We were nearing the end of our time in Estes Park in late August when this sign caught my eye:

What’s within you is stronger than what’s in your way.

At first, I thought it was a motivational seminar of some sort, but I soon realized it was a conference for those with disabilities. The No Barriers website explains:

We empower people to break through barriers, find their inner purpose and contribute their very best to the world.

Now, more than ever, we need to believe that What’s Within Us Is Stronger Than What’s In Our Way. Through transformative online and in-person experiences, tools and inspiration, we help people tap into their inner hope, optimism and resilience. In the process, we foster a community of curious, brave and collaborative explorers who are determined to live the No Barriers Life.

I saw special wheelchairs designed for hiking mountain trails and invitations for folks to participate in archery, orienteering, and other outdoor activities. The company that provided the wheelchairs had a tagline:

Making Adventure Accessible

I like that. My first book is Join the Adventure!, in which I tried to do precisely that: make the Adventure of participating in God’s mission accessible. We all have handicaps, especially spiritual ones. God makes the Adventure accessible!

Notice how the Apostle Paul latches onto the word SUFFICIENCY in his second letter to the Corinthians:

Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. (2 Corinthians 3.4 – 6, ESV, emphasis mine)

This ties in nicely with the “no barriers” concept. I’m not sufficient, but my sufficiency comes from God who makes me sufficient! Indeed, the Adventure is accessible!

I’m reminded of when I heard the English author Major Ian Thomas tell a story about a Rolls Royce owner who wondered if he could take it into the mountains. Does it have enough power? The company wrote in typical English understatement, “It’s adequate.” This for a car with twice as much power as others in its day. The Greek word translated “sufficient” in these verses includes the idea of “To equip one with adequate power…”

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us… (Ephesians 3.20, NIV)

You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. (1 John 4.4, NKJV)