There’s a tremendous difference between having knowledge of a promise and taking ownership of that promise. And the difference between the two comes when the power of that promise is discovered for the first time—the moment when the promise becomes personal.
A letter written by William Stukeley recounts a spring afternoon in 1726 when his best friend—perhaps the most famous scientist of all time—shared a story with him over tea “under the shade of some apple trees.” Stukeley wrote, “He told me, he was just in the same situation, as when formerly, the notion of gravitation came into his mind. It was occasion’d by the fall of an apple, as he sat in contemplative mood. Why should that apple always descend perpendicularly to the ground, thought he to himself. . . . Why should it not go sideways, or upwards? But constantly to the earth’s center? Assuredly, the reason is, that the earth draws it. There must be a drawing power in matter.” 7
And so Isaac Newton recounted to his friend one of the most celebrated scientific discoveries of all time—the theory of gravity—and how it had been discovered by an apple unexpectedly falling from a tree near him.
Certainly Newton was not the first person to observe the falling fruit, nor was it the first time he had seen it. How, then, could it be called a discovery? While the apple had been seen before, and the falling had been seen before, the moment when the principles of what was really happening came alive to him changed his life—and an entire discipline of learning—forever.
The promises that will carry you to your breakthrough may be brand-new to you, or you may have heard them all your life. But a promise is not discovered until it is applied, until the lightbulb goes on and the promise gets personal: “That’s not just a word to someone in the first century. That’s a promise for me!”
I grew up around airplanes. My father was a pilot, and a two-decade career in the Air Force gave way to many interesting ventures, including running the airport in our town. I spent many days doing odd jobs around that place, and as you might imagine, there’s nothing that brings back memories for me like the smell of jet fuel in the morning!
I can’t say I loved every minute of gassing and washing small planes, but the job had its perks: I got to enjoy a lot of father-son flights as I was growing up. Most of them were fantastic memories, but there is one exception I’ll never forget.
Dad got a call at the office from one of our neighbors, sharing that her husband had passed away, and she had a very unique request. This old Texas rancher had always wanted to be cremated and to have his ashes scattered across his homestead.
She was calling to ask a simple favor: would we be willing to fly over their land and honor the last wishes of this beloved man by scattering his remains from the air?
Of course, as the boss’s son, I was the obvious candidate for the job of sidekick on this unusual mission.
Dad knew just where we were to go, and I knew it would be a short flight. We lifted off and quickly reached our cruising altitude of about 1,500 feet. We hadn’t really coordinated how we were going to do this before lifting off, but how hard could it be? Dad assumed that we would talk about it when we got up in the air. I assumed, because he was busy flying the plane, that it was my responsibility to figure out what to do in order to scatter the ashes.
And here’s where my very poor choice came in.
I wanted to be ready when we got to the spot, so I opened up the bag containing the ashes as it sat in my lap. My father was busy flying, paying special attention to the angle of approach so we could make a dramatic entrance over the tree-lined hill where the bereaved family had gathered to watch. The cruising speed of a Cessna 172 is roughly 122 knots, or 143 miles per hour.
As soon as Dad said we were over the spot, I opened the window in order to stick the bag outside and distribute my powdery payload. That’s when two things combined inside the plane that brought a discovery I wish I had never made.
With an incredible whoosh! the rush of air poured into the plane. It hit the open bag of ashes with a wall of wind, and Dad and I experienced a small hurricane of dust, ashen clouds of darkness that enveloped the cockpit in a matter of moments.
Let’s put it this way. It’s cute to see a dog with its head out the window in a car going 40 miles an hour. There is nothing cute about a deceased man’s remains suddenly being sucked out of a baggie by wind traveling at 143 mph! I’m sure a small amount of his ashes did get spread somewhere over south Texas, but most of the ashes were worn by my father and me.
If we had needed to make an instrument landing right then, we would have been in serious trouble! Everything—and I mean literally every square inch inside the plane, from the inside of all the windows to every single instrument—was covered in a thin layer of ash. It took a few days to get all of the remnants out of our clothes and hair, but the picture will be in my mind forever.
Unfortunately, in life some things are discovered the hard way. But God’s promises, which are just as true as the laws of science, are just waiting for someone who is ready to pay attention. For those who do, a host of blessings await.
