20/20: God's Vision For My LifeSample

Overcoming Your Obstacles

By Gayland Lawshe

Then the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands.” Joshua 6:2

Jericho presented an imposing obstacle for Joshua and the nation of Israel. Situated approximately five miles west of the Jordan River, it was the most important city in the Jordan Valley and the strongest fortress in all the land of Canaan. As Joshua drew near to Jericho, the Commander of the army of the Lord met him and promised him the victory. But to him, the task must have still seemed impossible. How could victory over such a strong city depend on a shout?

The answer came wrapped in faith, obedience, and a supernatural display of God’s power. Once again, the One who held back Pharaoh’s army, who parted the Red Sea, and who provided manna and quail in the wilderness showed Himself faithful to His word. God and God alone—working through those who believed in Him and yielded to Him—brought the victory along with rich rewards.

Almost daily, we, as believers, face obstacles similar to Jericho…obstacles too high to breach, too wide to go around, too impossible to overcome. With our natural eyes, we only see defeat looming ahead. We quiver in the shadow of our obstacles, never fully realizing the empowerment of God’s promise…the promise Jesus Himself spoke about when He said, “I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you” (John 16:7).

Before Jesus ascended to heaven, He gave specific instructions to His disciples: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 1:4–5). He also told them, “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you” (Acts 1:8). 

The Greek word used for “power” in that verse is dunamis, which literally means “inherent power; power residing in a thing by virtue of its nature.” It’s the same root word for dynamite. In other words, dunamis is an explosive kind of power. And on the day of Pentecost, as the disciples were gathered in the Upper Room, the Holy Spirit filled them and they received the power Jesus had promised.

Following their Upper Room experience, the fear the disciples felt after losing their Master was gone. They were now empowered to do what they had witnessed Jesus doing—empowered to overcome sin, sickness, and death; to cast out demons; to see the lame walk and the blind receive sight; empowered to overcome every obstacle and see every captive set free; empowered to know the truth, to serve, and to lead. 

They were common people, bearing the mark of Christ, and enabled to fulfill the commands and promises of God. No longer fearful of the obstacles confronting them, their stories are recorded all throughout the book of Acts and give a detailed account of the empowering they received to carry on the work entrusted to them…all because of the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit that is available for all believers who yield to Him.

Modern history also gives us examples of those who have been empowered to overcome insurmountable obstacles. One such believer was Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Born in Germany in 1906, he became a Lutheran pastor at a time in his country’s history when deception and evil were at their peak. His voice rose against the atrocities perpetrated against Jews by the evil dictator leading his country to destruction. 

Even though he knew his commitment to serve the Lord and speak against evil could cost him his life, Bonhoeffer continued to stand firm in his beliefs. Following his arrest by the Nazis, he spent two years in prison until his execution in 1945 at the age of 39. His devotion to the Lord was evident through his writings and his care of fellow prisoners while he was in prison. His legacy—“a life devoted to and serving the Lord”—lives on today.

Receiving and yielding to the promise of the Father enables you to live this life in confidence. Knowing that the Holy Spirit abiding in you is empowering you to overcome the obstacles placed before you, withstand every attack of the Enemy, and stand strong in the face of adversity. As Ephesians 3:20 says, “God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.”

Today will you ask, receive and yield to the empowering of the Holy Spirit so you can have your personal “Jericho” delivered into your hands?

It is abnormal for a Christian not to have an appetite for the impossible. It has been written into our spiritual DNA to hunger for the impossibilities around us to bow at the name of Jesus.
~ Bill Johnson

Memory Verse

“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:8