The Lord of the Breakthrough

“...So they named that place Baal-Perazim (which means "the Lord who bursts through"). -1 Chronicle 14:11 NLT

I have great news for you. Yes, there are breakthroughs in every single trial you face in life. There are important things to remember when you are faced with circumstances and hardships. Let’s look at three important ones from the life of David and from his breakthroughs.

King David never asked to be king. God found favor in him and had Samuel anoint him as the next king. He was just a shepherd boy. Can you imagine? One day you're leading sheep, feeding them, taking care of them, smelling like a shepherd boy, and out of the blue the most prominent priest, prophet, and judge shows up at your home while you're still out with the sheep, and anoints you King over an entire nation! David was the youngest of all his brothers. God saw his heart and loved his heart. He knew he could trust David. He even said, “A man after His own heart!” No wonder God was with David.

So, then, what made David so special? Many things. But I believe it all started with this first one. Worship! You always found David with a harp in the fields worshipping God. Do you see the importance of true worship? It was the foundation of his successes in breakthroughs. Before he was tested, he had a great habit of constantly worshiping God.

Let’s look at this story, “Then King Hiram of Tyre sent messengers to David, along with cedar timber, and stonemasons and carpenters to build him a palace. And David realized that the Lord had confirmed him as king over Israel and had greatly blessed his kingdom for the sake of his people Israel.”

When you worship God and choose to do what is right before His eyes, He sends us help. Interestingly, even after King David died and his son Solomon became king, King Hiram of Tyre sent ambassadors to congratulate him. You see, God will send you His allies to help you. God sends the right people at the right time to help you accomplish what God has called you for. God's plan is always to bless the giver and the receiver. The blessings only stop when we choose to disobey.

The second important trait of King David and the reason for his ultimate success was David asked God what to do. “So David asked God, Should I go out to fight the Philistines? Will you hand them over to me?” God’s reply was Yes. And he was given victory. But, it didn’t stop there. There’s more to this story.

Those Philistines didn’t give up. After a while they came to fight King David again. King David inquired of God again. This should stand out to all of us. I mean he could have said to himself, “I beat them the first time. I can beat them again.” After all, the Philistines were attacking him right? King David went back to inquire of God again. Right here you see a man that refuses to do things his way. This time God not only told him to go ahead and follow fight but also laid out the entire battle plan. He gave David the blueprint on how, where, and when to attack!

Please do not miss this important message. God always has a strategic plan on how to defeat your enemies and not every battle is for you to fight! Sometimes God just goes before you and gets the job done. “....That will be the signal that God is moving ahead of you to strike down the Philistine army.” Look at this verse carefully. God was moving ahead of King David to strike down the Philistine army. That was God’s promise to King David. God told him go fight, He told him what not to do, how to do it, where to fight, and what to hear as His signal to King David so he would know when to attack. I love this! It’s worthy of my “Wow God Moments.”

Asking God is easy. But are you really hearing His reply? Are your ears in tune to receive what He’s saying? Let me tell you something. Very, very rarely will you find people voices agreeing with what God is asking and requiring of you to do. Listen always do what God tells you. King David had his own army generals. You don’t find him anywhere in this story asking them their opinion. Did you catch this? Please do! Don’t argue with people about the commands God gives you. Don’t even try to explain. Imagine those army generals and strategists of King David. They could have given him another way. King David doesn’t even address it.

Third and lastly. Perhaps the most important. Carry Out! “So David did what God commanded.” It all ends right here. David obeyed the commands of God. This was why he had the breakthroughs. May I be bold enough and let you know it’s the same for you and me? Our breakthroughs aren’t going to take place without implementing and carrying out exactly what He as told us to do.

Are you catching all of this clearly? All breakthroughs happen when we incorporate into our lives these three vital things. Worship, Ask, Carry Out! Here is your keys to successfully receiving your breakthroughs in life. It’s this simple and yet hard to do because we try to get others to agree with what God told us to do. It will never happen. Obedience is better than sacrifice.

It all started with worship, and it ended with worship. King David stopped, recognized God’s faithfulness, protection, power, and might. He knew he just received his breakthrough. So they called that place “The Lord who bursts through.” How fitting because that’s exactly what took place. King David didn’t take the credit. He knew the credit and the glory belonged to the greatest general of all times, God and God alone.

Listen, we will never receive God’s breakthroughs until we realize God is not with our own actions, thoughts, and ideas. We don’t command Him. He commands us, and we can accept or decline His advice. He doesn’t do things our way because, quite frankly, we don’t know what we’re doing. We sure have a choice to make. We can continue in misery, hoping to receive our breakthroughs. We can bend our knee, will, desires, and our right to do things our way and be victorious, or we can sit in misery. Which road will you take? God has your breakthrough for those hard places of your life too. These stories are not there to make us all happy and fuzzy. They are there to inspire us and help us to get our breakthroughs.

Dr. Teresa Allissa Citro

Founder and President

Thread of Hope, Inc.