Why God Encourages Us to Seek Out His Promises
Just before Jesus was arrested and went to trial, he was alone with his disciples, a handpicked group of beloved friends. These were men with whom he’d spent every day for the past three years. These were men he would die for, along with a world of others, in just a few hours.
In this upper room he began talking with his disciples about how they could continue to honor him even after he left them. He said, “Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them” (John 14:21).
Jesus promises to reveal himself. But that disclosure comes in the context of a committed relationship, which is very much the way we reveal ourselves. We reveal little of who we are to a stranger. We reveal a little more to someone who is a nodding acquaintance. Even more to a coworker, perhaps; more still to a friend. The more intimate the friend, the more we reveal about ourselves. And to that most intimate of friends, our spouse, we reveal the most.
Why?
Because the secret of who we are is a precious thing, perhaps the most precious thing we have to share. And we don’t want to share that with just anyone. We want to share our deepest thoughts, goals, and dreams with someone we love and who loves us, someone to whom we can entrust our heart.
Discovery and the Marriage Relationship
In my relationship with my wife, Lana, she feels loved when I pursue her, when I take the time to listen to her, and when I seek to draw out what she is feeling in her deepest being. She doesn’t reveal what is on her heart in a casual, matter-of-fact way. Why? Because she is not interested in the exchange of information; she is interested in the growth of the relationship.
When I get frustrated with that process, I will sometimes say to her, “Can we get to the point?” But when I do that, I reveal something about myself. I reveal that I am more interested in gathering information or getting on to “the next important thing I’m working on” than I am in growing the relationship.
My wife, like most wives with their husbands, wants to be pursued; she wants me to take a deep interest in her. In the Song of Solomon, God’s handbook on courtship and marriage, Solomon’s bride says to him, “Draw me after you and let us run together!” (Song of Solomon 1:4, NASB). Her husband’s taking the lead in drawing her out—her thoughts, her dreams, her fears, her goals—brings an intimacy that draws them even closer together.
In other words, when I kick into discovery mode with my wife to sincerely know her more (even after nearly twenty years of marriage), I prove my love for her! And in turn, my pursuit motivates her to reveal more of her heart to me.
I have a psychologist friend who encourages husbands to ask their wives, “Is there more?” when they pause in a conversation.
And there always is!
And so it is with God. He, too, is interested in an ever-growing relationship with us. Revelation is the means he uses to draw us into a deeper relationship with him, primarily through his Word, the Bible. In our super-busy lives, we can trivialize the relationship when we get frustrated with him and demand that he “get to the point.” Or we can magnify the relationship, and delight him, when we seek to discover more about him, when we say, “Lord, is there more?”
And the answer he gives us is always yes.
There is always more truth, more love, more understanding, more forgiveness, more grace, and more mercy. More of his Word we can learn and memorize and share.
He is the God of more!
If we are willing to search, if we will actively pursue all that God has to say to us in his Word and through prayer, we will find he progressively reveals more and more to us.
“No eye has seen, no ear has heard . . . what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9)! And each revelation is designed to draw us deeper and deeper into the relationship. I prove my relationship with God just as I do with my wife—by engaging in a process of discovery whereby he can reveal his heart. It is our hearts that God pursues and his heart that he wants us to pursue, which is why he says, “You will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13, NKJV, emphasis added). Notice something else about that verse: it doesn’t say, “You will seek blessing and find blessing,” or, “You will seek a problem-free life and find a problem-free life.”
It says, “You will seek Me and find Me.” Never forget that the end goal of a breakthrough is not things, or a mind-set, or a better situation. The ultimate objective is to know God himself, to experience the intimacy with him that is the ultimate fulfillment. The promises we will discover are the overflow of who God is and who he is shaping us to become.
Are You Ready to Discover His Promises?
It is in the process of discovery that your mind-sets begin to change. You begin to mine the treasures of hope, help, courage, life, and love that you will need to power through your walls—to make that Faith Breakthrough. And while there are thousands of promises from God in the Old and New Testaments, it is important to discover them in a personal way. Until you take ownership of the promises, they are simply words on a page written for somebody else.
This process, while profound, is also very practical. It is critical that you understand how to identify the promises without misrepresenting the words God has given. Far too many people have led lives of disappointment because they mishandled the Scriptures only to believe in a lie.
