Rev Willie Liebenberg | College Chaplain

It seems that when we have a difficult task to accomplish, there are always various obstacles getting in our way.  However, when we are living the adventurous life of faith, those obstacles are not just roadblocks, but they are opportunities.  Let me tell you a story:  One day a farmer’s donkey fell into a well.  The donkey cried for hours and hours while the poor farmer tried to figure out what to do.  Finally, after he had exhausted every idea he could think of, the farmer decided the animal was old and the well needed to be covered up anyway.  As much as he liked the donkey, he decided burying the donkey was a good option.  He invited all his neighbours to come over and help him.  They each grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well.  When the donkey realised what was happening, he cried horribly.  You can imagine that it would have been a terrifying moment for any animal to have shovels of dirt thrown on top of it.  And then, to everyone’s amazement, the donkey quietened down.  The farmer and his neighbours continued to shovel dirt into the well thinking the donkey had succumbed to his fate.  However, when the farmer looked down the well, he was astonished at what he saw.  As every shovel of dirt hit the donkeys back, the donkey did something amazing.  He would shake it off and step on it.  Each shovel load of dirt brought the donkey closer and closer to the top of the well.  After a while, the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and trotted off!  The moral of the story?  Life is going to shovel dirt on you — all kinds of dirt.  But the trick to get out of a hole is to shake the dirt off and use it to make your way out of a bad situation instead of letting it bury you alive.  Each of our troubles can be a stepping stone if you will let it be.  Even the deepest of holes (troubles) can serve as stepping stones if we just keep going and refuse to give up.  But do you know what we do when we are facing obstacles?

• Sometimes we run backwards—away from them.
• Sometimes we try to go around them.
• Sometimes we try to get over them on our own.

But the challenge of a faith adventure is to BELIEVE God will help us through our obstacles, and we understand that he often uses those obstacles to make us better people.  I know another story.  This happens when we lose sight of faith.  When we focus on the obstacle instead of our faith, we might fail.

• Matthew 14: 22 – 33 (Please read this in the Bible).

Here is something we can learn from Peter: Don’t act impulsively.  Sometimes obstacles come to us, but sometimes we construct the obstacles from our own poor choices and actions.  Either way, the lesson we need to learn is not to be impulsive.  Some of you might be a lot like Peter in this story.  You continuously find yourself facing obstacles and difficult situations because you make quick decisions without thinking.  Now back to Peter and the story.  It must have been great stepping out onto that water!  I mean, imagine what it would have been like to step out of a boat and walk on water.  But then reality set in and Peter loses faith.  He stops believing.  He gets scared, and he starts to sink.  But as he sinks into the murky Sea of Galilee he cries out for the Lord to save him . . . And Jesus does.  Sinking into the dark and murky Sea of Galilee?  Now that’s an obstacle.  It’s also an excellent metaphor for obstacles in our life.  Two ways to react when things block our path:

• It’s one thing to have the faith that God will be there for us in our time of need — but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t slow down and think before we act.
• The second lesson is the act of simply believing — absolute confidence in Jesus.

What a great story!  It reminds us that we were made for adventure.  It also reminds us that with faith, we can do the seemingly impossible.  It reminds us that Jesus has an adventure story for each one of you.  Don’t let the dirt and deep water overwhelm you but reach out to Jesus.