Joy Before Breakthrough

Joy before Breakthrough

Always be full of joy in the LORD. Philippians 4:4

IF YOU’VE BEEN FOLLOWING GOD for a while and have set your heart on something he has promised, you know by now there’s often a gap between his promises and fulfillments. Faith is what we do in that gap. It’s the process our hearts, minds, and spirits take from point A to point B of God’s will, and it can be quite the journey. That journey sometimes discourages us but always stretches us. We watch for his plan to unfold in our lives, with one eye on the evidence of what is happening and another on what is yet to come.

While we’re watching, we need to remember a very important truth: Joy almost always comes before breakthrough. In fact, being aware of that truth will take our eyes off the details and turn them back toward the faithfulness of God. In other words, we turn our attention from the promise to the Promiser. That shift enables us to enjoy the moment before the answer comes. It anchors us in the goodness of our Father rather than the gifts he offers us. As much as we want to see him work out his wonderful purposes in our lives, we want even more just to know he is with us and watching over his plans. And that makes the gap between promise and fulfillment much more than just a waiting process.

Some of us spend years waiting for God’s promises and purposes to be fulfilled or our prayers to be answered. We have anxious faith in our hearts. But anxious faith isn’t faith at all. The questions that bounce around in our minds of whether God will work things out, whether he is on our side, whether he can really be trusted to do what he said—they all undermine trust. On good days, we can answer those questions positively. On other days, we wonder and worry and talk about believing God’s promises without actually believing.

Anchor your heart in joyful, expectant faith, no matter what contradictions and closed doors you’re facing. The journey of faith takes time. Fill that time with joy. Trust your Father. Rejoice always in the ways he has surrounded your life with goodness. Joy opens doors that fear and disappointment are powerless to unlock.

A holy, joyful expectancy is of the very essence of true waiting.