Contrary to popular opinion, it is not necessarily God’s will that you live a pain-free life. Anyone who says otherwise is offering up fool’s gold. Instead, you must focus on the clear, and better, commitments that God has made to you by following a simple process.
What Does the Bible Say about My Wall?
Start with the obvious: seek to discover what the Bible says specifically about the mind-set, or mind-sets, related to your wall. You can begin in the concordance of your Bible, or you might conduct an online search using one of the many useful Bible sites available. Helpful topical Bibles have been published for just such a task, as have multitudes of books that outline God’s promises in unique situations.
Of course, you can also inquire of a trusted pastor or friend who has studied the Bible extensively.
Don’t just look up passages that relate to your wall directly. Search also for verses that deal with the “positive opposite” of your wall. For example, if you are dealing with a Wall of Resentment, look for promises related to gratitude, thankfulness, and waiting on God.
Once you have identified the key passages, you are ready to draw out the promises. These promises usually come in three forms:
There are promises he made to everyone.
These are universal promises God has made to every person for all times. For example, Psalm 31:23-24 speaks to all people who will choose to be faithful:
Love the L ORD, all you godly ones! For the L ORD protects those who are loyal to him, but he harshly punishes the arrogant. So be strong and courageous, all you who put your hope in the L ORD!
Clearly, the Lord promises to preserve the faithful. We can take that to the bank!
There are promises he made to others that demonstrate his character.
God made some promises to individual people at unique times in history. It would be irresponsible to claim that these are also made to everyone, but we do have the freedom to draw conclusions about God. After all, the same one who made those promises is at work today!
The book of Job is an account of a man who faced inconceivable difficulties. In the midst of the struggle, Job clung to a profound conviction of what he had learned about his God: “But he knows where I am going. And when he tests me, I will come out as pure as gold” (Job 23:10).
That certainty was born out of a lifelong walk with God that transcended Job’s situational pain, and it was eventually realized when God later spoke to him, restored him, and blessed him immeasurably. If you’re facing the difficult Wall of Disappointment, this prayer would certainly be appropriate:
Lord, you promised Job that you would use his trials to bring out the best in him, and you did. I rejoice despite my circumstances, because you are a God who brings joy to your children in your own time.
There are promises that are implied by his commands.
The Bible makes it clear that our heavenly Father wants good things for his children. With that assurance, we can be confident that anytime he demands something of us, it is because of the promise of something better. Like a loving mother who commands her child not to touch a hot stove, the rules we live by are meant to point us toward a better way, not to make us miserable. When God gives an order, a promise can’t be far away.
Look for the promises behind every command. Philippians 2:14-15 gives us a clear command for living: “Do everything without complaining and arguing, so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people.”
For anyone facing a Wall of Bitterness, there is both a negative warning and a positive alternative, leading to a confident prayer that moves us toward the breakthrough:
Lord, Paul instructed a persecuted church not to be resentful because they would shine like stars in the universe. I claim the promise that I can be in on your eternal plan by trusting you even when things don’t go well.
Regardless of the wall you are facing, there is a corresponding promise just waiting to be discovered. The search may take some time, but I can promise it will be worth the effort.
Still not convinced that you can discover the promises you need? I want to share a few promises with you. You’ll find many more promises like these at www.FaithBreakthroughs.com as well as tips and links to help you do your own breakthrough research so you can discover and pursue God’s heart on your own.
As you look at these verses, here’s my prayer for you:
Lord, thank you for revealing more of your heart, more of your love, more of your hope, more of your help—more of yourself to us. Help us seek out and discover the promise or promises you have for us, and teach us how to use your life-changing, powerful Word to tear down the walls we’re facing.
