From Obstacles to Opportunities

Thank God! He deserves your thanks. His love never quits. Thank the God of all gods, His love never quits. Thank the Lord of all lords. His love never quits.

Psalm 136:1-3 MSG

God’s love never quits. We see this love in Jesus; he refused to quit even when people mocked, betrayed, and denied him (Hebrews 12:1-3). Jesus fought for his relationship with God and fought for each of us by giving his life for us on the cross when we had done nothing to deserve it:

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 5:6-8 NIV

God never quits loving us, even when we are at our worst. When God’s love fills our hearts, we will find the strength to love others in the same way.

Love endures long and is patient and kind; love never is envious nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily. [5] It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God’s love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong]….. [7] Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening].

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 AMPC

As this passage tells us, the love of God in our lives will show up in how we treat other people. The quality and closeness of our relationship with God is not shown in our religious behavior but in our ability to love people the way God does.

Love endures, and the love of God can empower us to keep going when we experience pressure and hard times. When we trust that God loves us, we can let him train us through our stress and struggles instead of giving up on our faith and choosing an easier path. Our obstacles become opportunities to grow and rely on him rather than quit. In the process, God turns us into people who can help others overcome their struggles and setbacks. With deep belief in the love of God, we can seize every opportunity to do good for other people because we know that genuine love can change their lives.

In this devotional, we will learn to see our obstacles as opportunities and develop a heart that won’t quit on God or each other.

Pressure is an opportunity to rely on God

We are like common clay jars that carry this glorious treasure within, so that this immeasurable power will be seen as God’s, not ours. Though we experience every kind of pressure, we’re not crushed. At times we don’t know what to do, but quitting is not an option.

2 Corinthians 4:7-8 TPT

We will experience all kinds of pressure, and we won’t always know what to do—but that doesn’t mean we need to be crushed by these difficulties. We will face moments of uncertainty and stress in our jobs, health, families, and relationships, and we must choose how to respond.

We can’t always control the pressures that come at us, but we can choose whether or not we will rely on the power of God in the midst of them. If we do, we will become resilient under the pressures of life rather than being crushed by them. If we don’t, we will feel crushed, and we will eventually want to quit trying.

Quitting looks different for us in different situations. But at heart, we usually know when we are doing it. Without the power of God in our lives, the difficulties we face will make us want to quit believing, quit loving, quit forgiving, and quit trying to do what is right.

We can’t always control the pressures that come at us, but we can choose whether or not we will rely on the power of God in the midst of them.

Unfortunately, when we quit we also miss opportunities. But when we choose not to quit, we find the opportunities even in our obstacles. I recently heard a story from friends of mine who had prayed for years for their uncle to become a Christian. They loved him dearly and longed for him to build a personal relationship with God. But there were many obstacles—he didn’t live close to them, which made it difficult to have conversations about their faith. He also had significant health challenges. Yet I was inspired by my friends’ decision to not quit believing. Recently, they had an opportunity to travel and share the Scriptures with him, and as he heard the story of the cross he decided to become a Christian at the age of 84.

If my friends had decided to quit loving and believing prematurely, they would have missed this opportunity to share the love of God with their uncle. Instead, they made a choice of faith; they kept believing in the love and power of God, and they persevered.

Hard times are an opportunity to grow

Put up with hard times. God uses them to train you. He is treating you as his children. What children are not trained by their parents? [10] Our parents trained us for a little while. They did what they thought was best. But God trains us for our good. He does this so we may share in his holiness. [11] No training seems pleasant at the time. In fact, it seems painful. But later on it produces a harvest of godliness and peace. It does this for those who have been trained by it.

Hebrews 12:7, 10-11 NIrV

God uses hard times to train us. If we imagine one of the training montages in our favorite movies, we can understand that this training has a purpose. God wants us to conquer and win the spiritual battles in our lives. He wants us to be strong enough for what’s ahead, and he will allow us to go through difficult times so that we are prepared for these fights:

He trains my hands for battle; he strengthens my arm to draw a bronze bow. [35] You have given me your shield of victory. Your right hand supports me; your help has made me great.

Psalm 18:34-35 NLT

God is constantly teaching us how to fight so that we can experience victories. It’s essential that we put up with hard times rather than quitting on learning or growing.

A recent article about quitting from the editor-in-chief of Deep Spirituality, Russ Ewell, inspired me with these words:

What we are addressing is the quitting which says, “I no longer want to be uncomfortable, experience failure, have to wait, or have to work, so l am going to quit. I will find an easier way to get what I want or settle for something less because I am unwilling to endure until my character meets the opportunity when success will be possible.

How to Not Quit When Everyone Else Is Quitting

As we endure, our character grows (Romans 5:3-5). At the right time, this strength of character will meet opportunity and lead to success. But we must not quit before that happens!

In short, be careful! Do not turn your life toward evil ways– which you have preferred to hearing God’s correcting voice in the midst of your suffering. [22] See, God is supreme in His power. Is there any teacher like Him?

Job 36:21-22 Voice

When we get tired of listening to God’s correcting voice, our temptation will be to turn our lives away from the way God wants us to live. The sins in our lives can be signs of quitting spiritually because they seem easier (and sometimes they are easier, but only in the short term).

Here are a few examples of common paths we take when we are quitting in hard times rather than letting God train us:

The way of deceit

But you want complete honesty, so teach me true wisdom.

