Break Out!: 5 Keys to Go Beyond Your Barriers and Live an Extraordinary Life (13 page)

You may have taken a couple of steps backward in recent times, but let me declare over you that God will thrust you forward. God has planned explosive growth in your future. He has already lined up new sales, new clients, new business, and new partnerships. Your attitude should be: “Yes, the economy is down, but I’m not worried. I know God is going before me, and He has promised He will make rivers in the desert. He will prosper me even in the midst of a recession.”

If you have health concerns, your attitude should be: “The medical report may not look good. Some may say I just have to live with this sickness. But I have another report, and it says that God is restoring health unto me. I believe that in my future, God has already released healing, health, and victory.”

If your child has strayed off course, getting that child back may seem impossible in the natural, but your report should be, “I know God can do the impossible. I may not see a way, but I know God has a way. I believe God is going before my child lining up the right people to come across his path, taking away the wrong people, breaking every force of darkness, opening his eyes to every deception, and giving him the wisdom to make good choices to fulfill his destiny.”

The Scripture tells us that the people of Israel faced an impossible situation. They could have easily settled where they were. In fact, their parents, whom God brought out of Egypt, had done just that. They thought their enemies were too big and their obstacles were too great. This thinking kept them from God’s best. Many years later, their children and grandchildren stood by the Jordan River, about to cross over and go into the Promised Land. But this land was occupied by incredibly strong, powerful people called the Anakites. They were actually descendants of giants. In the natural, the people of Israel didn’t have a chance. You can imagine how intimidated they must have felt knowing that they had to face these huge warriors. As they stood there at the Jordan, no doubt contemplating whether or not they should go through with it, God gave them a promise that helped push them over.

He said in Deuteronomy, chapter 9: “Today you are about to face people much stronger and much more powerful. You’ve heard the saying, ‘Who can stand up against the Anakites?’ But the Lord your God will cross over ahead of you like a devouring fire to destroy them. He will subdue them so that you can quickly conquer.”

You may be facing a situation that seems as impossible as theirs. Maybe the people you are up against are much more powerful, or you are facing a health issue, a financial difficulty, or a legal challenge. It may appear that you don’t have a chance. But God is saying to you what He said to the people of Israel: “The Lord your God will go before you and take care of your enemies so that you can quickly conquer them.”

You need to receive that in your spirit. You will come out of trouble quicker than you think. God is fighting your battles for you. You will get well quicker than you think. Your recovery will amaze the doctors. You will accomplish your dreams much quicker than you think.

Supernatural breaks are coming your way. How could this be? The Lord your God is crossing over ahead of you.

The Scripture says: “Who can stand up against the Anakites? They’re big. They’re strong. They’re descendants of giants.” In modern-day terms your concerns would be more like: “You’ve heard the news. The economy is down. The stock market is low. You can’t be blessed. You can’t be successful this year.” Or, “You’ve heard what the medical report said. You are very sick and might never be healthy again.” Or, “You remember what that coach said about you growing up. You’re not talented. You don’t have what it takes.”

The next time someone says something discouraging to you, or the next time your own thoughts try to convince you how impossible a situation may be, just give the same reply God gave to the people of Israel.

“Yes, it may look impossible. Yes, my challenges are big. All the odds are against me. I’m not denying the facts. But I’m not worried about them. I know God has the final say, and He has promised He will cross over ahead of me and defeat my challenges for me. So my declaration is, ‘I will quickly conquer them.’ ”

Switch over into faith. Get in agreement with God. Those obstacles trying to hold you back don’t have a chance. Nothing can stand against our God. Turn around those negative thoughts that say you will never get well, never accomplish your dreams, or never overcome an addiction. Make a declaration of faith instead:

“I will overcome this addiction quickly.”

“I will get well quickly.”

“I will accomplish my dreams much quicker than I think.”

You won’t do this by your own strength or by your own power. You will accomplish this because Almighty God, the One who holds your future in His hands, will go before you, fighting your battles, and making crooked places straight.

A few years ago, I got to be friends with a man who spent several days installing equipment in our church office. We really hit it off in that short period. He lived in another state, so I saw him only once or twice over the next couple of years, but it was always like old times with him.

Then, twelve years after I first met this man, Victoria and I came into a
once-in-a-lifetime business opportunity in his field of expertise. The first thing I did was call him. He came down, and over a period of a couple of months he negotiated a very complicated contract and put it all together. The business became a huge success.

I would not even have pursued that opportunity had I not known that man. I realize now God brought him into our lives many years earlier, not just for the friendship, but for that specific purpose, too. God knows what’s in your future. He knows every opportunity ahead of you. That’s why He is crossing over in front of you to make sure the right people will be there when you need them.

You may think that you met someone just by accident, or that it was just a coincidence. But one day you will look back, like I did, and see how God used that person in an instrumental way to help you move closer to your divine destiny.

My brother Paul and a group of surgeons were in Haiti right after the big earthquake. They were operating on many of the injured people. One day the main monitor they’d been using to keep an eye on patients’ oxygen levels, blood pressure, and pulse rates stopped working.

Without that monitor they couldn’t do any more surgeries. It was too dangerous to work without tracking patients’ vital signs. Paul and the other doctors put out the word that they needed another monitor. They made phone calls and did everything they could do to make their need known, but at first they had no success.

They decided to pray and ask God to give them a monitor so they could continue helping the injured people. Not long after they began praying, the administrator of the hospital, a Haitian man, came walking up. He was beaming from ear to ear, carrying a brand-new monitor still in the box, never used. It was the exact monitor they needed.

Paul and the other professionals were so amazed.

“Where in the world did you find this monitor?” my brother asked.

