At the end of my course on Breakthrough: Experiencing God's Power to Change, I go through an exercise that builds on all the key elements of the Breakthrough process to come up with your own Breakthrough Story.
This seems strange at first, because at the end of the course, you may not experience the breakthrough you want. You may not have anything yet to see.
But I believe that the story we tell ourselves that best serves us is the one God tells about Himself through us.
In other words, when we can still tell ourselves in the darkest of moments that God has already broken through, we are much more likely to experience the unexpected. We are more likely to see what has been missing all along.
I have a hard time of doing this, myself -- which is why I created a course to take my own teaching and my understanding from Scripture and make it much more real and actionable.
Honor Christ and let him be the Lord of your life. Always be ready to give an answer when someone asks you about your hope. (1 Peter 3:15 CEV)
Most people understand this verse to mean that they are to be able to tell their testimony, which is true to some degree. But I believe there's more to that. Let's look at the Amplified translation of the same verse:
But in your hearts set Christ apart [as holy—acknowledging Him, giving Him first place in your lives] as Lord. Always be ready to give a [logical] defense to anyone who asks you to account for the hope and confident assurance [elicited by faith] that is within you, yet [do it] with gentleness and respect.
There is a "logical defense" -- other translation use the word "reason" -- and this is true. A testimony, alone, could just be a story of what happened, but it may not convey richly the why.
It's still a story. A "logical defense" and "reason" doesn't have to be a dry dissertation.
The most compelling story, of course, would be if, at the end of the teaching, you experienced the unexpected miracle -- you are free from your financial stress, the relationship is repaired, you are healed of all your physical ailments.
I am realizing more and more that those people who live the full life don't necessarily have it all on the outside. These are the things we tend to focus on and that we seek breakthrough for.
But the precursor to the external is the internal change.
This is your Breakthrough Story.
Once you have this narrative you can go to over and over like a bottomless well, then God's work can be deeply transformative.
I've been listening to the modernized version of the hymn "It is Well (with my soul)."
The story of the composer, Horatio Spafford, is tragic.
When his four daughters died at sea, he received the telegram from his surviving wife: "Saved alone...."
In the face of such tragedy, he found solace and breakthrough to carry on. Spafford placed had such a strong reason that could persuade at least himself.
That is what a Breakthrough Story is.
Question is: have you spent the time to see how God has worked and will work in your life to create yours?
It's an irony: creating this kind of story first...even before you experience what you believe is a breakthrough...is a powerful way to actually experience God's breakthrough.
