Overcoming Obstacles

An obstacle course in a military boot camp teaches some important
spiritual lessons.

From a sermon by Al Friesen

Back in 1962, I talked to an Air Force recruiter who painted a glorious picture of what it would be like to join the service and see the world. It sounded good to me, so I signed up and in a few days I was on a bus headed for Texas. When I arrived, I was herded along with a bunch of other guys down into the basement of a building where we sat on a concrete floor for about two or three hours in the middle of the night. That was my introduction to basic training.

It got worse from there. I recall that as we went through the training, I thought they were working us to death. Of course, what they were trying to do was to make us strong and build up our stamina. Toward the end of the training period, our drill sergeant said, “Well, tomorrow we have an obstacle course for you to go through. In order to pass this portion of basic training, you have to get through that course. You will keep going through it until you complete it. On this course you will face a number of obstacles. You may have to go over them, you may have to go through them, you may have to go under them, but you cannot go around them.”

We are in a spiritual contest that includes some obstacles in our path, and we cannot avoid them. Sometimes we feel like we are in a cloud, or that we are up against a brick wall, and we do not know which way to go. It is going to take effort to get past those obstacles. Paul the Apostle alluded to this when he wrote to the believers in Philippi, “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14). Can you feel the energy in his words? He knew it would take effort. He knew it would take determination to “press toward the mark,” but he was focused on forgetting the things that were behind and going forward.

When we were told that an obstacle course would be the next step in our military careers, we had been going through training for six weeks or so. By that time, we felt like we were in pretty good shape. The day we were to face that challenge, they double-timed us all the way across the field to where the obstacle course had been set up. There the officers in charge explained the first obstacle, which involved a rope about an inch and a half thick with a big knot on the bottom. They said, “We are going to swing this rope to you. You have to catch the rope on the first jump, and then swing across to the other side. That is all there is to it. But if you miss the rope, then you have to jump into the mud hole that is underneath the rope.” Sure enough, under that rope was the gooiest mud I had ever seen in my life! One by one, we grabbed for that rope. Some of us made it across and some didn't.

The drill instructors told us, “Remember, you take the obstacles one at a time. You can't see what's ahead of you on the other side of the brush, so just take it as it comes. If you determine to do it, you can make it.” Their advice applies in our spiritual obstacle course as well. We cannot see what lies ahead. We know there will be some hurdles—that is a guaranteed part of the Christian life. We read, “We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God ” (Acts 14:22). However, we can “take it as it comes” and not worry about tomorrow.

One obstacle we had to get through in the military was a huge building. There was just one doorway with a drill instructor standing outside, and he told us, “All right, you are to go through this building. It is filled with tear gas and smoke, but if you go in this door and go straight, there will be a doorway on the other side and you will be back outside again.” That did not sound too hard, but once we got inside, we found out that it was a lot farther to that other doorway than we thought. Some of the guys made left turns and right turns and they ended up wandering around in there gasping for breath. Thankfully, there was someone inside who pointed us in the right direction. By the time we got out on the other side, we were coughing and our eyes were burning.

Have you ever felt like that spiritually? Have you ever gone into a situation not expecting it to be too bad, and it turned out to be a greater trial than you ever imagined? Remember, the Lord is there in that trial. He is there to take us through that obstacle, and we will get through. We have the One who doesn't drive us through difficulties, but who leads us through difficulties. He knows the path we must take that will give us victory, and He will take us through.

The enemy of our souls would like to have us falter or give up because of obstacles. He wants to make them into hindrances that will impede our spiritual progress. Paul asked the Galatian church, “Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth?” God help us not to let the trials that come our way become a hindrance!

I remember that drill sergeant saying, “You can go through it or over or under but you can't go around it. ” We don't want to go around anything that comes our way. We want to press right in because we know that there will be victory at the end of it. When we get through that trial and look back on it, it even looks different! We can see more of what the Lord had in mind, the plan He had for our lives to make us stronger.

Some of the obstacles we faced in the military course took teamwork to overcome. One man couldn't do it by himself, but as we helped each other, we got over it and went on to the next one. Have you ever come up to a spiritual obstacle where you felt like you needed help? We all do! That is part of God's plan for us in our Christian walk, just as it was part of the plan when the obstacle course was laid out in basic training.

I remember that the farther our group of guys went on the course, the more the excitement began to build. We began to think, Maybe I am going to make it. Obstacle by obstacle, we fought it through. Yes, it was a challenge! By the time we came to the end, we were exhausted. The last obstacle was a log about six or eight feet long and about five inches in diameter. All we had to do was to walk across that little log and we were finished, but it looked almost impossible because we were tired. I still remember the feeling, though, when I got across that log without falling off. Talk about exhilarated! Talk about excited! I knew I had made it through.

One of these days, we are going to make it through to that Home over yonder. I like to think of that time when we are done with the troubles and trials of this old earth. Think of the excitement and the joy that will be ours when we make our spiritual goal! The obstacles we had to face, the hurdles we had to go over, the trials along the way will seem so insignificant then. When we get through those gates, I expect to see Jesus standing there with His arms open wide to welcome us home. Talk about exhilaration! We cannot imagine it now, but I am eager to find out what that is going to be like.

I think of Paul's words to Timothy at the end of his life, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing” (2 Timothy 4:7-8). I want to hear my Lord say, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant. You were faithful. You tried. You made it through every obstacle. Now, welcome Home!”

In the spiritual course we are involved in, the Lord is with us, and He is going to help us. Best of all, we are guaranteed victory over every obstacle if we keep our hand in the Lord's hand. One of these days, we are going to conquer the final obstacle and say, “I've made it!”

Are you looking forward to that?