Stop Signs or an Inconvenience?

Queen ask yourself: Why do you see stop signs instead of inconveniences?

Truth be told, I understand that something happened.

The money wasn’t there.

The application was rejected.

The interview flopped.

The person said no.

The timing changed.

The door you expected to walk through closed.

The plan became more complicated than you anticipated.

Somewhere between what you intended to do and what actually happened, you decided to stop.

My question to you today is...

Did you hit a stop sign?

Or did you encounter an inconvenience and interpreted it as permission to stop?

Pause and read that again because that distinction matters.

An inconvenience is something that makes the journey more difficult, uncomfortable, delayed or complicated. It may require another route. More effort. More patience. More courage.

But it does not necessarily mean you cannot proceed.

Queen, the biggest obstacle standing between where you are and where you said you wanted to go isn't the blockage.

It's the power you gave the blockage.

1. Identify The Blockage

Before you call something impossible, name what is actually in your way.

What happened?

Not the emotional version.

Not the catastrophic version.

Not “Everything keeps going wrong.”

What is the actual blockage?

You don't have the money yet.

You didn't get accepted this time.

Someone you expected to support you doesn't.

You don't know how to do something.

You have responsibilities that make your timeline more complicated.

There is power in getting specific about what the obstacle is because when we examine what has stopped us, we discover that the obstacle is considerably smaller than the future we've sacrificed because of it.

2. Why Has It Stopped You?

Let's be honest with ourselves.

Two people can encounter the exact same obstacle and make completely different decisions about what it means. And yet, you chose the route that stopped...why?

One route says, “I can't.”

The other says, “How can I?”

So ask yourself:

Why did this particular inconvenience have the authority to stop me?

Was it fear?

Embarrassment?

Rejection?

Lack of confidence?

Did you expect the right decision to be easier?

Did difficulty make you question whether you heard God correctly?

Are you waiting for the obstacle to move?

Or do you often find yourself waiting for the journey to become more comfortable, before you can continue?

It's important to recognise why you chose to stop, instead trying to find another way.

3. Has It Stopped Anyone Else?

Now challenge let's your evidence.

Has nobody ever accomplished what you're trying to accomplish, while dealing with this same limitation?

Has nobody started without enough money?

Changed careers later in life?

Built while raising children?

Tried again after rejection?

Started before they felt ready?

Taken the longer route?

This isn't about comparing your life to somebody else's. Circumstances are different, resources are different and some barriers are genuinely more significant.

But when you examine somebody else's journey it can expose something very important:

What you have classified as impossible should be actually classified as difficult.

Queen, the truth is...

Difficult requires a different response than impossible.

Doesn't it?

4. Do You Have Audacious Faith?

Not convenient faith.

Not faith that works only when there is confirmation, provision, agreement and a clear pathway.

Audacious Faith.

The kind of faith that can look at what is currently true without deciding that it must remain true.

Faith doesn't require you to pretend the blockage isn't there.

It requires you to decide how much authority you're going to give it.

There are moments when wisdom says stop.

There are moments when God redirects.

There are genuine barriers that cannot simply be a positive thought away.

But we need enough discernment to recognise the difference between God saying no and life simply saying:

This won't be easy.

Determine your Faith meter. Do you serve an impossible God or nothing is impossible with your God?

5. Decide: This Is Just An Inconvenience.

When you decide everything changes.

Not when the problem disappears.

When you change its classification.

You stop calling it the end.

You stop calling it confirmation that you shouldn't try.

You stop turning every closed door into a prophecy about your future.

You look at what is standing in front of you and decide:

This may delay me.

This may frustrate me.

This may require another strategy.

This may cost me more than I anticipated.

This may require me to try again.

This is not my stop sign.

This is just be an inconvenience.

And that means...

You Must Find Another Way Forward.

Beyond your fear.

Beyond your excuses.

Beyond your disappointment.

Beyond the rejection.

Beyond what didn't work.

Beyond what you thought would happen.

Beyond the route you thought you had to take.

Queen, the road may have changed but the destination hasn't.

Stop treating every inconvenience like a stop sign.

Find another way forward.