Road Rules
Pt. 3 – Hurdles
I. Introduction
As I have been telling you I was a runner in high school. I joined my school’s Cross Country Team and begin to train! (Slide 2) By finishing 11th in State I earned my letterman’s jacket.
Out of the lessons that I learned running we have talked about Indian Running. This is the concept of encouraging one another and helping those coming after you to run faster. Last week we talked about the concept that running hurts and the only way to endure is to keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, to recognize that pain is an indication of our Father’s love, it is our birthmark, it makes us legitimate, and if we will endure we will harvest righteousness and peace.
Let’s go back to our text!
II. Text
Hebrews 12:1
1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.
This week I want to discuss a topic that I have no experience in. I could run and occasionally on our cross country courses small items were placed in our way, like a hay bale. However, in all of my running, I never ran hurdles. Here is why:
I knew if I ran hurdles that would be me! Hurdles have been around a long time. The 110 Meter Hurdles was an original event in the first modern Olympics in 1896. Hurdles are part of the race!
The writer of Hebrews recognizes this and begins this 12th chapter by talking about barriers and hurdles. He makes a statement that I just want to allude to before we begin to talk about hurdles. He says to lay aside every sin that so easily entangles us. Why are we so easy? We make the devil’s life too easy. It should be hard to derail us, detour us, and deter us, but instead we are easy victims. We play into his hands. Quit being such an easy target! Quit being such an easy mark. Become so difficult to entangle that the devil dreads going to work. Make him sweat. Some of you give in without a fight! Look at your neighbor and tell them “Your too easy!” Make the devil earn his keep!
So let’s talk about hurdles for a few moments today.
1. They are called hurdles on purpose!
This is elementary, but profound. The definition of “hurdle” is (Slide 5b&c) “A light portable barrier, a portable panel for temporary fences.”
Did you hear it? Hurdles are called hurdles because they are portable and temporary. They are not called walls! They are temporary. They are not permanent.
My point is they are called hurdles because we are supposed to deal with them momentarily and then move on. So why is that most of the Christians that I have met have turned pit stops into parking lots? Why is it that many of you are being stopped and stymied by something you were intended and empowered to overcome, dominate and take dominion over?
Paul says “lay it aside”. In other words, he is simply saying get over it and move on! Get past them and keep running.
We let momentary obstacles become permanent dwelling places. Quit turning hurdles into habitations!
Some of you are still being stopped by depression that you should have conquered years ago.
Some of you are still fighting insecurities that you should have already grown out of.
Some of you are still hung up on addictions that you should have whipped into submission decades ago.
Some of you are still giving into lust that you should have beaten into surrender long ago.
You have allowed a hurdle to become more than a temporary stop or portable barrier. It was never intended to bring you to a complete standstill, but you have failed to lay it aside. I want you to also notice who Paul puts the emphasis on in this passage. He doesn’t say pray and fast to get enough power to overcome the hurdle. He says LET US lay aside these things. We are to take responsibility for our own hurdles and recognize that we give things that should be easily crossed more power in our lives than they have earned or deserve. There are things that happen to you (pain – shin splints and side stitches) that you can’t do much about except endure. Hurdles are different. Lay aside. They are obstacles that you have authority to overcome. They stand in your way, but you allow them to stop you!
2. Hurdles are conquered in steps.
The ultimate goal of every hurdler (in the short race) is to 3 step each hurdle. A young runner works his/her way into 3 steps between the hurdles. They count their steps and they work through their steps to get over the hurdle.
I want you to hear me very carefully this morning! I believe in the suddenlies of God. I am convinced that God can at any moment of His choosing step in and change your desires, appetites, and break your addictions. I have seen it take place and I know it can happen. However, I also know that the truth is that most hurdles are crossed in series of steps. Too many of us fail to get past our hurdles because we are waiting on the suddenlies of God and refuse to deal with the consistentlies of God!
We use God’s power as an excuse not to exert our own power! We use His wisdom as an excuse not to utilize our own. We do stupid stuff and expect God to bail us out! There are steps we can take. Could it be that God is waiting for us to take step 2 before He intervenes at step 3?
I will be the first to acknowledge that according to His own Word, that God can make the crooked path straight and that He can in one moment make the high places low. So I am not downplaying his power because in many cases that is our own only hope! However, many of the hurdles that we are hung up on could be overcome by simply accessing the power that we have already been given. In fact, Jesus said in Luke 10:19, “I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.” How much more authority do you need? How much more power do you need than ALL?
The problem is that most of us want to skip the steps necessary to get over the hurdle.
I want to encourage you this morning take the initial steps to victory and watch God get involved. This is the LET US part of the equation. LET US lay aside . . . LET US do our part!
If you are depressed . . . take the initial steps and quit hanging around people and environments that feed that depression! Feed your mind by thinking on good things and taking every thought captive.
If you are overweight . . . stay out of the Twinkie aisle at the store! Don’t frequent buffets. Take the initial step and visit a gym. Beat your body into submission!
If you are wooed by alcohol . . . stay out of the club! Quit going to parties where they drink. Quit hanging out with folks who drink!
If you are having marital issues . . . take the initial step and get into counseling. Spend time with a couple who has a great marriage so you can learn why.
If you are struggling financially . . . take the initial step and get rid of that credit card and stop going shopping. Develop a real budget!
We fail to cross the hurdles because we fail to deal with the initial step. Hurdles are conquered in step one! Your hurdle will defeat you if you try to skip to step 3! By the way, God’s power most often is at work in what we can do!
I want to make another statement about steps. I see too many people take the first step and then give up! Go through all the steps! You didn’t get into your mess in one step and most likely you won’t get out in one step! Walk through the entire process. What steps do you need to take to find victory?
Some of you are saying, “Well if God would just help me!” He has! He is showing you the first step to take. It may not feel very spiritual and it may not produce any goose bumps, but it leads to the next step which leads to the next step which leads to overcoming the hurdle!
3. Hurdles can entangle you, stop you, or they can cause you to rise!
What you are facing is not supposed to stop you! It is supposed to stretch you! The intent of your challenge is to cause you to rise up in faith, power, trust, hope, patience, endurance, and character. Or you can let it knock you down and defeat you! Your best days are not the days when running is easy! Anyone can run when it is easy. Your best day is when you are faced with a hurdle and you take the initial and subsequent steps and rise to the challenge and cross over it in flying colors!
The heroes of the faith recorded in Scripture didn’t make the list because they faced no challenges. They are included because they rose to the challenge. The people you admire today are not folks who have never had a bad day, but those who have encountered rejection, regret, divorce, death, sickness, bankruptcy, failure and yet have gotten back up and run back to health, love, prosperity and hope! Will you be a hero of the faith or someone who hits the hurdle and sits in sorrow the rest of your life? Rise today!