Psalm 51:6 CEV

God wants us to be honest, but at times it feels easier to conceal our true thoughts, feelings, and sins. We may feel insecure that people are tired of hearing the same things from us over and over, or we may feel ashamed of our true thoughts and actions. 

While the path of deceit may temporarily lead us away from uncomfortable emotions, it eventually leads us to crack and crumble (Isaiah 30:12-14, Psalm 32:3-5) because God never intended for us to carry the weight of life alone.

The way of pride

Be humble under God’s powerful hand so he will lift you up when the right time comes. Give all your worries to him, because he cares about you.

1 Peter 5:6-7 NCV

Humility is God’s way of handling life, and it involves recognizing our limitations and asking for help. But it often feels easier to close our hearts than to embrace our need for help. The result is distance from God and a lack of compassion for others. When we close our hearts to our own feelings of weakness, we also close them to kindness and compassion toward others who feel weak.

They have closed their unfeeling heart [to kindness and compassion]; With their mouths they speak proudly and make presumptuous claims.

Psalm 17:10 AMP

The way of selfishness

Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.

Philippians 2:3-4 NLT

God tells us to not only look out for our own needs, but for the interests of others too. But when we are hurting, sometimes it’s hard to do that. Instead, we become self-consumed, self-centered, and self-piteous. The result is that we feel consumed with negativity and hurt the people in our lives with whom we could be sharing our burdens because we don’t have room to consider them:

For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another. [14] For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Galatians 5:13-14 NRSV

The way of bitterness and anger

The godless in heart cherish anger; they do not cry for help when he binds them.

Job 36:13 NRSV

Sometimes we turn to bitterness during hard times, cherishing our anger and trying to find someone to blame for our troubles. While bitterness and anger may make us feel good or strong temporarily, they leave us only with a poisoned heart that can’t connect to the forgiving heart of God:

Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many.

Hebrews 12:15 NLT

When we are tempted to take one of these paths, it’s helpful to remember that we are probably looking for a way out of our hard times. Rather than taking a shortcut that only leads to more pain, we can turn back to God and trust him to train us. Hard times are an opportunity to grow, and remembering this helps us resist the temptation to quit living the way he wants.

Doing good is an opportunity to change a life

After looking over everything, I stood up and spoke to the important families, the officials, and the rest of the people. I said, “Don’t be afraid of our enemies. Remember the Lord, who is great and powerful! You must fight for your brothers, your sons, and your daughters! You must fight for your wives and your homes!”

Nehemiah 4:14 ERV

The book of Nehemiah in the Bible tells us the story of a group of people who fought for God and each other. They were rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem, and they were threatened by enemies who didn’t want them to complete this work. They had faced obstacle after obstacle, and they were losing their enthusiasm. As a result, they were tempted to quit.

Nehemiah led them through this moment by calling them to do three things:

1. Don’t be afraid:
   Fear would make them want to quit, focusing on possible bad outcomes rather than believing they could have a victory. 
2. Remember the Lord:
   By reminding the people of God’s great power, Nehemiah was telling them who was on their side. They didn’t need to be afraid of their enemies because the all-powerful God was fighting for them. 
3. Fight for each other:
   Because God was fighting for them, the people could carry his heart into their relationships with one another. Remembering the impact they could make on one another would help them overcome their fear and exhaustion.

Fighting for each other would turn out to be a life-changing decision for the people in this story. Instead of giving up, they returned to work while (literally) watching each other’s backs. They would eventually finish rebuilding that wall, a spiritual victory that inspires us to this day.

Similarly, we can persevere through challenging situations by saying no to fear, remembering that God is fighting for us, and deciding to fight for other people.

Being willing to fight for someone isn’t easy, but it can change someone’s life. It means persevering through their difficult moments, praying for them, forgiving them when they hurt us, and sharing Scripture to help them grow. We can’t choose how people respond, and at times we may even need to give them space, but we can always choose to take the opportunities God gives us to do good.

May we never tire of doing what is good and right before our Lord because in His season we shall bring in a great harvest if we can just persist. [10] So seize any opportunity the Lord gives you to do good things and be a blessing to everyone, especially those within our faithful family.

Galatians 6:9-10 Voice

Fighting for our friends means seizing any opportunity God gives us to do good things. It means asking ourselves, What good things could I do for the people around me today? These good things can be big or small; saying something kind, inviting someone over for a meal, praying for someone, or simply calling to say hello are all simple ways we can do good for people around us.

I very clearly remember times when people seized the opportunity to do good for me. Some of these decisions changed my life—like when I was a college student at UC Berkeley, and other students gave up their time to read Scriptures with me and help me in my relationship with God. My whole life changed as a result. I’m sure it wasn’t easy for them at times, but they decided to fight for me. This reminds me that we can’t underestimate how much impact it makes on people to do good for them; it can change their lives.

Final thoughts

When we allow our relationship with God to guide us, he empowers us to resist the temptation to give up on doing the good he has called us to. His love teaches us to endure challenges, and he helps us overcome our own limitations. In this way, he shapes us into people who can encourage and support others facing their own struggles. By seeing our obstacles as opportunities to rely on God, grow, and change people’s lives, we can become people who conquer rather than quit. We can develop a love that endures and make a lasting difference in the lives of people around us.