Life is full of hurdles.
As a child, I hated athletics. Every single event held terrors for me. I was no runner: both sprints and longer distance races demoralised me. I was useless at throwing, so the javelin, discus and shot put were all beyond the skill of my feeble arms. Long jump felt like a farce with my little legs. But the two events that really underlined my athletic inadequacy for me were the hurdles and the high jump.
Other people got the timing in hurdles perfectly right, running and striding over the hurdles without ever knocking one over. I could never get it right, and the hurdles seemed like high jumps to me. I could never get over them without clattering them down, hurting my legs and ending up way behind the other athletes. Those hurdles stood like Everest to me as others took them literally in their stride, effortlessly elegant.
The high jump was even worse. No matter which method I employed, I could barely manage the lowest height. Sometimes I hit the bar. More often than not, I didn’t get anywhere near it. The hot tears of failure and shame marked every PE lesson in summer.
Hurdles are meant to be easily surmountable, a little bit like an obstacle designed to test runners’ technique rather than a mountain to scale. They are a metaphor for life. This race makred out for us (Hebrews 12:1) is not usually a straight sprint. It’s long distance and cluttered with hurdles that can’t be avoided but must be overcome.
Hurdles of disappointment, dread, bereavement, betrayal, ill-health and injury are there, waiting to trip us up, make us stumble and sap our confidence. Hurdles of delays and doubts, bitterness and battles are there, impediments to the plain sailing we would like life to be.
Overcoming hurdles means carrying the momentum of the good times, having the courage to tackle the difficulties head-on, and a belief that ‘with Your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall.’ (Ps 18:29)
It’s not easy. Some hurdles may leave us on the ground, weeping in despair. But God’s Spirit living in us reminds us that ‘with God all things are possible’ (Matt 19:26) and ‘I can do all this through him who gives me strength.’ (Phil 4:13) So we get up and face the hurdle again.
Don’t let the hurdles overcome you. God can carry us over them, no matter what. He wants us on His team, regardless of our skills (or lack of them.) We don’t have to bring great talent or prowess to Him; He is the One who supplies the ability. All He wants is for us to rely on Him for those countless second chances.