It happens to all of us. Perhaps you may be looking forward to attaining some goal or moving toward something you want to accomplish and things don’t go just as you planned; obstacles come up, you have setbacks, you have discouragements, you have disappointments.

We have to know how to meet those things.

When obstacles come into our lives there are two end results: either it defeats us or it strengthens us. We want any obstacles that come into our lives to strengthen us, and the best way to have those obstacles strengthen us instead of defeat us is to be prepared for them from the very beginning.

Sometimes we bring obstacles into our experience because we don’t do any planning. When we plan we are able to control the obstacles that come into our lives instead of having them control us.

Obstacles come to us from two directions: From the results of our own thoughts and actions, from within, or from outside in our environment.

It’s really a matter of how we look at things; it’s a matter of our viewpoint and our attitude.

The first major obstacle that we face in any situation is to eliminate the negative beliefs that we bring to our current needs. We want to attain something, but we bring those old negative beliefs with us which block us from attaining something new. So we have to identify them and eliminate them.

We must remember that the inner thoughts always condition our outer world. And if we want to change our outer world we have to start with our inner thoughts. We have to eliminate the negative thoughts and bring in the positive thoughts to move toward the goals we want to achieve. Even in the most difficult of challenges we have to do this.

Even a cancer patient has to participate in his or her healing by growing as a person.

Dr. Bernie Segal, who is a cancer surgeon and is founder of the Exceptional Cancer Patients Inc. in New Haven, Connecticut, said that “When a person grows, the cancer doesn’t.” In other words, we have to learn to love ourselves, to recognize ourselves as being valuable and important and in control of our lives.

One of Dr. Segal’s patients, after her cancer went in remission, had this to say: “I realized that I lacked love; it was like emptiness or a space within me, and what happened was that I grew something to fill that space. It was only after I realized this that the cancer went into remission.” She realized that she was able to begin to love herself.

We all have to love ourselves as God loves us. We are expressions of God at the point of His creation, so we are valuable, we are unique, we are wonderful, and we are filled with His presence. But we have to see that. Another patient said, “I was not able to help in bringing about my healing until I realized how negative I was about myself.”

If you’re having difficulty identifying the feelings or beliefs that you have, beliefs that you need to change or beliefs that you need to have, think in terms of yourself at this stage as the perfect you. What would you be like if you had already attained that which you want to attain? What would you be like if you were already that perfect you? Take a typical day. How would you act on that day? What kind of thoughts would you have on that day? What kind of interactions with people would you have? How would you feel about yourself on that day? Then compare the thoughts that you would likely have if you were your perfect you with the thoughts you’re having now. And if there is something to change, then you know where the change needs to take place.

Several years ago our daughter Bonnie attended a seminar on how best to discipline children. The instructor was an ex-nun who had seven children of her own and had to find a way to deal with them. Her basic philosophy consisted of three basic beliefs which she taught the children. But she also taught the adults who were in the seminar to adopt these beliefs for themselves and then to teach them to their children. The beliefs were simply these:

1. I like myself.

2. I have the ability to think for myself.

3. There is a solution to every problem.

If we would adapt those things to our own lives we can face any challenge and we can come through successfully.

I like myself. That’s our basic teaching, to realize that we are children of God, that we are unique and wonderful beings, that we inherit all the good of the kingdom, that we are worthy. When we like ourselves we can survive anything, we can move through any challenge.

I have the ability to think for myself. We don’t need to have others think for us. We can make our own decisions about things. If we have a healing challenge and people are treating us like sick people, we don’t need to accept ourselves as a sick person. We don’t need to be victims of our world. We can see ourselves in a different way; we can think things through for ourselves.

There is a solution for every problem. The constant attribute found among geniuses in a study that was done at Harvard University some years ago on genius and problem-solving was that every one of them looked at every problem as though it had a logical, workable solution. If we approach every problem in that way, we’ll find that solution. The solution is always there, waiting for us to find it.

But in all things, no matter what we’re facing, if we would know that we need to put our faith in God instead of putting our faith in the obstacle then we can face any challenge. We can move through it successfully, we can know that God is in charge and God will see us through. Just know for yourself, “God will see me through.” Take your attention off the problem and onto the solution.

Let me remind you again to focus upon faith in God as I share with you these words of a past Daily Word:

“I am faith-filled, fearless and free. I know that God is always with me, my help in every need. I am not afraid of any person, circumstance, or condition, for I know that God’s power undergirds me and is the one power over all. My faith enables me to triumph over negation and claim the spiritual victory that God has prepared for me.” The scripture is from Matthew 21:21, 22, “If you have faith and never doubt . . . even if you say to this mountain ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ it will be done. And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”

God is Blessing You, Right Now!

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham

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 Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham, a Unity minister for over thirty-eight years, invites you to subscribe to his free inspirational newsletter, Spiritual Solutions.

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