It is time for breakthrough!
By Larry Kreider
I was ready to quit. As a young pastor, I felt misunderstood, and wasn’t sure if it was worth all the hassle. I told my wife LaVerne one day, “If I get kicked in the head one more time (figuratively speaking), I don’t know if I can get up again.” I was frustrated, exhausted and overworked.
God had given us a vision to start a new church to reach the unchurched in our community. Although the church had grown from twenty-five to over 2,000 people within ten years, we had strayed from our original vision. My immaturity as a leader, lack of training and my own inability to communicate clearly the things that God was showing me led to frustration. In a misguided attempt to please everyone, I was listening to dozens of voices who seemed to be giving conflicting advice and direction. I felt unable to get back on track. I was tired. I had hit the wall.
Everyone hits the wall sometime
Everyone hits the wall sometime. Ask any successful marathon runner. They are focused, running full speed ahead, and all of a sudden their legs feel like Jell-O. They feel they cannot go on. They hit an invisible wall. But they have learned from experience; if they can just press through, they receive fresh strength to finish the race.
One morning I went for a run, and in a totally unexpected way, I had an encounter with the Lord. I took an unfamiliar, winding dirt road through the woods. I came upon a creek that crossed the road. I was ready to turn back when I heard a still, small voice within me say, “Take your shoes off and cross over the creek barefooted.” I sensed I was on holy ground.
As I took off my shoes and slowly walked into the creek, I began to understand. The Lord was asking me to take a step of obedience and faith and cross over the creek barefooted as a sign of humility. It was a holy experience. As I crossed the creek in faith, the water seemed to wash away all of the hurts, expectations, fears, insecurities, and ways of doing things from the past so that the Lord could teach me afresh for the future. A cleansing took place deep in my spirit. I had broken through the wall. I experienced a breakthrough.
As I travel throughout our nation, I find many of the Lord’s chosen servants have hit the wall. Some have hit a wall of discouragement, disappointment, unmet expectations, depression, sickness, marital and family problems, financial stress, or relationship struggles. Believers who have been “sitting in church” for years are feeling restless. They know there must be more! They have hit the wall. But they are beginning to experience breakthrough!
King David once declared: “…The Lord has broken through my enemies before me, like a breakthrough of water” (2 Samuel 5:20).
One of the men in our church told me recently he has desired to be a man of prayer for more than twenty years. He had felt defeated for years. But last month, something happened. He had a breakthrough!
It is time for breakthrough!
- Admit we need one. The senior pastor of one of the churches in our region told me recently his church desperately needs revival. He is taking the first step toward a breakthrough.
- We must believe a breakthrough is God’s agenda for us. That is why reading scriptural accounts of breakthroughs and hearing testimonies of breakthroughs in others’ lives is so important. It builds faith that we can also experience a breakthrough.
- We pray a prayer of faith for breakthrough in agreement with God’s Word, and believe that breakthrough will come. We know it is on its way. We mix our prayers of faith with prayers of thanksgiving, refusing to look back.
- We persevere and refuse to quit until we receive the breakthrough. Sometimes breakthroughs come suddenly, while others may take longer. But a breakthrough will come. Daniel fasted and prayed for twenty-one days until the angel Gabriel came and informed him he was sent to bring breakthrough the first day Daniel began praying (Daniel 9).
Regardless of what you are facing today, remember, your God is a God of breakthrough. He is waiting for you to take a step of faith. It is time to break through the wall.
