Overcoming Obstacles With Christ Jesus
You, Lord, keep my lamp burning;
my God turns my darkness into light.
With your help I can advance against a troop;
with my God I can scale a wall.
(Psalm 18: 28, 29)
Jesus answered,
“If you want to be perfect,
go, sell your possessions and give to the poor,
and you will have treasure in heaven.
Then come, follow me.
(Matthew 19: 21)
For a believer of Christ Jesus, overcoming obstacles is a greater challenge. It is nowhere said that a Christian would have an easy walk through troubles, but it is surely said that with God on our side we can surely 'advance' and 'scale.' And that's when the spiritual life becomes thrilling and interesting. And it is during this phase that a Christian learns the true meaning of depending on the Lord and following Him.
The new year has already introduced itself with struggles and obstacles. On all different sides, we are able to see a limitation, a restriction, a distancing and obstacles all around. In everyone's personal life, we are able to see a feeling of being surrounded by insecurities and questions. There are definitely walls around many. There are frequent moments of darkness nowadays in our lives. Things do not go according to how we had planned them or wanted them to be. It is quite obvious that many have not written any assured tasks or events in this year's calendar; there is always the repetition of the phrase "we may have to wait and see."
In today's time of devotion, I invite you to realise two important elements of overcoming obstacles with Christ Jesus. For someone who believes in the true and real presence of the Lord moving with them, the entire process of overcoming obstacles is very different. As David wonderfully describes it in Psalm 18: 28, 29, whenever a troop or a wall is against us, we are not asked to leap forward into the mess but to lean back into the presence of the Lord. We are called to lean back and to depend on the Lord for His strength to overcome the obstacles before us. As a mighty warrior who always moved with the all-possible presence of the Lord, David is able to sing the words of this Psalm when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. He is able to realise, it was not his physical strength or the sharpness of his sword that helped him overcome his army of enemies, but it was his total dependency on the Lord. We are called to lean back and depend.
David acknowledges his dependency on the Lord by saying "You, Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light" (Psalm 18: 28). We are able to see how God has been the sole reason why the lamp called David was able to continue burning. And we are also shown how this sole reason behind the burning lamp is also able to provide light in the darkest hour. And then, David says "With your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall" (Psalm 18: 29). Yes. That was the result of that dependency. With God's help and presence with us, we can advance against even a troop (all the things that fight against us) and we can even scale a wall (all the things that block us). This is the invitation today. To lean back and depend on the Lord when surrounded by obstacles.
As I continued to think about this further, I saw the second element of overcoming obstacles with an invitation that Christ Jesus himself gives us. In a very immediate reading, Matthew 19: 21 sounded to me like, totally become dependent on me, and "Then come, follow me." I find this to be the second and most important part of overcoming obstacles with Christ Jesus. It is the invitation not only to depend on the Lord but also to follow Him in the way that He leads. Christ Jesus invites us to follow Him to reach our path of perfection. He wants us to be focussed on Him as we depend on Him. He wants us to follow Him carefully in the marvellous and miraculous ways in which He leads us. And that is when we can reach perfection in life. Following Christ Jesus not only helps us to overcome obstacles but also shows us the way towards perfection. Jesus invites us into this higher and ultimate life of dependency and following when he replied to a young man who asked him "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life" (Matthew 19: 16). And Jesus replies to him, saying, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."
Today, in a global circumstance and phase of obstacles and struggles, at a time when a "global affair" is slowly knocking at your social and personal lives' doors, you are invited to depend and to follow the Lord. With Christ Jesus's presence in our lives, we can surely trust Him in all circumstances. He is worthy of our praises, thanks, dependency and following. He is so faithful and true. And, today this is the invitation. Christ Jesus invites you to depend on Him and to follow Him. Surely there are obstacles before us, and let us be assured that, just as David said, with God's help we can advance against the troops, we can scale the walls.
I pray that the blessing and power of God the Father, the love and grace of Christ Jesus, and the presence and fellowship of the Holy Spirit, will lead us through all difficult times and will help us move further and find perfection in Him, our Lord our God.
May God bless you.
Yours in Christ,
"I will trust in you..."
