I’m a baseball fan. Well, I should say I’m a St. Louis Cardinal fan. I watch every game I can. And there is one undeniable reality that has always been true. The game of baseball is filled with challenges. When I was a little boy, I would frequently watch players and managers get into heated arguments about whether a runner was safe or out, whether a pitch was a ball or a strike. Of course, making those determinations was always the job of the umpires, whose opinion was always law, and the job of the manager seemed to be to challenge that determination. Now close calls on the field can be challenged by teams. The umpire says you’re out or you’re safe at first, and then the affected manager has the right to challenge that call. The game stops while people in New York City review video of the play to determine if the umpire was right. Or if the ump says the pitch is a ball, the catcher can tap the top of his head and almost instantly a pitch review will visually show the entire stadium filled with people and millions watching on television, whether the challenge was successful or not. The whole idea behind a challenge in baseball has always been true. Somebody believes the call was wrong. The umpire has a voice, but there are other players in the game who see it differently. He said one thing, but what they saw seems to indicate something else. I think there are times when life feels a little like that too, don’t you? Challenges can become a way of life. God says one thing in his word emphatically and with absolute power and sovereignty, and then circumstances almost immediately seem to be saying something entirely different. God makes a promise, and somewhere between the promise and its fulfillment, circumstances get in the way. The children of Israel knew something about that. God promised them a land. In fact, we still call it the promised land. But when Moses sent men in to look around, they came back talking about fortified cities and powerful people. There were giants in that land. It was obvious that promised didn’t mean without its challenges. The presence of giants did not mean that God had changed his mind. The fortified cities did not invalidate his promise. The obstacles were real, but so was the promise. I think I need to be careful how I use my words to describe the happenings and what I observe going on in my life. An obstacle in my path is not the same as a challenge I’ve been given. An obstacle is something that stands in my way, but a challenge is what that obstacle may require of me. Jericho was an obstacle, but the real challenge for the people was could they trust God to deal with that obstacle? The Jordan River was an obstacle. The challenge was stepping forward in faith, believing God was greater than that obstacle. The promises of God don’t necessarily arrive challenge-proof. There are times in my life, I think, when I hold God to promises he’s never made. God never told Joshua there would be nothing difficult waiting for him on the other side of the Jordan. In fact, God told him repeatedly to be strong and courageous. Courage would hardly be necessary if there wasn’t anything to be afraid of. But God also told Joshua, I will be with you. I will never leave you nor forsake you. There’s a promise. And God is faithful to honor his promises. God’s promises don’t have to go to New York or anywhere else for further review. Thus saith the Lord is absolute. The challenge isn’t whether God’s declarations will stand. Matthew 24, 35 says, heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. The promises of God are not challenge proof, but they are failure proof. Joshua 21 45 says, Not one, not one of all the Lord’s good promises to Israel failed. Every one was fulfilled.