Faith Phase 5: Dead Ends
In the dead-end phase, the situation deteriorates from difficult to impossible. If you are at this stage, congratulations! You are in good company. Even the apostle Paul experienced dead ends. He wrote,
"We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead." (See 2 Corinthians 1:8-9.)
God not only can raise people from the dead physically but also can raise people from the dead emotionally. He can raise a dead marriage. He can resurrect a dead career. He can breathe new life where all hope has died.
Faith Phase 6: Deliverance
In the end, God delivers. He performs a miracle. He provides a solution. God loves to turn crucifixions into resurrections, hopelessness into victory, and dead ends into deliverance. Why? Because He gets the glory.
What Phase Are You in Today?
Has God given you a dream? That's what phase one is about. If you don't have a dream, then you're not really living — you're just existing.
Maybe you are in phase two. You have a dream from God but have not made the decision to pursue it. You're still sitting on the fence. You think you're waiting on God, but God is waiting on you. God's word for you in the decision phase is, "Go for it!" Heaven is cheering you on!
You might be in phase three right now. You have a dream and have made the decision, but now it's been delayed. You're asking God, "Why hasn't my prayer been answered yet?" If you're in phase three, remember, you're in God's waiting room. Don't detour, and don't get ahead of God either. Wait for Him to open the right door.
Perhaps you are in phase four — you are being tested. What difficulties are you facing while you wait for the dream to be fulfilled? God says, "I know exactly what you're going through. I see it. I'm watching. Don't think I've forgotten you, because I haven't."
Or maybe you are in phase five and are thinking, "I've hit the wall. I'm at a dead end. I'm ready to give up." Well, you're right where God wants you. God is saying to you, "Hang on! Keep on believing! Don't give up!" You're on the verge of phase six: deliverance.
Do you expect God to deliver you?
- God is faithful. What He promises to do, He will do.
Where God guides, He provides. But it doesn't happen overnight. You go through the phases of the dream, the decision, the delays, the difficulties, and the dead ends… and then comes the deliverance.
Look at this verse:
God can do anything, you know — far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams!" (See Ephesians 3:20.)
It's as if God says to you, "Think of the greatest dream for your life — I can top it." That's the kind of dream God has for you. It's bigger and better than any ambition, goal, or desire you could ever dream up on your own.
Are you ready to do what God created you to do? God's dream awaits you.
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