Making Those Obstacles Vanish

American President John Quincy Adams once said, "Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish." It's true!

Look what happened once to a North Carolina church that wanted to purchase some property. The church regularly suffered from high tide flooding. But when the church was built over a hundred years ago, they couldn't afford better property.

They finally decided to relocate to higher ground. An ideal piece of property was empty - actually the highest ground in town. It belonged to a man named Sam. Officials from the church went to see Sam about selling the property. He politely told them it wasn't for sale; that he had other plans for the land.

The church looked elsewhere, but nothing satisfactory could be found. So they went back to Sam and made another offer. Again they were refused.

Then an unusual thing happened. One of the worst coastal floods in memory struck the town. As water rose, the church began to float. It left its coastal lot and started inward. It floated down the main street, turned a corner and eventually landed right on Sam's empty property.

Sam gave in. He allowed the building to stay and, if you ask the members of North Carolina's Swanquarter United Methodist Church how they came to acquire their land, they may relate what Sam said about the transaction: "I guess if the good Lord couldn't move me to give the land to the church, he would move the church to the land."

The member's persistence, combined with a little outside help, paid off. Persevere - you may be surprised at how your obstacles vanish!

~ Steve Goodier ~