Breakthrough for Who?

We’ve prayed for breakthrough. Believed for it. Stood on the Scriptures that tell us to ask, believing, and anything is possible with God.

So, what are we missing? Why haven’t we seen the promised breakthrough? Has God not said that He rewards those who diligently seek Him?

Maybe He’s withholding, waiting for us to learn some lesson we’ve not gotten the text book to.

OR, perhaps the thing we’re missing is a little perspective. After all, didn’t He also say that His ways are higher than ours, His thoughts are not ours?

If this is true, then it could be that the breakthrough has been His.

Have you ever been through boot camp? I haven’t, but have heard stories. It’s tough. Rigorous. Painful. Confrontational.

But oh, so necessary.

Throughout the struggles I’ve faced over the years, there has been little doubt whether God’s been with me. This doesn’t mean doubt has remained silent. No. In fact, it has mixed its words with the reality of situations in order to cause the waves around me to threaten certain death—or at least destruction.

Those subtle lies usually sound a lot like, “This is the way it’ll be for you. Accept it.” Or “You’ll always be on the outside looking in, wishing you could join the fun.” Or “Last picked—again—should you expect anything different?” Or a myriad more thoughts that have been nurtured through the voices of unsuspecting agents.

Other lies include fears, paradigms, habits, and sometimes coveted relationships. Those are things that stand between me and a vibrant intimate relationship with the One who has called me by name before the foundation of the universe was laid. They are walls of separation that God has set out to break through. If Christ intercedes on our behalf, perhaps these are His prayer focus.

Looking back over the years, I can see where attitudes have changed. Beliefs have shifted. Trust has grown. Insecurities have diminished. Hindsight, as we know, has the potential to make things crisp and clear.

The physical circumstances have changed little. To the naked eye, it might be said it’s worsened. I have no idea when these particular trials will end. I do believe they will, though. One day, when the time is right and the harvest is ready.

What I do believe is that boot camp doesn’t graduate flabby, weak-hearted, irresponsible, insecure, unsure, second-guessing, knee-knocking, fearful candidates for the rigors of life. It is important to submit to the training and grow through it. See it as something that will one day create a formidable foe to the enemy of our soul.

And know this: God isn’t cracking the whip, demanding, beating our backs, diminishing our worth, or mocking our efforts. It is Him at our side, in front of us, at the finish line, beckoning, “Come. Another step. You can do it. I know you can. I’m with you. I’m for you. I’m your rest. Your strength. Your comfort. Your hope.”

He knows what you’re capable of. He created—fashioned and designed—you. Each detail of your being, He carefully placed and meticulously planned for greater purposes than you’ll ever imagine. He’s not about to crush that. He’s calling it out. Strengthening it. Completing the creation He envisioned so long ago when you were conceived in His heart.

This is the breakthrough He’s after: Your Freedom.

Weaving words for the heart and soul,

Karlene A. Jacobsen
Freelance Writer
southpawscribbler@gmail.com

Where does my help come from?

I will lift up my eyes to the hills--

From whence comes my help?

My help comes from the LORD,

Who made heaven and earth.

He will not allow your foot to be moved;

He who keeps you will not slumber.

Behold, He who keeps Israel

Shall neither slumber nor sleep.

The LORD is your keeper;

The LORD is your shade at your right hand.

The sun shall not strike you by day,

Nor the moon by night.

The LORD shall preserve you from all evil; 

He shall preserve your soul.

The LORD shall preserve your going out

       and your coming in.

From this time forth, and even forevermore.

Psalm 121

Boy, did I need this today! How about you?

It's been a pleasure to visit with you.

Secure?

Secure? Secure.
The LORD is my rock, 
my fortress and 
my deliverer;
my God is my rock,
in whom I take refuge.
He is my shield and
the horn of my salvation,
my stronghold.
Psalm 18: 2 NIV 

I love it when I can climb into a place of safety and know that nothing can harm me, not even a storm of tsunami proportions. For my entire life, I have searched for this place, coming to realize it is an illusory and hopeless search, so I might as well grip to whatever handrail I can find and allow my body to flail and flap in the winds of hurricanes, tornadoes, and those tsunamis.

