I’m sure many of you can look back on your life and see how things that were meant to harm you ended up helping you in the long run. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve realised that my perspective on many things have changed, for the better.
I look at things in a more positive light, realising that what I once viewed as stumbling blocks were merely stepping stones to help me reach a higher level.
It’s hard to feel that way when you’re drowning in disappointment, which is why it’s important to have the right mindset. It really makes the world of difference.
Every time I failed at something, it showed me what not to do. Every time a friendship ended, it showed me what I didn’t need in my life. If my career didn’t fulfil me the way I felt it should have, those roadblocks showed me that I was on the wrong path.
Like you, I have had my share of failures and disappointments, or so I thought. But, those moments taught me to recalibrate and things ended up working out for the better.
Wanting What You Don’t Need
I remember years ago when I applied for a job and went through multiple interview steps. Every time I sat down with a new person, I killed my interview. I just knew it. But, when it came to the final step, I didn’t do so well. The interviewer started highlighting a lot of the things I would be required to do and I just remember gazing out of the window of her beautiful office and saying to myself, I hate this job already and I don’t even have it.
I knew that it was not for me, but wanted it because the money seemed enticing. Needless to say, I didn’t get the job. For days following that interview, I ripped myself apart, questioning what I could have said or done better. But, then I also reminded myself that I didn’t want the job and would have been miserable.
Weeks later, the company folded. Most of the people who were hired, were terminated, including those who had left their jobs for that gig. I remember saying, thank God I didn’t get it. I would have been in that same crew of people now out of work. It was a disaster.
I ended up at a company that fuelled my creativity and was not as stressful. That stumbling block allowed me to be just where God wanted me to be, and it ended up being much better.
Problems Can Be A Good Thing
A friend of mine was extremely close to closing on a house. She wanted this place more than anyone could imagine, but it seemed that just as she was about to seal the deal, there was one stumbling block after another. I told her that maybe she wasn’t meant to have it. But, she wasn’t trying to hear it.
No matter what she did, she kept getting hit with problems. She finally decided to walk away. She later learned that the house she was so in love with, was in a flood-prone area and that a hurricane had impacted many of the surrounding houses leaving them unsellable. Had she gotten that house, she would have been mired in problems for years to come.
She ended up finding a much better house in a better area that was not afflicted with the same problems.
To this day she is grateful that the deal didn’t go through.
I am a firm believer that stumbling blocks are God’s way of protecting us – showing us that we’re doing something wrong and setting us on the right path.
When relationships don’t work out, give God thanks because He knows what is meant to harm you or help you. He knows what is going to take you to a higher level and what will keep you mediocre.
The next time you encounter a stumbling block, be grateful. You’ve just gotten a powerful sign that you’re on the wrong path. Now, you can set out on the right one.
Amen Rogan! Very well said and accurate!
Thank you so much, Mechelle! Glad you enjoyed the article.