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Turning Stumbling Blocks Into Stepping-Stones

blocks

// Lynette Hagin

The faith walk is not a walk of ease. It's not always fun to endure life's problems. But James 1:4 tells us to let endurance run its full course. We would probably rather go through life on "flowery beds of ease." But that's not the way life works. We live in an imperfect world with imperfect people, and life is not going to be easy all the time.

We need to understand, however, that our faith won't grow without being tried and proven. In life, we will experience trials of our faith. But during those things we must "count it all joy" (James 1:2). The basis for faith is the Word of God, and the proof of faith comes from living a life of faith.

God never promised that the Christian life would be free of tests, trials, and adversity. But He did say in Isaiah 43:2, "When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee."

When we hold on to God in the waters of adversity, we have His promise that we're not going to drown. It doesn't matter if we can't swim, because the Lord is going to hold us up in that water.

Our Heavenly Father wants us to rely totally on Him. So many times we want to do everything in our own strength. We try to fix the situation.

Jesus said, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matt. 11:28). God wants us to trust Him completely. When we do, He is able to fix the situation.

Unshakeable Faith
We must base our entire life on our faith in our Heavenly Father. Everything around us may fall, but if we will hold on to His hand, He will hold us up in the midst of every storm.

The enemy goes about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8). He's trying to shake our trust and confidence in God. He's trying to get our eyes on our problems.

Now what do we do when life brings problems our way? What should be our response? There is a saying, "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade." Lemonade is pretty good—just add a little sugar to it and it's wonderful! So when life's problems come, we can go to God with them and let Him turn them around
for good.

Climb on Those Bumps!
That reminds me of a story about a little boy who was leading his sister up a mountain path. The way was not easy. Finally the little girl said, "Why, this isn't a path at all! It's too rocky and bumpy!" To this her brother
replied, "Sis, the bumps are what you climb on!"

You may think, "Hey, I've had a whole lot of bumps in my life.
Maybe I'm going to climb really high!" That may be the case, because the enemy loves to throw his biggest bumps in the paths of those who he knows are going to be great successes for God.

So instead of allowing those bumps to become stumbling blocks, use them as stepping-stones! In my own life, I've always tried to take that attitude concerning problems. I say, "I won't let bumps cause me to stumble. I'm going to step higher and higher until I climb over the top of those bumps and obstacles."

God doesn't promise to remove every obstacle from our path. But He does promise to help us overcome them and climb higher in spite of them.

Difficulties can help us climb higher if we'll use them as stepping-stones. Too often, though, we only want to complain about them. Sometimes we may try to kick them out of the way or jump over them. Or more often, we try to go around them. But when we finally get around one, there's sure to be another bump in our path.

When facing these bumps, it's easy to want to turn around and go another way. But we don't have to quit or give up, because we can turn stumbling blocks into stepping-stones!

When circumstances come, I encourage you to get up on those stones and say, "I'm more than a conqueror through Christ Jesus" (Rom. 8:37). "Greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world" (1 John 4:4).

When you get to the next stone, your body might be racked with pain or weakened by a serious disease. But get up on that stone and say, "My God has delivered me. He has healed me. By His stripes I am healed" (Ps. 34:19; 1 Peter 2:24). If fear is surrounding you, get on that stone and say, "God has not given me a spirit of fear but of power, love, and a sound mind" (2 Tim. 1:7).

Whatever the circumstance, find a promise in the Word concerning your situation. Then confront the problem and say, "I cannot go under for going over" (Mark 4:35). "I am standing on the Rock—the Rock Christ Jesus—and He will put me over!" (2 Tim. 2:19 TLB).

 

This is how we climb over adversity. Trials come to every one of us. And they don't just come one time—they keep coming.

Asking "why" when tests and trials come only hinders us from defeating those trials and walking in victory. And continuing to ask "why" will defeat us every time.

Maybe you can't get over the circumstances of life because you've been asking, "Why, God? Why me? I've stood on Your Word. I've prayed. I've lived life as well as I know how. Why is this happening to me?"

The Lord wants us to stop questioning Him and start trusting Him. He will bring us through every situation. So let's stop spending time questioning the circumstances. Instead, let's use those circumstances as bumps we can climb on.

Start turning your stumbling blocks into stepping-stones. Find scriptures that deal with whatever circumstances you are facing. Then begin to "step" on each stone with the Word until you are victorious in Christ. Start praising the Lord for victory over those stumbling blocks. Use them as stepping-stones and climb to the place God has destined for you!