If your wall is regret, consider starting with the following promises:
• The L ORD is a shelter for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble. (Psalm 9:9)
• Those who know your name trust in you, for you, O L ORD, do not abandon those who search for you. (Psalm 9:10)
• But the L ORD your God refused to listen to Balaam. He turned the intended curse into a blessing because the L ORD your God loves you. (Deuteronomy 23:5)
• For God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.” (Hebrews 13:5)
• I will not abandon you as orphans—I will come to you. (John 14:18)
If your wall is disappointment:
• Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely. (1 Corinthians 13:12)
• I look up to the mountains; does my strength come from mountains? No, my strength comes from G OD, who made heaven, and earth, and mountains. He won’t let you stumble, your Guardian God won’t fall asleep. Not on your life! Israel’s Guardian will never doze or sleep. G OD’s your Guardian, right at your side to protect you—shielding you from sunstroke, sheltering you from moonstroke. G OD guards you from every evil, he guards your very life. He guards you when you leave and when you return, he guards you now, he guards you always. (Psalm 121:1-8, THE MESSAGE)
If your wall is ritual (overcoming legalism or perfectionism):
• Thank God for this gift too wonderful for words! (2 Corinthians 9:15)
• God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. (Ephesians 2:8)
• For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23)
• But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:41-42)
If your wall is fear and anxiety:
• Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. (Hebrews 10:23)
• For he will be like a tree planted by the water, that extends its roots by a stream and will not fear when the heat comes; but its leaves will be green, and it will not be anxious in a year of drought nor cease to yield fruit. (Jeremiah 17:8, NASB)
• Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. (Philippians 4:6, NASB)
If your wall is shame (feeling like you’ve fallen too far or done too much wrong to be forgiven or acceptable to God):
• If we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. (1 John 1:9)
• Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1-2, NASB)
If your wall is doubt (or confusion):
• But you must remain faithful to the things you have been taught. You know they are true, for you know you can trust those who taught you. You have been taught the holy Scriptures from childhood, and they have given you the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work. (2 Timothy 3:14-17)
If your wall is bitterness (an unwillingness to forgive):
• Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you. (Ephesians 4:31-32)
There are so many more verses, and walls, that could be named (and that you can find at www.FaithBreakthroughs.com). But tearing them down starts with discovery of God’s promises: discovering a passage or promise that you can hold on to and trust God for to make a Faith Breakthrough in the near days to come. A promise that can prove to be the turning point in your life and life story.
A Promise Discovered and a War Hero
Alvin York was the most decorated soldier of World War I. He received the Medal of Honor and more than forty other decorations for his service during the war. But did you know that all the men whose lives he saved, and all the medals he won, can be traced back to a promise discovered?
Gary Cooper won the 1942 Academy Award for his portrayal of this war hero in the classic movie Sergeant York.
Alvin York grew up in one of the poorest parts of Tennessee. Family struggles led to a life of bare survival and sin. Perhaps his only redeeming accomplishment in his early life was becoming a crack shot with a rifle. All of that changed in 1914, when York became convinced that his life needed to change. He surrendered his life to Jesus Christ, and to the shock of all those who knew him, he quit drinking, gambling, and fighting, and he even got married. 8
Not long after the United States declared war on Germany, York got his draft notice. Not convinced that a Christian should go to war, he attempted to seek conscientious objector status but was turned down. Before he knew it, Alvin York was in the infantry, where he quickly established himself as the best shot in his company. But he still had grave misgivings about going to war.
During a time of leave, York sought God for a resolution to his dilemma. As he read the Gospel of Matthew, York came to the place where Jesus is asked whether he should pay taxes or not. And Jesus’ answer? “Well, then . . . give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God” (Matthew 22:21).
He read that verse over and over and realized that God had given him an answer. There were responsibilities due to one’s government and those to one’s God. He discovered a promise inside that command—the assurance that God would honor his yielding to authority and would guide his next steps.
This passage in Matthew became something York held on to with all his heart. The promise that God would honor his patriotism and service changed his whole mind-set toward serving. He was free to serve in the army and to give his life to the Lord. York took that promise and went back to his unit and told his commander of his decision to stay in the army. Soon he and his whole division shipped out for France and eventually to the front lines.
On October 8, 1918, Corporal Alvin C. York and sixteen other soldiers under the command of Sergeant Bernard Early were dispatched before sunrise to take command of a critical railroad station. Due to a misunderstanding of their map, these seventeen men mistakenly ended up behind enemy lines. A brief firefight ensued that resulted in great confusion, and a huge number of German troops, thinking they were surrounded, surrendered to the Americans.
Unfortunately, once the Germans realized the Americans were so few in number, they signaled to a group of machine gunners, still on the hill overlooking the scene, to turn their fire away from the front and toward their own troops. After ordering the German soldiers to lie down, the machine gunners opened fire, resulting in the deaths of nine Americans instantly, including York’s best friend in the outfit.
