Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.

Winston Churchill

Abraham Lincoln lost election after election. Michael Jordan was cut from his basketball team. Helen Keller was considered a hopeless individual who would always have to be cared for by others. In other words, these people were just like you and me: They were not considered worthy. They were failures!

What set these individuals apart from what we are so often willing to settle for was their ability to overcome obstacles and use their failures as stepping stones to remarkable accomplishments. They were strong enough to disregard the low expectations that others had for them and go on to greatness because they had high expectations for themselves.

This is one of life's great lessons, and it has been played out over and over throughout the course of history. It is not what others expect of you that will determine your success or failure. It is what you expect of yourself!

So, what is it that you expect of yourself? Are you content to let your past problems set a course of mediocrity for your life, or will you use these difficulties as inspiration to fuel you to the great things that God has created you for in the first place?

Think about this: A weight lifter gets no stronger by lifting a series of lighter and lighter burdens. It is only when he tests the limits of his muscle by lifting greater and greater weights that he becomes strong. In a like manner, if you are complaining because your path is strewn with obstacles that have to be gone around, lifted, or removed, then aren't you really looking for ways to weaken, rather than strengthen, yourself?

The road to success has never run over even, well lit paths. It goes over mountains and raging rivers and sometimes has to be traversed on dark and dreary nights. But, for those willing to rise up to the challenges of life, great successes can be won - both with physical accomplishments and in the more important area of your spiritual service to God.

What "barriers" have been holding you back? Why not climb over those barriers and press forward to successes that God made you for in the first place!

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we don't give up.

Galatians 6:9, NIV