Obstacles Create Room for Growth

Near my home, a little stream runs swiftly through the woods. The water moves quickly enough to discourage freezing in cold weather but not fast enough to move large branches that fall into it when spring or fall winds blow. When a gust lands a big branch across the stream, the water slows and begins to pool.

You might be tempted to help this stream if you discovered her on your wander through the woods. She appears blocked, in need of freeing. Your hero impulses might grow as you imagine hurling that long branch back onto the bank, as you hear the stream gurgle her thanks as she speeds on her merry way again. But what you may not realize is that wood in streams is generally a good thing. Long branches create pools where sand and silt can accumulate. These quiet waters welcome fish to spawn. Tiny plants and insects thrive here, nourishing the animals who now pause at the still pools to eat and drink. Take away that branch, and you lose a tiny world.

Many times we want to remove the obstacles that fall across our paths on the way toward growth. We contend with God that our life’s stream would flow more smoothly and swiftly if this or that didn’t clog the waters. We presume that obstacles can’t bring abundant life. But often it is precisely the presence of these things we wish away, these things we fight against, that create the growth we need. While we busily (and futilely) flex our muscles to rid our lives of obstacles, God gently asks us to stop the heavy lifting and watch things grow instead.

Amazing growth happens in those quiet stream pools. If the water temperature warms just right, in three weeks trout eggs will hatch, and a new world will be born. All because a tree fell across the water. All because an obstacle wasn’t moved. Sometimes God calls us to scale walls we thought were insurmountable. He delights to show his mighty power through us. But just as often, he calls us to pause before the things he places in our paths. To find him as the sand and silt gather. To wait in patience and wonder as he births something new and unexpected right before our very eyes. To trust that in him even obstacles can bring abundant life.