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Then David said, “God has broken through my enemies by my hand like a breakthrough of water.”      1 Chr 14:11 (nkjv)

Introduction: 

In life, everyone wants some level of breakthrough. Some in their relationship with others, some in business, some in their career while others it is in the spiritual journey and relationship with God. 

When a person who has struggled with alcoholism gets sober and gains control over their impulses…that’s a breakthrough.

When a husband and wife who have been having marriage problems discover a new way to communicate with each other and express their love…That’s a breakthrough.
 
When a man or woman gets a new job with better pay and possibly convenient time compared to the previous…that’s a breakthrough

If you were struggling to pray before, but now you can stay in God’s presence not minding the time you have spent communing with God….that is a breakthrough

Anytime a person goes from one level to a new and better level in their life, that’s called a breakthrough.

Like riding an elevator that takes you up one floor at a time, a breakthrough takes you up one level at a time…helping you reach new heights in your life.

Carefully look at breakthroughs from the context of 1 Chron 14:8-17, 

The passage was clear on the constant battle we face. David was the man who killed their champion, hearing that he was the king raised anger in the Philippians (although one might not fully know the cause or causes of the war in this passage) but they planned a war against him.

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How many times you, a little joy caused your enemies to go around looking for how to make you sorrowful?

How many times are they not happy at your upliftment either at work, in your career, business, status, etc?

Sometimes, with your relationship with Jesus Christ. They are always looking for ways to bring you down, to prevent your breakthrough either spiritually or physically. 

The same God who gave David breakthrough and victory is the same today (Heb 13:8) and he is willing to give anyone who will recognise him as Lord victory too.

However, for you to truly have victory and breakthrough, there are lessons to learn from David in the passage.

1.   David inquired of God in his pursuit of victory/breakthrough over his enemy. Most people, in their pursuit of breakthroughs sometimes rely on the knowledge of who they know, what they know, their experiences, wealth, and power.

David did not take that path instead asked God what to do. Inquiring of God is a serious matter, with a heart of not having an alternative while inquiring of him. - vs 10

Many people make praying the last option yet it is one of the most effective ways of inquiring from God, after trying all other methods and options, and fail or not getting a desirable result then they go back to resolving to inquiring of God in prayer (God is merciful, but we can not take his mercy for guaranteed) 

2.   David humbled himself in the place of prayer. To inquire of God in the place of prayers means not allowing the pressure of the situation to overwhelm you into rushing into action without hearing from God (1 Sam 13:6-9), he understood that God is always able to fix it regardless of the time because He’s got time and season in his hand - as sung by someone.

3.     He was able to keep the enemy back because the period of inquiry taught him patience and strategy for victory. The period of inquiry helped him to learn patience and good insight into the enemy's approach. Patience in the place of inquiry is very helpful to how to reset the enemy - vs 16 (Resist the devil and he will flee - James 4:7)

When you look carefully at the verses, you will discover that the enemy fled indeed leaving their idols and powers behind for David to destroy.  Every scripture is written for us to learn from (2 Tim 3:16-17), God desires is to also give us breakthroughs like he gave David. Hence, he gave us from this context a sort of guidelines so that we can develop our approach in life.

Let’s look at some applications to our lives.

Application:

It is very important to know that breakthroughs come to the public when we experience private breakthroughs with God. It is God that brings your breakthroughs to the public and not you - ver 17

Why:

a.           Honouring God on your knees is important for breakthrough because we can never be any greater than what we are on our knees before God. Persistent brings God honouring you openly - Luke 18:6-7

 

b.     If we are looking for a breakthrough from God, we must stop looking around at what people can do or can not do, or get disappointed when they fail, instead start looking inside and your private breakthrough with God on your knees. You do not know how strong you are during your challenges until you have overcome them. Jacob never knew he could wrestle the angel until he was faced with the challenge - Gen 32:22-32 

 

c.       Any breakthrough you achieve is God showcasing himself in your life and through the situation, so if we don't understand his operation, we will not appreciate his approach and strategy or how he works. That is why it is essential to do what David did, inquire of God first - Jer 9:23-24.  Your breakthrough is the finished product of God showing and teaching you more about himself. Try to appreciate him and his ways.

 

d.   God doesn't always go through the same approach in carrying out the breakthrough for us, we must be aware of this so as not to expect him to use the previous method for a new breakthrough. Looking at ver 10-12, where God used a particular strategy and in ver 14-16 another, to teach his children that he is new every time - lam 3:22-23, God wanted David to have a new way of thinking about him and not try to box him to the way he wanted, something we often do this while asking God for the breakthrough.

e.   God’s breakthroughs in our lives are on his timetable and not ours. This is why we must learn to inquire of him not only for guidance but idea of his timetable - 1 Chron 12:32, Luke 19:44. Essl 3:1. When we wait for his time, it looks easy in the eyes of people around and we look like superstars.

 

f.   God doesn't need our permission to give us breakthroughs, (remember he is showcasing himself through us). We must understand that he knows how to go about it - Dan 3:16-28.  That is why God sometimes places us in situations that challenge our current understanding of his ways of operation. With this, we are forced to expand our ideas about Him to take in new insights of what he is trying to show us.

WHAT IS GOD TEACHING LATELY

1. Humility

2. Dependence on Him

3. Trusting his promises

Conclusion:

God’s instruction to David in 1 Chron 14: 10-17 possibly looked unreasonable and uncomfortable. However, God was giving David a new way of thinking about Him, his approach, and his method towards his breakthroughs.

God is our maker, the creator of all things. He knows the ending of a matter from the beginning because He is Alpha and Omega (Heb 13:8), that is why his children should seek his direction, no matter the challenges or situations confronting us.

To achieve this we need the help of the Holy Spirit to help

1.   Understand the father

2.   Grace to focus on his approach

3.   Patience to wait on him

4.   Power to overcome distractions