Break Out!: 5 Keys to Go Beyond Your Barriers and Live an Extraordinary Life (19 page)

That house they’d wanted to buy had been sold by this time, but they found a better house in a better neighborhood for a better price. Today, the young husband has his job back and they are living in their dream home. God is a faithful God.

Isaiah 3:10 says, “Say to the righteous, ‘It shall be well with you.’ ” You may go through some difficulties. People may do you wrong. But because you’re a believer it shall be well with you. You lost your job, yes, but another
job is coming. It shall be well with you. The medical report doesn’t look good, yes, but we have another report: it shall be well with you.

You may have been praying, believing for your situation to change for a long time but you don’t see anything happening.

Just like with the Lakewood couple, God is working behind the scenes right now arranging things in your favor. The answer is already on the way. It’s just a matter of time before it shows up. It shall be well with you.

I like to think having faith is like setting the temperature on a thermostat. You set the temperature to 72 degrees. Now it may be 96 degrees in the room, far off from where you set it. You could go to the thermostat and think, “This isn’t working. It’s not matching up.” Instead, you know it’s just a matter of time before the temperature in the room matches the temperature that you’ve set.

In the same way, we should set our thermostats on what God says about us. God says you will lend and not borrow. I’m setting my thermostat right there. That’s what I’m choosing to believe. I may be far from that right now. I may be far in debt, but that’s okay. I’m not worried. As long as I’ve set my thermostat, as long as I keep believing, keep honoring God, keep being my best, I know it’s just a matter of time before the conditions in my life match up to the conditions in my thinking.

You may have a son who is at 140 degrees, out living wild. It doesn’t matter. As long as your thermostat is set you’re not worried. You’re not frustrated. You don’t have to live wondering if he will change. You know God is in complete control.

God goes to work when He sees you have a made-up mind. Your thermostat is set on His promises, on faith, on restoration, on healing, on victory. It may not happen overnight, but God is faithful. He will do what He promised.

You may need to readjust your thermostat. At one time you believed you would do something great. You believed you would start that business. You believed you’d beat that addiction. You believed you’d meet the right person and get married. But it didn’t happen on your timetable. You grew discouraged and you gave up.

God is saying, “Reset the thermostat.” Start believing once again.
Believe you can live free from pain. Believe you can move into that nicer home. Believe God is bringing the right people across your path. Keep the thermostat set. Have a made-up mind.

When it gets cold, or when it gets hot, stay in faith. Our attitude should be, “This is what God says about me. I am blessed. I will live and not die. My children will be mighty in the land. My latter days will be greater than my former days.”

You may not see anything happening week after week, month after month, maybe even year after year. It doesn’t matter. Your attitude is “My thermostat is set. I’m not moved by what I see, by what I feel, by what people tell me. I’m moved by what I know. And I know when I believe the incredible greatness of God’s power is activated. I know when I believe strongholds are broken. Favor, healing, promotion, restoration, they are coming my way.”

In the Scripture, Ezekiel was facing an impossible situation. There were dead bones in a valley. God had promised those bones would come back to life. Dead bones represent dreams and goals that we don’t think will come to pass. God had the power to bring these dead bones to life, but God needed a person who believed so He could work through him.

God asked Ezekiel, “Do you believe that these dead bones can live?”

Isn’t it interesting? God wanted to know what Ezekiel believed. Ezekiel could have reasoned it out and said, “God, the bones are dead. I don’t see how that’s going to happen.”

In the same way you could say: “The medical report doesn’t look good, God. Business is slow. This is a big problem.”

I can imagine God said, “Ezekiel, I’m not asking you all of that. All I want to know is: do you believe?”

All at once Ezekiel shook off the doubt and he said in effect, “Lord, I believe.” The Spirit of God came on him. He started prophesying and somehow, some way, those dead bones came back to life.

God is asking us what He asked Ezekiel. “Do you believe you can live a blessed, prosperous, successful life? I’ve got the power. I’m just looking for someone who believes.”

