Overcoming Obstacles

Digging deeper:

• Sources from which obstacles come

• How God’s word addresses them

• Early intervention

The first source of obstacles is from within.

Inferiority is an obstacle that comes from within.

1 Cor. 12:14-16

Doubt is an obstacle that comes from within.

Romans 10:17

Unforgiveness is an obstacle that comes from within.

Matthew 6:14-15

Anger is an obstacle that comes from within.

Ephesians 4:26-27James 1:19

Proverbs 16:32

Jealousy and envy come from within.

James 3:14, 16

Bitterness is an obstacle that comes from within.

Ephesians 4:31

Pride or conceit comes from within.

Proverbs 8:13, 11:2, 16:18, 29:231 Timothy 3:6

1 Corinthians 12:17-20

Selfishness is an obstacle that comes from within.

James 3:16Romans 2:8

Hatred comes from within.

Titus 3:3

A second source of obstacles is from without.

Materialism is an obstacle that comes from without.

Matthew 6:19

Idolatry is an obstacle that comes from without.

Colossians 3:5Luke 12:15

1 Timothy 6:8-9, 6:5-6

Lust of the eye is an obstacle that comes from without.

Genesis 2

Lust of the flesh comes from without.

1 John 2:15-17

A third source of obstacles, stumblingblocks, come

from below.

Critics, grumblers, and complainers

are stumblingblocks.

Philippians 2:14

Difficult brethren may be stumblingblocks.

Philippians 1:12-13Romans 14:13

1 John 2:10

Obstacles come from within, without, and below.

We cannot control everything that comes at us, but we can control our reaction to it.

Two sources help us respond to obstacles in a godly way.

They are the source from above and the source from beyond.

The source from above is God.

Hebrews 13:5Psalm 46:1

2 Timothy 3:16-17

The source from beyond is our hope of heaven.

Romans 12:12

The source of many obstacles comes from within, without,

and below.To overcome, let us draw from

the sources above and beyond.

Rather than focusing on “here,” let us focus on the “hereafter.”

Life’s obstacles are not supposed to paralyze us, or overtake us.

They are supposed to help us discover the people God

wants us to be.