MY SOUL ASYLUM

the STRENGTH that I need...

You're running the race set before you, moving full
speed ahead with God's blessing overtaking you
at every step. Then suddenly, wham! You hit the
wall. It may be a wall of sickness or financial
trouble, of spiritual failure or family problems. But,
regardless of the form it takes, the effect of "the
wall" is always the same. It stops you cold.


The question is, once you hit a wall like that, what
will you do? You'll be tempted to quit, to turn back
in defeat. But don't do it. Because God will enable
you to break through that wall and keep right on
going.


I'm not going to tell you it's easy. The truth is, it's
tough. But you have to push on through the tough
times if you're ever going to have a breakthrough.


Ask any athlete. He'll tell you that! Because if he's
a winner, he's been there. He's pushed his body to
what seems to be the maximum. His side has hurt.
His lungs have ached. He's had cramps in his legs
and thighs. And just when he felt like he couldn't go
on, he's heard some coach yell, "Come on! Move
it!"


Athletes call that "hitting the wall." It's a time when
the body says, "That's it. That's all I can do. I can't
go any further. I can't go any faster. I quit."


But the seasoned athlete knows that "the wall" isn't
the end. It's a signal that he's on the verge of a
breakthrough. If he'll toughen up and push himself
a little more, he'll get a second wind. Suddenly,
he'll go faster than before. He'll reach a level of
excellence he couldn't have reached any other way.


When you feel the worst, when failure is breathing
down your neck, press into the Word as never
before. You may meditate on a particular scripture
for days and even weeks sometimes, trying to get
a revelation of it, seemingly without success. Then
suddenly, like the dawn of the morning, light will
come pouring in. You'll see the way to break
through. All you have to do is punch one little hole
in that wall of problems, dig one tiny hole in it with
your faith and with the Word of God.


Then keep tearing away at that hole. Don't quit!
And, before long, the forces of God will come
bursting through, demolishing every obstacle in
their path!


Once that happens you'll never be the same again.
You'll be hooked. It will only take one breakthrough
like that to make a never-dying, never-quitting
champion out of you!

Step out of the Boat!

It's easy to be so afraid of making a mistake that
you never get around to stepping out on faith. You
can spend all your time wondering, "Is this faith?
Or is it presumption? What if I exercise my faith for
something and find out later I've missed God's
will?"


Don't worry. God can handle any mistake you can
make. I know because I've made plenty of them.
When I did, I'd just go to the Lord and He'd tell
me, "Stay on the Word, child. Together we'll
overcome this thing." And we always did.


If you act on the Word out of the sincerity of your
heart and you steadfastly stay with the Word,
Jesus will never let you down...no matter how
many dumb mistakes you make. He proved that
the night Peter jumped out of the boat in the
middle of the lake.


Have you ever stopped to think about that
incident? Peter hadn't been praying or seeking
God's will before he did that. On impulse he just
blurted out, "Lord, if it's You bid me come."



What was Jesus supposed to say? He couldn't
very well say, "It's not Me." I suppose He could
have said, "Wait a minute now. You don't have the
faith to get out here. You'd better stay in that boat
or you're going to drown for sure."


But He didn't say that to Peter--and He won't say it
to you. If you want to get out and walk by faith, He'll
get out there with you and pick you up when you
start sinking. He'll walk you back to the boat if He
has to.


It's better to risk being presumptuous than to
waste your life in the boat of unbelief! If you have
to, just dive into the water and say, "God, help me!"


Don't let fear keep you from taking that step of
faith. Come on, get out of the boat today!