Have you ever had someone tell you that they "can't" do something or that they couldn't make a change in some aspect of their lives because of their circumstances or situation? If we really sit back and reflect we may come to the realization that we are guilty of accepting our limitations as barriers to our progress. I've never been one to allow what appears to be a stop sign be a barrier, but over the years I have deepened my resolve even more. From my perspective, we can either learn from, adapt to, or deal with the roadblocks in our lives or if we choose to let those same roadblocks determine our destiny we will wind up settling for less than what God has planned for our lives.
Today's Flat Tire title references two types of rocks, a stumbling block and a stepping stone. When you visualize the two do you see two distinctly different rocks or are those two invariably the same? Well, for me, I see two identical rocks, but I also see those two rocks having two completely different purposes. The stumbling block serves as a deterrent to progress. To hinder of stop us from going where we need to be, or to keep us from becoming who we were created to be, the stumbling block gives us an excuse to accept our limitations and thus accept defeat. Common stumbling blocks could include physical attributes, financial status, family background, or life's circumstance whatever that might be. Too often we allow a stumbling block to be our go to response as to why we aren't moving forward or taking on one of life's challenges. It becomes easy to lay the blame on something that in our mind we deem as impossible to overcome. This debilitating mindset allows us to fall short of our purpose and in our mind we have the perfect explanation for why we aren't moving forward, our stumbling block has ceased our progress. The common mantra becomes, "Well if you had to deal with ________________, you'd understand." The stumbling block mentality gives a person permission to accept defeat and limitations as a normal part of life. The good news is life isn't about limits, it is more about limitlessness.
On the other side of the spectrum is the stepping stones mindset. When someone with a stepping stones mentality sees a pile of rocks blocking their way, they don't see a barrier, instead they see a pile of rocks that just need to be stacked up to form a tool for climbing up to the next level of life. Stepping stones are easily confused with stumbling blocks because they are one in the same rock. The difference is successful leaders look at that rock as a means to an end. When I think of the Bible story of the life of Joseph, he is a true example of someone who used stumbling blocks to build the stepping stones to lift him out of the pit that his brothers threw their youngest sibling in as a youth (Genesis 37).
Joseph's life was full of stumbling blocks, from the aforementioned pit experience, to being wrongly accused in his master Potiphar's house, to his inevitable dissent into prison, Joseph took each stumbling block and stacked them up to create a set of stepping stones leading him to his purposed position of second in command to the Egyptian Pharaoh. (Genesis 41). At any point along his life's trajectory, many of us would have settled on the idea that life is just that way and that's just the way it is. (Stumbling block for sure). For Joseph, he never stopped believing that God had a purpose for his life and that ultimately as long as he kept working at it, God's plan would be fulfilled. (Stepping stones for sure).
Towards the end of Joseph's story in the Book of Genesis, Joseph finally confronts his brothers regarding the toss into the pit and selling their father's favorite son into slavery. His brothers feared the worst, retribution was sure to be headed their way, yet Joseph's stepping stone mentality provided a means for forgiveness and reconciliation. In Genesis 50:20 Joseph explains it this way to his elder brothers, "You planned to do a bad thing to me. But God planned it for good, to make it happen that many people should be kept alive, as they are today." Today the question you need to ask yourself is "Am I using the circumstances of my life to be a stumbling block to what God intended me to do with the life He gave me to live?" Or, "Am I using those same stumbling blocks to build a staircase of stepping stones to elevate my life to where God purposed me to be?" Same rock, two distinctly different perspectives.
Coach Carter
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