With all of York’s ranking officers wounded or dead, command was turned over to him. It was up to him now to silence the machine guns.
By the time he was done advancing alone, twenty-five Germans were dead on the hill above them. In all, York and his men silenced thirty-five machine guns and took 132 German officers and soldiers as prisoners.
With York in the lead, nine Americans herded over a hundred prisoners back to the American lines—and the rest is history. But far too few realize that history was shaped by a promise discovered—Matthew 22:21—that changed Alvin York’s life forever.
When God’s Word Reads Our Own Lives . . .
I’m amazed how many times in my own prayers, or when I’m studying to give a sermon or message, I start out reading God’s Word and discover that God’s Word is reading me. If we just dig in and start reading, very often God’s Holy Spirit guides our search to that very verse or promise we need, just like he did with Alvin York who sought his counsel as a reluctant soldier in World War I . . . and just like he does in our lives today.
Promises don’t mean a great deal to us until they become personal—until we recognize that the God of the promises is not talking to some nameless person who is far better qualified for the guarantees he offers, but he is talking to us.
Lily’s first year of life was full of moments when crisis led me to the Scriptures. When those promises began to read more like a letter than a history book to me, my heart began to change. But I also discovered that those passages often seemed to speak to others who weren’t going through the heartache and helplessness of caring for a child who was hurting. As a way to encourage others—and to tell about God’s faithfulness in our own lives—I occasionally included updates on Lily’s condition on my blog. This Web page included daily—and sometimes hourly—updates on her condition and how others could pray specifically. Over the course of the ordeal, we were comforted to know that over five thousand people were checking in regularly and praying for our little girl.
In the dark hours following Lily’s heart surgery on January 25, 2007, I wrote the following thoughts that offer a glimpse into my own discovery and posted them to my blog:
I sent Lana to the Ronald McDonald House room last night to get some much-needed rest and stood watch solo in Lily’s room. She can’t be picked up, and so my job is pretty much limited to comforting her and putting her pacifier back in her mouth.
It is the first time I have really been able to exhale and spend some time on extended prayers of gratitude. I was reading back through some of my own notes, and it’s always interesting to see what meant the most after the storm was over. Psalm 20 has been really important to me this week. It’s actually a prayer of David’s warriors for their king’s safety and victory, but the promises and prayers fit quite nicely with my own cries this week.
In verse one, the psalm says, “In times of trouble, may the L ORD answer your cry. May the name of the God of Jacob keep you safe from all harm.”
During the surgery, as I kept reading this passage, I found this particular description of God to be really intriguing. It is making it clear that God’s protection was something to be sought after. But God was described here as the God of Jacob. Why Jacob? Well, the preacher in me would say it’s because Jacob represents all of Israel, God’s chosen nation, and all of his descendants. But the scared dad in me was reminded of Genesis 32, where Jacob wrestled with God as he boldly asked for a blessing. Did God answer? Yes, but not without trial. Jacob limped away with a blessing, and a very sore hip.
That’s the irony of God I’ll never understand, but can really appreciate after the storm. God’s richest blessings come only through pain. To be honest, I’m just overconfident enough that trials are the rare times I tend to desperately cry out to God. The worst and most arrogant part of human nature is that we think we are actually doing it on our own when things are going okay.
While I was studying last night, Dr. Gertz, one of the pediatric cardiologists, came in and woke up a finally sleeping and completely peaceful baby with the words “I’m so sorry, Lily, but I’m going to have to agitate you now.” And she proceeded to poke and prod and push to diagnose and treat and make a little progress. Of course, Lily began to scream and groan in her weak little drug-induced way that she has right now and kept looking at me as if to say, “Why don’t you DO something???” She had tubes hanging everywhere at the time, and they had both of her IV-laden arms tied to the bedrails to keep her from pulling on the life-giving lines.
I wanted badly to be able to tell her that her dad was only allowing all the pain and discomfort so that she could get stronger, that one day she could leave this place and do greater things than before. I was actually protecting her by making her vulnerable. That’s a father’s job.
And then, at 3:00 a.m., I thanked God in a whole new way for our last four months. For the first time, I really thanked him even for allowing this to happen.
