The God of Breakthrough for the Country and for Me

Do you need a breakthrough? if so, you are not alone. We all feel this need - not just once or twice, but several times in our lives. We all have seasons when we have sown the seed of the Word of God, where we have cultivated it with faith and patience; we perceive in our minds that our "time is now" according to Galatians 6:9 “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

For we will reap in due course and I am convinced that the time for harvest has come. The time has come to move on to new phases in God's plan for our lives and for our country. However, nothing seems to be happening. So, we continue to wait and wait, month after month or even year after year. We keep wondering what's holding us back. We continue to be on the lookout for the breakthrough we desperately need. But the fact is that it is not enough to wait, to be amazed and to look. Often, there is something we have to do. There are steps we need to take to move forward with these plans ordered by God and these promotions that are long overdue.

Let’s look at two stories in the Bible: Let’s see the context of 1 Samuel 17:4-11, the context of 40 days of insults, the army of Israel was intimidated, demoralized, immobilized and they were lost, they didn't know what to do anymore. They are all terrified and immobilized by the Philistines. The people of Israel had been at war with them for years, perhaps they decided to believe that they would never leave. They had lost the fight without having been to war. An unconquerable challenge. Our giants are like the Philistines, they have been there for days, months, or years. They needed a BREAKTHROUGH.

Let us go back a little bit in time: Israel was chosen by God, they had His presence in their midst, God had taken them out of slavery in Egypt, God had divided the Red Sea so that they could cross it (Exodus 14:9). The Lord went before them, by day in a column of cloud to guide them in their path, and by night in a column of fire to enlighten them, that they might walk day and night (Exodus 13:21). When they were thirsty, God gave them water, when they were hungry, God gave them the manna, but they had forgotten.

David asks about the reward several times in verse 25 – 30 and he decides, “I WILL DO IT! His brothers laughed at him when he said, "I WILL DO IT " and King Saul said: Saul replied, “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth.” (1 Samuel 17:33). But David remembers his adventures with the lion and the bear. David remembers Who delivered him from the lion and the bear, it wasn't on his own. David had experienced things with His God on whom he could rely!

Despite the giant, David says, "Because of the Lord Almighty” He says, "Because of my experience with the Lord Almighty” He had experienced things with His God. His coach was God himself! He told about his adventures and that gave him credibility. He gave glory to God.

1 Samuel 17:36 Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. 37 The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.” Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you.”

Many of us have giants in our lives - habits, fears, rejection, addictions (food, alcohol, shopping, pornography…) and insecurities that prevent us from reaching our full potential. Many of our churches have stories that prevent them from moving forward. Sometimes frozen on the spot, we lose sight of the promise God made for our lives and are happy with much less than the best.

But there is a better way to go in order to have this breakthrough. Perhaps you thought when you became Christians that all these giants would disappear, but they had settled for a long time, these giants still lived in the country.

Psalm 23:5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. As a Christian I thought God would have said: I set a table for you in My presence (more intimacy, more relationships with my God) but NO it’s in the presence of your enemies! Do not let the enemy come to eat at the table that God has made for you. The Bible says: "The devil goes around like a roaring lion.

4 little inside voices that indicate the enemy is sitting at your table:

Voice number one: You will not succeed! It is not the voice of the good shepherd... because He says “I am with you in the valley of dark and death (verse 4).

Voice number two: It is better at the table on the other side instead of the one with the good shepherd. The enemy comes to destroy but God gives life in abundance at this table with the Good Shepherd

Voice number three: You are not good enough for God! God is not interested in you (words from a parent, coach, teacher, etc.). The fact is that God is preparing a table for you in His presence. Jesus is the Good Shepherd, He gave His life for you, you are valuable!!!

Voice number four: Everyone is against you! It infuses negative thought in us and tell that they hate you. It makes us to believe that people are talking about us all the time. We imagine situations, we make movies in our minds. We're in continuous defense.

Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion (1 Peter 5:8). We can’t stop him from running around but we can stop him from sitting at my table. The enemy can defeat you, the giant can stay in the country if you give him a place at your table.

Why a table “In the presence of your enemy?” So that all the glory may return to God. God promises us that we will succeed, that we will have the victory, have that breakthrough. The great tragedy is that we often underestimated how much God wants to do in us and through us. Too often we believe the lies of the enemy, the voice that is not of God.

God tell us, “Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future, (Jeremiah 29:11). He loves us, He loves you, it contrary to what others say, “I gave My Son away in love for you!” An extraordinary thing with God is that He is able to do the impossible with ordinary people like you and me.