It’s not as bad as it looks.

The enemy wants you to depend on what you can see, and ignore what you’ve heard from the Lord. But you’ve heard promises.

You’ve seen miracles. You know how God moves. You’ve seen Him change hearts because He’s done it with your own. You know He heals relationships and brokenness and immaturity and pride. You know the Lord is moving even when it seems dark. You know the sun is rising.

Now is a time to rile up your faith and trust God for all the things you cannot see.

Thank Him for moving. He is.

Sit and listen and He will tell you how He’s moving, not just broadly across the world but also personally, for you.

Don’t cave to fear or discouragement. Don’t let the enemy distract you from abiding. Do not worship yourself by trusting only what your eyes can see.

You hold those promises firmly and declare the Lord is true. He is. Do not hinder Him by quailing. Stand firm and watch what He’s about to do.

Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;

fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way,

over the man who carries out evil devices!

Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath!

Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.

For the evildoers shall be cut off,

but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land.

— Psalm 37:7-9

It’s not all up to you, and you know that in your head but you still feel hyper-responsible for all the results. The breakthrough is His job, though. Your job is not to figure out how the puzzle fits together; your job is to obey.

So obey. Do the thing He told you that you’ve been putting off.

Maybe you’re already obeying, but it is a hard road. Victory will come sooner and easier if you carry your cross without resentment.

You do have such power in paving the way for breakthrough. Thank Him for moving. He has been orchestrating the details and speaking to others on your behalf, arranging favor and answers.

It’s happening. The process will be so much easier if you thank Him in the midst of it and obey in gratitude.

The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped;

my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.

— Psalm 28:7

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

— Colossians 2:6-7

The Lord has the answer to your breakthrough, and it’s better than you could imagine. He’s not late; it’s been in progress for a long time.

And the best news, but also the hardest news is…you don’t have to figure it out.

It’s not a riddle you have to solve. It’s a waiting game you have to endure by abiding and obeying, by trusting Him and refusing to entertain fear, despair, or hopelessness.

You must not give those things any room to maneuver in your mind — cull those thoughts relentlessly. They are not your thoughts; they are planted by the enemy to get you to sabotage and give up on the victory you’re so close to.

That victory is a Kingdom victory, and the enemy fears it.

You make him afraid by believing the Lord and living in great wonder and joyful expectation at what He’s going to do. Remember, it’s not your job to figure it out.

But you can dream about it and think of all the fun possibilities. Whatever you dream of will still come short of what the Lord is doing.

…according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do

far

more

abundantly

than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

— Ephesians 3:16-21

Jesus, protect our faith right now.

We refuse to cave to the enemy’s lies and discouragement. Help us see what we cannot see: the allies we’re unaware of, the provision within reach, the answers that solve the situations overwhelming us.

We have the mind of Christ, so we will think the way you do — confident of the victory because we are as certain of it as if it already happened.

Which it has.

That’s where our eyes will focus: on the victory and the realm of All Things Are Possible. We choose to believe You.

Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God….“For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

— 1 Corinthians 2:12&16

The future, good or ill, was not forgotten, but ceased to have any power over the present. Health and hope grew strong in them, and they were content with each good day as it came, taking pleasure in every meal, and in every word and song.

— JRR Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

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