Lana just walked back in and said, “You can’t preach on Sunday, so you’re going to preach to them now, huh?” Maybe so. Forgive me. I just wanted to let the record show that we’re not just thankful for God making her well. We’re also thankful for God teaching us when she hasn’t been well, and we’re going to trust him whether the future holds good things or more challenges. He’s good either way.
There have been over 5,000 visits to Lily’s page. I can’t help but imagine that there might be some who are reading these updates who have only seen God at work from afar—and who have never trusted him personally. The greatest blessing of my life is knowing Christ, and the greatest gift I could offer you is the promise that you can know him too.
Romans 10:9 gives us the promise: “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
God loves you very much—he doesn’t just love the Rush family—and I pray that you can have that same fellowship today. That would be the greatest outcome of this whole trial.
Okay, now I’ll stop rambling. God is good, but he’s not just good because things went well. He’s been good all along.
For the first time in the entire ordeal, I realized that the trials did not negate the promises, but verified them. I would never in a million years wish harm upon my daughter, but even in the midst of the pain, God was keeping his Word.
We’ve seen, then, that a Faith Breakthrough begins with a promise discovered. But our look at promises, and at a Faith Breakthrough, doesn’t stop with just discovering something in God’s Word that fits our circumstance and faces the wall before us, because it’s not enough to just discover a promise. We must also choose it in order to break through.
Discussion Questions
1. When Jesus was talking to his disciples about trusting his promises, he mentioned the importance of knowing him first. How important is it to know Jesus personally before you can trust his promises? Is it possible to really trust someone you do not know? Why or why not?
2. Think back to the time in your life that you felt closest to God. What was happening that cultivated that intimacy? Why do you not experience that all the time? How does your level of personal time with God affect your day-to-day mind-set?
3. Brainstorm a game plan for discovering new promises related to the walls in your life. What are some ways you plan to explore what God has to say to you? Most important, how can you ensure you’ll take quiet time with God so He can speak to you personally about His promises through the Scriptures?
4. When you read Ryan’s thoughts in the midst of Lily’s surgery and recovery, he talks about the promise God offers of forgiveness that is available to all who trust him. Have you counted on that most important of promises? Share your story with others of how you came to know of Jesus’ love and sacrifice for you.
5. Have you found a promise in God’s Word that you believe may lead to a Faith Breakthrough? If so, and if you feel comfortable, share your discovery with others.
Mort & Anna
When Walls Become Breakthroughs
Today Mort and Anna couldn’t look any more happy or carefree. But a number of years ago, they stood behind towering Walls of Shame and Guilt that had sprung up from Anna’s choosing to have an abortion. She had been told by so many that this would be a simple solution to a profound crisis, but it had actually made everything even more of a problem.
From the moment Anna walked out of the clinic that day, she was keenly aware of the loss she had just experienced, a loss that would haunt her for years to come. After Mort and Anna were married and began having children, Anna was consumed by thoughts of what could have been in the life of her unborn child. Every birthday was a reminder of another birthday that would never be celebrated. She longed to experience the grace and love of God, but she felt that her actions had pushed her out of qualification for such mercy.
“For many years I knew I wanted God, but I honestly didn’t think he wanted me,” she later confided.
Anna lived behind a Wall of Shame that threatened to ruin her life, her family, and her marriage. But one day Anna and her husband heard the Good News of Jesus. Someone explained that receiving forgiveness has nothing to do with what we have done or can do, but is based only on what God has done for us by sending his only Son to die for all of those sins. Mort and Anna received forgiveness that day and have never been the same. A precious promise changed their lives forever: “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).
After claiming this incredible promise and learning to walk in God’s grace, all of a sudden the most hurtful parts of her past have become Anna’s greatest opportunity for ministry. She volunteers her time leading small groups of women who are dealing with the sorrow of abortion—sharing with them the love and forgiveness available to them from a God who loves them dearly.
And as if moving past the Wall of Shame weren’t enough, Mort and Anna have been blessed in another way: they are the proud parents of seven beautiful daughters!
Change began for Mort and Anna when they understood that not only is there incredible power in a promise, but “a promise discovered” provides both a way out and a path toward God’s best.
Mort and Anna know what it means to overcome walls through the power of a Faith Breakthrough.
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