Praise Before Breakthrough

Have you ever completed a long race? Imagine yourself running a marathon. In the middle of it, you feel like you are fighting for your life. It is exhausting—arguably one of the hardest things you have ever done. Halfway through, your legs begin to cramp, and blisters form on the bottoms of your feet. You realize you are dehydrated. Lactic acid builds up in your muscles as your oxygen demand exceeds your supply during intense exertion. As your body starts to give out, the finish line feels impossibly far away. But then—you finish. Maybe it is not your first thought, but soon after, you begin to look back and minimize the pain you felt in the moment because you are now resting in the joy of the race being complete. Think about the last big exam you took. You spent weeks—maybe months—preparing, fueled by endless caffeine as you flipped through flashcards in the early hours of the morning, all for that one test. You felt overwhelmed by the sheer amount of material and doubted whether you would even pass. Your degree seemed so far out of reach. But then—you passed. Eventually, you earned the degree you worked so hard for. And suddenly, you find yourself looking back at that difficult class and telling a friend, “It wasn’t that hard”. In the same way, it is easy to stand on the mountaintop, looking back at the valley you just walked through, and thank God for the hard lessons. From that vantage point, you can finally see what He was doing and why His timing was better than what you desired at the moment. But what about when you are still climbing? What about when you keep getting knocked back down? When you thought you had reached the top, only to realize there is an even bigger mountain ahead? When you have been asking God for strength as your legs grow weary with every step forward—but all you hear is silence? Does that silence mean God is absent? Or could it be that He is working behind the scenes? Psalm 46:10 says, “Be still, and know that I am God.” It is often in the silence that our faith is strengthened. Think back to a time when you prayed fervently for something and God said “yes”. It is easy to get caught up in the excitement of the answered prayer and forget to pause, reflect, and praise Him. Then, when the next challenge comes, we spiral into doubt—questioning whether God will come through again, as if we have forgotten the countless ways He already has. We begin to wonder if maybe this particular prayer is just a little too big for God. In those moments, I picture Jesus looking at us with kind and loving eyes, gently reminding us: My girl, have you forgotten? I turned water into wine. I made the lame walk and cleansed lepers. I calmed a storm with My voice. I fed five thousand with five loaves of bread and two fish. I made the deaf hear and the blind see. I raised Lazarus from the dead. And most importantly, I rose from the GRAVE three days later—defeating death and restoring the bridge between God and man. I am the same yesterday, today, and forever. What I did then, I can still do now. Pray those big prayers. You are praying to the Miracle Worker. Your prayer is not too big for the God who spoke the entire universe into existence. He chose you—intentionally. He placed you in this generation, within your family, in your current circumstances, surrounded by the people in your life—for a purpose. If He has been faithful before, why would He fail you now? Why would this be the moment the Lord suddenly stops working on your behalf? I know it is hard to see what God is doing behind the scenes. But if you could see everything, where would the need be for faith? How would your trust in Him ever grow? No matter what season you are in, I pray the Lord speaks to you through these pages and reminds you of His never-ending love. I pray that the God of all hope fills you with peace that surpasses understanding. I pray you are strengthened to persevere through trials, choosing to place your hope in the promise that this world is not our forever home—and that Christ is preparing a place for His children where there will be no more pain and no more suffering. You can try to walk through life’s trials on your own, but you do not have to. There is a God in Heaven reaching out His hand, inviting you to draw near. I pray this book can speak as a testament that God is good even when our circumstances are not. God does not cause pain or bring grief. But Christ is so good, that sometimes He allows suffering, because He knows what is on the other side. He is already beyond the story you are currently living. He sees the growth in your faith and the testimony being written through your life as you lean on Him. God is not withholding good from you. In Christ, we are not promised a life free from pain—but we are promised that we will never have to walk through it alone.