Do you believe God can turn that situation around? Do you believe you
can overcome past mistakes? When you get in agreement with God and believe, that allows God to release the incredible greatness of His power.

When Lazarus was very sick his two sisters, Mary and Martha, sent word to Jesus and asked if He would come to their home in a different city and pray for Lazarus. But Jesus waited four days, which was too long. Lazarus had already died when Jesus finally showed up.

Martha was very upset. She said, “Jesus, if You would have been here sooner my brother would still be alive.”

Have you ever felt God showed up too late for you? You prayed. You believed. But you still didn’t get the promotion. You worked hard. You had a good attitude but the company still let you go. You stood on God’s promises. You quoted the Scriptures, but your prayers were not answered.

That was the way Mary and Martha felt. They were discouraged, depressed, and probably a little bit bitter. Jesus looked at them and said, “Take me to the place where you have laid him.” In other words, “Take me to the place where you stopped believing. Take me to the place where you decided it was over.”

You have to go to that place in your life and ask yourself, “Is my God still on the Throne? Is my God still all-powerful? Is my God still El Shaddai; the God Who is more than enough?”

You’ve got to stir up your faith. God said, “Mary. Martha. It looks bad, but it’s not over. If you will start believing once again, I will show you My power in a greater way.”

Faith began to rise in their hearts. Martha said, “Jesus, if You would have been here my brother would still be alive. But I believe even now. You can raise him from the dead.”

Sometimes you have to have “even now” faith where you say, “God, it looks impossible. It looks like it’s over and done, but I know You are a supernatural God and I believe even now You can turn my finances around.”

“Even now You can heal my body.”

“Even now You can restore this relationship.”

Mary and Martha shook off the doubt and they started believing once again. You know the story: Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead.

Back in those days the Sadducees, who were against Jesus, believed that
the spirit left the body on the third day after a person died. It wasn’t a coincidence that God waited for the fourth day to show up. Jesus waited on purpose so that when he raised Lazarus there wouldn’t be any doubt. They would know that it was a great miracle.

Sometimes God will wait on purpose not only so you know that it’s His power, but so your doubters, your naysayers, and your unbelieving relatives won’t be able to deny that God has done something amazing in your life.

After Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, He said to Mary and Martha, “Did I not tell you if you would only believe…?”

Mary and Martha at first were disappointed because Jesus didn’t show up in time to heal Lazarus. They were disappointed that their prayers weren’t answered in the way they wanted. But all along God knew what He was doing.

God wasn’t planning a healing. He was planning something better. He was planning a resurrection. Just because you believed and it didn’t work out your way, or on your timetable, doesn’t mean that it’s over. It means just the opposite.

God is planning something better. You believed and you didn’t get the promotion. You believed and you didn’t qualify for the new home. Keep believing. God has something better coming.

You believed but your child hasn’t turned around. Keep believing. God will use your child in a great way.

You believed, but your year hasn’t been that great so far. Keep believing. It’s not over. God is still on the Throne. Even now God can still turn it around.

Keep the thermostat set. Right now, behind the scenes God is working in your life, arranging things in your favor. Don’t be intimidated by the size of what you are facing. Stay in faith, and the Lord your God will make sure that it comes to pass.

Let this take root in your spirit. Because you are a believer, all will be well with you. All will be well with your family. All will be well with your finances. All will be well in your health. All will be well with your career. You need to get ready, because God’s promises are about to come to pass in your life.

It may not have happened in the past on your timetable. That’s because God is not planning a healing. He is planning a resurrection. It will be better, bigger, and greater than you’ve ever imagined.

Be a believer. Take the limits off God. Keep your faith stirred up. I believe and declare you are going to see God’s goodness in amazing ways!

