Luke 24:25

God will make our obstacles serve His purposes. We all have mountains in our lives, and often they are people and things that threaten to block the progress of our spiritual life. The obstacles may be untruths told about us; a difficult occupation; “a thorn in [the] flesh” (2 Corinthians 12:7); or our daily cross. And often we pray for their removal, for we tend to think that if only these were removed, we would live a more tender, pure, and holy life.

“How foolish you are, and how slow to believe . . . !” (Luke 24:25). These are the very conditions we need for achievement, and they have been put in our lives as the means of producing the gifts and qualities for which we have been praying so long. We pray for patience for many years, and when something begins to test us beyond our endurance, we run from it. We try to avoid it, we see it as some insurmountable obstacle to our desired goal, and we believe that if it was removed, we would experience immediate deliverance and victory.

I have always been so sorry that the two disciples walking with Jesus on the road to Emmaus did not say to Him, “We still hope” instead of “We had hoped.” The situation is very sad, because in their minds it is over.

Oh, if only they had said, “Everything has come against our hope, and it looks as if our trust were in vain. Yet we will not give up, because we believe we will see Him again.” Instead, they walked by His side, declaring their shattered faith. Jesus had to say to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe!” (Luke 24:25).