How to Overcome Obstacles

  I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses.

Joshua 1:3

    You probably are familiar with the Bible story of how Joshua captured the city of Jericho. What you may not be familiar with is how embracing the spiritual principles embedded in this story will help you overcome every single obstacle that stands between you and the life you have imagined for yourself and your family.

   Before going to war against Jericho, Joshua was told by God that every place Joshua walked upon had already been given to him. So, armed with this knowledge, Joshua and his army went up to Jericho, only to find high, thick walls which looked impossible to get beyond. However, Joshua ignored what his eyes saw before him and relied on God’s promise that Jericho was already his to conquer.

   Joshua spent no time trying to figure out how he and his army were going to get inside the city. Instead, he focused on God’s promise to him and followed his intuition to march around the city. He ignored the question of how he would get past the walls. Rather, he focused his energies on his God-inspired intuition that told him to march around the city, blow trumpets on the seventh march around the walls, and then shout. By doing this, “Joshua fit de battle of Jericho and de walls came a tumblin’ down.”

   This story is a metaphor for your present psychological state. The city of Jericho represents your desire, or definite objective. The walls of Jericho symbolize the obstacles between you and the realization of your dream, your definite objective. Joshua’s feet, as they were walking on Jericho’s soil, represent your understanding that you have the ability to place yourself anywhere you desire to be by fixing your imagination in the place you wish to be. In other words, you can live now, psychologically, in the state represented by your definite objective.

   So, here is how to apply this story and its principles to your life. First, define exactly what it is that you want. Do not make this determination based on “how” you can achieve it. Just pretend that “how” is not your concern.

   Second, take your mind completely off the obstacles that separate you from your definite objective and focus solely on the objective itself. Third, close your eyes and feel that you are already in possession of your desired objective. Stay within this psychological space you have created for yourself as long as you can. When your mind drifts, bring it back to your objective and tell yourself that you have already achieved it. Feel what you would feel like when you achieve your objective and feel the personal satisfaction you would feel once your objective has been realized. When you can no longer concentrate in this way, open your eyes, and go about your ordinary business for the day.

    Take the story of Joshua and the walls of Jericho personally because the All-Originating Spirit of God has made you the same promise: “ I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. Joshua 1:3