Dealing With the Overwhelming Odds That Come Against You

Four Strategies for Producing Results in the Face of Overwhelming Odds

Face-to-Face with Thirty-Thousand-Foot Oppositions, Barriers, and Setbacks – Part 5

You might have to work and guard yourself at the same time. Taking ground that you saw from thirty-thousand-feet is never easy; if it were easy everyone would do it. Everyone would see their thirty-thousand-foot prayer answered.

You have too much invested to stand for opposition.

I remember the day God inspired me with one of the biggest assignments I’d ever have to face. It actually made me a little weak as I thought about the mammoth size of what must be done. Have you ever faced a problem in your life or world that was so big, you knew a month from now you’d still be no closer to seeing it accomplished than you were on day one? This is why we call it a thirty-thousand-foot prayer. It’s so big that it seems impossible. Anytime we try to create something for the first time this is the feeling, but what if you moved beyond that feeling? What if you began with excitement, started making progress, and could see that what was once impossible might be possible after all? And what if opposition attacked you along the way? How would that impact you? I would expect your attitude would be much like mine, how dare you come in now and try to upset the work we’ve put in and the hope that what was once impossible really is possible? Instead of having the ordinary response which is the easiest, begin to get some fight-back in your spirit. You’re not going to lie down and let anyone destroy what you’ve begun. You now have too much invested. That’s what we’re discussing in this message.

You can deal with the overwhelming odds that come against you.

As a result of studying Nehemiah, I’ve made four observations I wish to share to get you ready to fight for what you’re working on and praying for. When you have overwhelming adversity facing an overwhelming goal, everything is an overwhelming distraction for you. Seeing what someone else does to get through provides a source of encouragement that says I too will get through. Let’s take a look at each observation.

Observation #1 – Assess your work.
Locate your weak spots. The beauty of having opposition is it sends you into overdrive to find your weak spots. This is a plus. Because you’re in protection mode, you automatically fortify the areas of greatest vulnerability to reduce ruin or erosion. By doing so, you strengthen the foundation of your work. Here’s how it looks within your thirty-thousand-foot prayer.

So I placed armed guards behind the lowest parts of the wall in the exposed areas. – bible.com/bible/116/NEH.4.13.NLT

You might be praying to own your own home. Opposition strikes in the form for derogatory marks to your credit score. To combat this you find help to identify all the negative impacts and decide which target is the easiest one to fix first so that your credit score doesn’t get any lower. Your prayer of course then shifts from the big goal, down to the ground, to the credit score challenges you face and how you can fix them. Locate your weak spots and fix them first. As my dad would say stop the bleeding.

Observation #2 – Motivate yourself.
Motivate yourself using your why. When adversity strikes, your real why will surface. When it does use this source of strength to your advantage. Your why will give you the will to fight for success.

“Don’t be afraid of the enemy! Remember the Lord, who is great and glorious, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes!”– bible.com/bible/116/NEH.4.14.NLT

You might find yourself praying to save a relationship. When you look into the eyes of who will be impacted that you really care about, you’ll make any adjustment necessary to make something happen out of nothing. You will let pride, arguments, and what someone else owes you, go. You’ll learn to forgive the unforgivable when your prized-why is at stake. Motivate yourself using your why; it’s the greatest source of strength you’ll ever have.

Observation #3 – Execute your modified plans.
Because setbacks occur, your plans must adapt. In other words, your plans must account for the setbacks. Your mission remains the mission, but the plans on the ground have to take into account the necessary steps needed to overcome the problems you now face, that you couldn’t see from the air.

But from then on, only half my men worked while the other half stood guard with spears, shields, bows, and coats of mail. – bible.com/bible/116/NEH.4.16.NLT

We call this a halftime adjustment. The game you’re playing isn’t totally what you expected when you put your game plan together so instead of laying back and losing the game, you make the necessary adjustments to be as competitive as possible. Your opposition represents your opponents. They’re standing in your way of reaching the goal line. So what will you do? Will you continue with losing efforts or will you adjust so that you can win? By the way, you can win, you only need to execute a modified plan.

Observation #4 – Expect the worst case scenarios.
Trust that your work is worth completing; therefore you will need to expect the worst case scenarios could occur. When you do this, you have a plan for that as well. In other words, don’t get caught off guard that’s why you decided to pray and go after the thirty-thousand-foot prayer anyway.

Then I explained to the nobles and officials and all the people, “The work is very spread out, and we are widely separated from each other along the wall. When you hear the blast of the trumpet, rush to wherever it is sounding. Then our God will fight for us!”– bible.com/bible/116/NEH.4.19-20.NLT

Like Nehemiah, you have to know when the opposition is too much for you to handle and what needs to occur in the event it does happen. He had measures in place to sound an alarm, regroup, and trust God for the necessary outcome. Remember this is prayer, therefore you’re saying you need God to help you through it anyway. Don’t make the mistaking of praying a thirty-thousand-foot prayer and leave God out of it. He’s the reason you started the journey in the first place, rest in knowing that He’ll see it through. Have confidence in this.

It takes more than work to accomplish your big dreams; your thirty-thousand-foot prayer. It takes making assessments, motivation, execution, making half-time shifts, adjusting the plans and lastly preparing for the worst case scenarios. In short it takes commitment and dedication to overcoming opposition at each phase of the process.

Questions: What observation for dealing with overwhelming odds are you currently facing?

Thanks again for visiting NoLongerCommon.com. Until next Sunday, share this message of overcoming overwhelming odds with a friend.

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