In this life, ever so often, we come across difficult circumstances. We face seemingly insurmountable problems that are beyond human control. We come head-to-head with seemingly impossible situations that are beyond all human aid. It is in these times and instances, when we turn to the LORD and seek His face, because only GOD can help us. And GOD has been intervening in man’s life since the beginning of time, and He continues to do so to this day. The LORD Jesus Christ even announces in John 5:17, that GOD has never stopped (has never rested from) working miracles, signs and wonders, and that He too shall do the same thing. As a true believer and a born-again Christian, your faith in GOD the Father, GOD the Son and GOD the Holy Spirit, is whole heartedly believing in the GOD who works miracles, signs, wonders and breakthroughs for those who belong to the LORD. Breakthroughs are GOD’s miraculous intervention in the affairs and those seemingly impossible situations of our lives.
The age of working miracles and breakthroughs is not over, that age has not come and gone. GOD has promised us that He would never leave us nor forsake us. And if the GOD of miracles and breakthroughs will never leave us nor forsake us, then we know that the miracles and breakthroughs will never cease. We know because we believe. And we believe because of the faith in GOD’s grace over our lives. It is all interconnected. Christians of today live as though we serve a GOD who is powerless, unable or incapable, a GOD whose hand is short, when nothing could be further from the truth. That sudden, divine intervention and manifestation of GOD’s power we read about in the Bible, continues to live to this day. And for as long as this earth remains and GOD is still GOD, His works will continue, His works are not over. He remains, and will forever be the one and only living GOD with no end, alive in our midst throughout all the generations of man.
The greatest love story there ever was, is about how deeply GOD really loves man. Everything that GOD does is for our best interests, for our own good, to reconcile man with Himself. And it is for this reason, that time and time again, we read about how GOD goes all out to give those who are His, a life that is as unburdened as possible under His grace covering, provided that we meet two conditions: (i) we must honour His invitation in reconciliation and come to Him; and (ii) we must exchange our earthly burdens for His easy yoke in the spirit. In Matthew 11:28-30, GOD sends out an open invitation to us saying, ‘Come to Me’, promising to exchange whatever is weighing heavily on us for His peace and rest, a life free of anxiety in Him. Our souls are restless and burdened because we have unrealised dreams, needs, and expectations, and as a result, we become unsure of the future. This uncertainty then breeds doubt, the doubt breeds passive unbelief, passive unbelief negates faith, and wavering faith bars breakthrough. And once we reach this point in the gauntlet, we can forget about breakthrough.
GOD can work sudden breakthroughs, miracles and wonders that so many believers so desperately need in our circumstances because the Holy Spirit dwells in us, He is near to us, He has never left us. The breakthroughs, miracles and wonders are GOD’s rewards to those that come to Him and seek Him diligently. However, if you are not believing GOD in this way, and are not believing GOD in the direction of His will for you in this way, how can the breakthroughs, miracles and wonders ever manifest? And since breakthrough is the manifestation of GOD’s power, how else, pray tell, can GOD manifest His power except in us, through us, by us, over us and for us? This means, we really need to be serious (to be intentional) about seeking GOD in earnest, about GOD manifesting Himself on our behalf. There is nothing that GOD is not in control of. Everything is subject to GOD’s control—circumstances, time (timing), the natural elements, the supernatural elements, all realms of existence. GOD is waiting on us to take Him at His Word, and to be deliberate about it when we do.
This is the same GOD of the Old Testament, who worked breakthroughs, miracles, and wonders through Prophet Elijah [—1 Kings 17:1; 1 Kings 18:1-2; 1 Kings 18:41-43]. GOD is the constant, unchanging factor in the equation, and man’s faith is the unnecessarily unpredictable variable; but it does not have to be that way. GOD knows the direness of our immediate and desperate situations, even before they arise; And it is those who come to Him, desperately seeking and believing in Him for it, who invoke His divine intervention. A lot of us are cavalier and extremely relaxed about the things that are going haywire in our lives. A lot of us lack the determination and desperation that Elijah displayed. This is why GOD does not show up on the scene on our behalf. In our reality, we get bothered when we seek GOD for something and nothing happens. Worse than being bothered, we give up, stop praying for that thing and start praying for something else when our prayers are answered with nothingness. We are not like Elijah who persisted and remained unbothered when he prayed and nothing happened.
Elijah’s staunch persistence is echoed by Prophet Isaiah when he says, ‘You who make mention of the LORD, do not keep silent’ [Isaiah 62:6b], and this then begs the following questions to you, child of GOD: Why is your prayer closet so silent when you have not received answers to your prayers? Why is your seeking place so silent when you have not attained the Word (His promises) spoken over your life? Why have you kept silent when you have not achieved a resolution to the problem? Why are you busy with everything else when you have not received your breakthrough as yet? Take Isaiah 62:6b-7a to GOD and profess it in prayer. Unlike the words of Prophet Isaiah that are written for us to follow, Elijah was labouring purely on faith when he remained unmoved in the face of nothingness. He made a decision in the desperation of the hour that he would give GOD no rest until GOD established him, until GOD did what He promised him in His Word. It was easier for Elijah to call forth the drought [1 Kings 17:1], than it was for him to call back the rain [1 Kings 18:41-43].
When Elijah went to King Ahab and told him that the rains will stop upon his word because of the GOD that he serves, he said it with his chest. Some 3 years and 6 months later, when it was time for the rains to return, GOD gave Elijah another word to deliver to Ahab, and it was this prayer for rain that created the desperation if it was not to come to pass [1 Kings 18:1, 41-45; James 5:17-18]. As it were, Ahab saw Elijah as the worst troublemaker in Israel [1 Kings 18:17 GNT] and Jezebel wanted him dead [1 Kings 19:2]. One wrong move, the slightest show of doubt, and GOD would have not manifested Himself on Elijah’s behalf, and Elijah would have met his end. Elijah was a man of faith, with a tenacious spirit, even when he was in the thick of it. Our desperate circumstances (situations) should provoke us to faith and tenacity, to grab a hold of GOD, and not let go until He comes through for us like Elijah did. May the Holy Spirit lay waste to that meek and timid spirit that refuses to boldly ask GOD for Blessings and Breakthrough. Do not entertain a cowering spirit as it is not aligned with the will of GOD.
Like Elijah, we must persist boldly and courageously with our petitions to the LORD. An unrelenting spirit of faith is what is required of us, as we wait on GOD’s timing for our breakthrough. Ours is to keep at it while waiting on GOD’s timing, to keep praying until something happens, to persist on what you are believing GOD for. This is how our desperation comes through. GOD understands, sees, and hears this desperate spirit, heart or soul. The situations we face are not even remotely as dire as what Elijah was facing, and yet, we fail to be as consecrated and as desperate in our seeking of the face of GOD as he was, we fail to remain in the position of prayer until GOD answers our prayers like he did. Elijah was a man, no different than us [James 5:17], but his undeniable and unshakable faith set him apart. He possessed the level of faith that does not give up, that persists until GOD arrives on the scene. May we, by the grace of GOD, embody Elijah’s resolute spiritual posture and never rise from the position of prayer until the LORD answers our prayers.
May we, by the grace of GOD, embody Elijah’s resolute spiritual posture, and never rise from the position of prayer until the LORD answers our prayers. May the Holy Spirit lay waste to that meek and timid spirit that refuses to boldly ask GOD for Blessings and Breakthrough.
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