O
ne time Joshua was in the midst of a great battle. He and his men were trying to finish off this army, but the sun was going down. They were running out of daylight. Joshua knew that if he couldn’t get this army totally defeated, then later on they would rise up and cause him problems. He could have easily got discouraged and thought, “It’s not ever happening. Too bad for me.” But Joshua had uncommon faith. He was bold. He said, “God, I know this is unusual. I know this out of the ordinary. But I’m asking You to stop the sun so I can have more daylight and totally complete this task.”

Imagine the nerve of Joshua. He asked God to do something that had never been done before. God could have said, “Joshua, who do you think you are? I am not going to stop the sun. That’s kind of selfish. That might disrupt other people.”

No, it’s just the opposite. When you have this uncommon faith it brings a smile to God’s face. I can see God turn to the angels and say, “Listen to what this man is saying. He’s extreme. He’s radical. He believes I can do anything. He’s asking Me to stop the sun.”

God said in effect, “Joshua, if you’re bold enough to ask it, then I’m bold enough to do it.” The Scripture says the sun stood still until Joshua completely finished off that army. There had never been a day like that before. The people stood there in utter amazement. What happened?
God interrupted the entire universe just because one man had uncommon faith.

Uncommon faith is not average faith. It’s not ordinary. It’s above and beyond. It gives you a boldness and a confidence to believe for the extraordinary. Average faith says, “God, help me to survive this recession.” Uncommon faith says, “God, I believe You will prosper me right in the midst of this recession.” Average faith says, “Maybe one day I’ll get out of this problem. I don’t know. It’s pretty bad.” Uncommon faith says, “I know I’m not only coming out, I’m coming out better off than I was before.” When you have uncommon faith you don’t just believe to make your monthly house payment. You believe to totally pay off your house. You don’t just ask God, “Help me to control my addiction.” No, you ask God to totally set you free.

Uncommon faith is radical faith. It’s extreme. You believe God can do anything. You don’t make little plans. You don’t say, “God, just let me go as far as my parents did. Let me do as much as they did. Then I’ll be okay. Then I’ll be successful.”

Uncommon faith says, “God, give me a double portion. Let me do twice as much as those that went before me. Let me give twice as much. Let me have twice the influence, twice the wisdom, twice the friends, twice the creativity, and twice the income.”

You may say, “Joel, that’s kind of bold. Who do you think you are?” Here’s who we are: we are children of the Most High God, full of uncommon faith.

Have you ever asked God for something out of the ordinary? When I began ministering right after my father went to be with the Lord, I was very concerned about keeping up our church attendance. I was doing my best every week, praying, believing, and studying. But I knew from years past that anytime it rained on Sunday mornings the crowds would be down. At our older facility the parking was spread out on thirty acres all around the building. If it ever rained it was almost impossible to come into the auditorium without being totally drenched.

This was all very new to me, being up in front of people. I’m naturally quiet and reserved. But for some reason, I had this uncommon faith, this unusual boldness. Every week I would pray that it would not rain during
our Sunday morning services. I never told anyone but Victoria about my prayers. I know other people would think that was far out. “Joel, that’s extreme. You can’t pray to stop the rain. Who do you think you are?”

But for two years on the Sundays I was ministering, it might rain an hour before the service or two hours after the service, but it never once rained during those Sunday services. There were times when I would leave my house thirty minutes away and it would be raining very heavily, but by the time I was just a couple of miles from the church, it was like somebody had a big umbrella over the property. It was just as dry as could be.

On Wednesdays, I’d start watching the weather reports for the upcoming weekend. I learned so much about high pressure, low pressure, and dew points, I could fill in for the television weatherman. If I saw any sign of bad weather on the weekend I would go to work. “God, I’m asking You to hold this rain off.” One time there was a major storm predicted for Sunday morning: A 90 percent chance of rain, thunder, and lightning. I could hardly sleep the night before. But when I woke up on that Sunday, it was just as clear and beautiful as can be. The front had been delayed.

Some may think, “Oh, that’s just a lucky break. That’s just a coincidence.”