The Plumbline

If you find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn't lead anywhere. (Frank A. Clark)  The Lord is making roads through the sea. He is making a path for his people, even through rough waters. (Isaiah 43:16) The obstacles one faces in life can sometimes be a little overwhelming - even to the point we want to find another path or just plain give up entirely. The good news is that the path God prepares may not be obstacle free, but it is prepared, provisioned, and protected. Prepared by the hand of God. Provisioned with his grace and strength. Protected by his mighty armies in high places, even when we cannot see his protection! The path without obstacles is really not all that great! The obstacles are what brings out the character of God within our lives. Those obstacles actually show us how dependent we are upon ourselves to remove each and every one of them in our own power or strength. It is when we realize they are bigger or more numerous than we can 'deal with' on ou...

I once saw a sign that read, "Obstacles are what you see when you take your eye off your goal." I think of it a bit differently: "Obstacles are what you see when you take your eyes off of your God." God says, "If righteous people turn away from their righteous behavior and ignore the obstacles I put in their way, they will die. And if you do not warn them, they will die in their sins. None of their righteous acts will be remembered..." (Ezekial 3:20) Obstacles are part of life, but did you ever consider that they could be put there by God to keep us on a righteous path? Ignore them long enough and the path you take could be totally 'out of sync' with the path God has called us to walk. By definition, any obstacle is meant to act as a hindrance to going a certain way or doing a certain thing. It should present some form of 'disincentive' to choosing that route.  Righteous people can ignore God's 'obstacles' - the things he clearl...

“I am the world’s Light. No one who follows me stumbles around in the darkness. I provide plenty of light to live in.” (John 8:12) If you have ever hit your toe on some object while stumbling around in the dark, you know how much pain a tiny 'mess-up' like that can result in. In some moment of "altered alertness" you came into full contact with that inanimate object - never intending to, but regardless of your intent, it happened. We "almost" avoided the contact - just a small margin of error - not a huge deviation from course - just a tiny margin resulted in such significant pain. Sometimes the "errors" we experience in life that cause us more than a little pain are not the result of  a "huge" margin of error, but "smaller margins" of error - we call them compromises. We often "stumble" where there is no light! The truth is: We NEED light! Nothing dispels darkness other than light. Jesus said he is the world'...

All of us need to be 'set straight' from time to time - some of us more frequently than others. I have a lampshade in the house that seems to always be askew, no matter how many times I make those adjustments, I will return to find it is somehow out of whack again. I could just toss the thing and start from scratch, but it is a perfectly good lampshade! Why would I get a new one? Well, some would think the straightening was not worth the hassle, while others would see the shade as defective. Too many times, I think we see the obstacle and give up on it rather than dealing with it. I guess some may flee when obstacles stand in their way, but I tend to see the obstacle as just another bump in the road! I've already run for dear life straight to the arms of God. So why would I run away now...  God's business is putting things right; he loves getting the lines straight, setting us straight. Once we're standing tall, we can look him straight in the eye. (Psalm 11:1, 7) ...

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.  We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up.  (Hebrews 12:1-3 NLT) Anyone ever ask you what "trips you up" the easiest in this life? I'd say one of the things that trips me up the easiest is fatigue - when I get tired enough, I lose patience, make hasty decisions, and can even say things I'd have done better to have kept to myself. Along with fatigue, there are lots and lots of things that "trip us up", but to name a few: ...

I once heard it said, "Obstacles are what you see when you take your eyes off the goal".  I think Henry Ford may have been the originator of this quote.  There is some wisdom in this statement as we all seem to lose focus on the mission, if even for a temporary span of time, when we get wrapped up in the obstacles in our midst.  Booker T. Washington said, "Success is to be measured not so much by the position one has reached in life as by the obstacles he has overcome."  An obstacle is anything or anyone that "obstructs" our vision, progress, or stand.  It almost blocks our passage from one point to the other.  If you are like me, these are annoyances which you "deal with" and then move on.  I sometimes "paint myself into a corner", then am left trying to figure a way out.  How about you?  The truth is, there has never been an obstacle (or a corner) which God has not been there with the wisdom to help me through it (or around it). So ...