“I was at a convention for hospital administrators in America two years ago, and everyone who attended was automatically eligible for a door prize. I won, and the prize was this monitor.”

Two years before the problem occurred—two years before the big earthquake—God had already provided a solution. Right now, God is
crossing over ahead of you. He is lining up the right people, the right supplies, and the right circumstances. He knows what you will need a week from now, a month from now, even ten years from now. And the good news is, He’s already taken care of it. Quit worrying about how it will work out. God is saying to you what He said to Joshua, “Be strong and of good courage.” You have someone fighting for you. The Creator of the universe is breathing in your direction. His hand of favor is upon your life. He is crossing over ahead of you, making your crooked places straight. As long as you live a life to honor Him, God has promised nothing will be able to stand up against you.

I think about the airplane that Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger safely landed on the Hudson River in New York. You remember how the plane hit those large birds and both engines lost power. Now they were several thousand feet in the air, 150 or so people on board. The plane had no power. The situation looked impossible. But Captain Sullenberger is an incredibly experienced pilot. As a young man he served in the U.S. Air Force flying fighter jets. He received the Outstanding Cadet in Airmanship Award at the U.S. Air Force Academy. He served as a safety consultant for NASA and is considered one of the leading experts in flight safety in the world.

Not only that, Captain Sully is a certified glider pilot. For thirty-six years he has been flying planes with no power. Very few, if any, pilots had more experience and more expertise in flying a plane without any engines than Captain Sully. Isn’t it interesting? Of the tens of thousands of flights that take off and land safely every year without any problem, the one flight that would lose power in all the engines would be piloted by the one man you would choose to be at those controls if you had planned it ten years in advance.

God knows what He is doing. He can see the big picture. God knows what’s in your future: every setback, every disappointment, and every danger.

God will make sure you are in the right place at the right time, and He also will make sure the people you need will be in the right place at the right time. He is crossing over ahead of you. If it’s not your time to
go, don’t worry about it. You will not go. Nothing can snatch you out of God’s hands.

Well, you say, “Joel, if God is in control, then why didn’t He stop the birds from hitting the engines of Captain Sullenberger’s plane in the first place?”

God will not stop every adversity. He will not prevent every challenge. But if we will stay in faith, God promises He will bring us through every challenge and get us wherever we’re supposed to be.

I like the saying “God never promised us smooth sailing, but He did promise us a safe landing.” Sometimes God will allow challenges just to display His goodness in a greater way. Do you know what a testimony that was to see an airplane safely landed in the Hudson River? More people acknowledged God and His goodness that day than just about anything I’ve seen in my lifetime. News reports all over the world led their newscasts with stories about the “Miracle on the Hudson.” People who did not believe in God were scratching their heads and saying, “That had to be divine intervention.”

I want you to have a new confidence, a new sense of trust, knowing that as a believer you have an advantage. The Creator of the universe is not only fighting your battles, He also is lining up the right people, the right breaks, and the right opportunities. Just as with Joshua, God is crossing over ahead of you. Just as with Captain Sully, God will place the right people in your path. Just as with my brother Paul and the surgery monitor, God has the solution before you had the problem.

You may be facing a situation that looks like it will never turn around. Let me declare this over you: You will see it turn around quicker than you think. You will come out of debt quicker than you think. You will accomplish your destiny much quicker than you think.

I
f you’ve seen the popular television show
The X Factor
, you know the judges are looking for contestants who have that indefinable
something
that makes them stand out as performers. No one can define exactly what that special quality is. It’s not just talent, not just looks, not just personality. There’s just something about them that makes them special, something that gives them an advantage.

I’ve heard the judges say, “I don’t know what it is but you’ve got it.”

They call it the X Factor.

When God breathed His life into you, He put something in you to give you an advantage. There is something about you that makes you stand out, something that draws opportunity, something that causes you to overcome obstacles, to accomplish dreams. On that television show they call it the X Factor, but the Scripture calls it “the gracious hand of God.”

This something special is God’s favor. It’s His blessing. You can’t put your finger on it. But you know this is not just your talent, your education, or your hard work. It’s Almighty God breathing in your direction. You could call it “the favor factor.”

Like me, you may wonder sometimes, “How did I get to where I am? This was not just my own ability.” My mother often asks, “How did I overcome that sickness when the medical report said no way?” You may think, “How could I be this happy, this blessed, after all I’ve been through?”
That’s not just good fortune, not just a lucky break. That’s the gracious hand of God giving you His favor and His blessing on your life.

Psalm 44 says, “It was not their own strength that gave them the victory. It was because You favored them and smiled down on them.” Just like these people, the victories you’ve seen in the past weren’t just your own doing. God favored you. You wouldn’t be where you are if the gracious hand of God was not on your life. Every accomplishment, every good break, every obstacle you’ve overcome, was God opening the door, God bringing the right people, God turning it around. The Creator of the universe was smiling down on you. His gracious hand is at work in your life.

Now you may not have as much education as somebody else. But that’s okay. You have an advantage. You have this favor factor. Maybe you don’t come from the most influential family. That’s all right. God’s favor can take you where you cannot go on your own.

Deep down you have to know there is something about you that is indefinable. It can’t be measured, can’t be put on paper, and can’t be explained. Other people won’t be able to figure it out. All they know is you’ve got it. There is something about you they like, something that causes you to succeed. That’s the gracious hand of God.

When you realize you have this advantage, an edge, you’ll go out each day not intimidated by your dreams, not discouraged or thinking that the problem is too big. No, you’ll put your shoulders back. You’ll hold your head up high and go out with a spring in your step, confident, secure, knowing that you have what it takes. You have the favor of God.