That's a rather dismal look at life, isn't it? For me, it created a tortuous existence in which I always knew I was a second away from unraveling and becoming a knotted heap on the floor. My condition has been worse than Humpty's impending doom. There were no horses or men who would ever be able to untie the knots and knit me back together and I would lay at the base of creation a wadded mess, tripping any who dared to pass by.

Ten and a half years ago, I felt as though God spoke to me saying, "I'm going to take that insecurity."

I was thrilled at the time and immediately responded, "Go ahead, whatever it takes."

 HA! Here I am to tell you, He has done it. Not only has He taken me from afraid to be around complete strangers, but He has placed me in situations where I have been faced with two choices, speak to those strangers or stay in the corner alone and lonely for an undetermined amount of time. But this is not all.

He has allowed me to walk through a season in which I haven't known whether we would have a home from one month to the next, let alone the modern conveniences that allow me to keep my food cold, clothes washed and dried, and hot showers. My emotions have run the gamut of sheer terror to unnerving calm. Personally, I like the calm. I can relate to Jay Austin's description of his situation as serene chaos in the days I face lately (Flywheel).

I would be crazy to pretend that God is finished, but I will say that I am more secure in who God has created me to be today than I was a year ago.



It's been a pleasure to visit with you.

Faithful?

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, 

for He who promised is faithful.

Hebrews 10: 23 NKJV

Faithful? Faithful.

Finances have been anorexic in my home for several years and unless God turns it around, we will be seeing the rib cage soon. This in large part has played a role in my previous post about trust. I was doing all I could to bring in the income we were receiving. Jeff’s disability is still in “review” with the appeals panel in Washington D.C. and our insurance has taken a vacation due to error in the system. We have had to choose whether to scream and kick our feet—I’ve made this choice too often—or cry out to God for His intervention.

Then the day came when I had to put gas in the van and pray I could make it to work and back over the next several days until I was paid again. I had carefully planned the direction of every penny. Then something unexpected happened and I was short. Thankfully, my tithe check was already deducted from my ledger, so I was not concerned.

That is until I slid in behind the steering wheel and saw that fuel needle hover too low on the gauge. I did the only thing I could do. I dipped into my overdraft fund so that I could make it to church and work. Shaken and choking down despair I drove to church and watched my hand tremble as I dropped that tithe check into the offering. It IS God’s money, after all, right?

My heart screamed. All reason told me, “Listen, God will understand.”
Perhaps He would, but then again, it’s been so long since I’ve been able to be faithful in giving to God what’s His. I knew I had to do it . . . and I cried the rest of the day.

That was March 28.

The next night, my daughter came home from a class and gave me a card. I opened it and saw it was from a woman at my church. It read, “Karlene, I’ve been asking God how I can bless you, and I felt I you might enjoy a couple hours of pampering.” There was a gift certificate to a salon.

Photobucket.com

This woman had no idea that the following Saturday, April 2, was my birthday. She had no idea that in the quiet of my room, in the middle of the night, I asked my Father how I was going to manage to cut my hair again without totally creating a mess. What she knew was God asked her to send me that gift.

I feared returning to church the following Sunday. Several knew of my overdraft situation and worried about me. How in the world would I explain a new hair style?

The first person I saw that day commented on my hair and my first words, without thinking were, “It was a birthday gift from God.”

He is faithful to us. He will delight in giving us the desires of our hearts when we delight in Him.


It's been a pleasure to visit with you.

Take Over

Lately there's been a battle raging. My heart and mind are at war with one another. Fear of what life will be like if I truly relinquish control bellows in one ear. Promises of blessing and abundant life whisper within. Abandonment is what I long for. Control is what I do.

There is only One who can save and only One worth the struggle.


It's been a pleasure to visit with you.