an obstacle or an opportunity. You make the choice.