At the beginning of the year God put these three words on my heart. This has been the theme for my year.
- Believe – Part 1 – you can view this here.
- Biblical Obedience – Part 2 – you can view this here.
- Breakthrough – Part 3
John 8:32 NLT
Jesus said to the people who believed (Believe) in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. (Biblical Obedience). And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (Breakthrough)
So what does Breakthrough look like?
Our middle daughter was about nine months old when my husband and I felt God call us to have more kids. During my first pregnancy, my rheumatoid went into remission. However, when I fell pregnant with my third daughter – my rheumatoid flared up – and I’ve lived in that constant flare for the past eighteen months. I’ve been in pain more times that not.
My mom would say to me – Robynne, tell me what your pain levels are rated out of ten. Somedays would be a three or four. Other days I would wake up in complete agony – I’d managed to crawl or hop – the pain was the worst in my one foot, so some days I couldn’t walk on it – I would hop my way to the kitchen, just to find something to eat so that I could take my first dose of myprodol for the day. I needed to ease the pain before my kids got up and the school rush started. On those days I would whisper to God – Lord, today is a ten out of ten.
I would have convesrations with God, often throwing hard questions in His direction – ‘Lord, I don’t know what your breakthrough looks like in this particular situation.’
We need to remember that our circumstances don’t discredit us from Gods divine direction. Instead, they drive us into the divine arms of Jesus who so eagerly longs for us to call upon His name. He longs to guide us in the right direction, and steer us towards our breakthrough.
Some of us are facing tough realities in our lives – desperately looking for a way out of our hardships. Often we feel like some of the Psalmists who cry out to God, ‘How could you forget me Lord?’. Some of us are crying out like David did in Psalm 22, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish?’ I have learnt that it is in these moments, it is in the depth of our dissappointments that we should lean in even closer to God. David chose to lean into God, worshipping Him even more.
I have never been closer to Christ than when my circumstances were too much to carry. I found myself in the crevice of Christs embrace, in the warmth of His comfort. I drew closer to Him, looking for my strength. Sometimes its in the rocky places of life’s realities that we begin to be real with God and in that place we develop a relationship with Him that only few ever find. In the difficulties and darkness of life, we encounter Christ in the depths of deep relationship.
Breakthrough doesn’t always look neatly packaged with a neon pink bow. Sometimes breakthrough looks like trickles of grace, God delivered, just at the moments we need His guidance.
2 Corinthians 4:7-9 NIV
But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.
We see in the book of Corinthians, that Paul also faced many hardships. Hardships that were too difficult too handle on his own.
2 Corinthians 1:8-9 GNT
We want to remind you, friends, of the trouble we had in the province of Asia. The burdens laid upon us were so great and so heavy that we gave up all hope of staying alive. 9We felt that the death sentence had been passed on us. But this happened so that we should rely, not on ourselves, but only on God, who raises the dead.
In our seasons of struggle – we have a choice. We can choose to lean away from Christ and live hurt. Or we can choose to lean in and rely on Christ and live healed and whole.
Breakthrough will come as we believe, and walk in biblical obedience.
At the beginning of this year, I finally got okay’d for a biologic treatment to treat the arthritis. Since then, I have not hovered even close to a ten out of ten.
John 11:4 MSG
“This sickness is not fatal. It will become an occasion to show God’s glory by glorifying God’s Son.”
Let’s allow our struggles to become an occasion to show Gods glory by glorifying Christ in how we choose to handle the circumstances we face.
Psalm 42: 7-11 TPT
My deep need calls out to the deep kindness of Your love.
Your waterfall of weeping sent waves of sorrow
over my soul, carrying me away,
cascading over me like a thundering cataract.
Yet all day long God’s promises of love pour over me.
Through the night I sing his songs,
for my prayer to God has become my life.
I will say to God, “You are my mountain of strength;
how could You forget me?
Why must I suffer this vile oppression of my enemies—
these heartless tormentors who are out to kill me?”
Their wounding words pierce my heart
over and over while they say,
“Where is this God of yours?”
So I say to my soul,
“Don’t be discouraged. Don’t be disturbed.
For I know my God will break through for me.”
Then I’ll have plenty of reasons to praise Him all over again.
Yes, living before His face is my saving grace!