How many of you would like to see a radical change happen in your life (all hands go up)? Perhaps you are trusting God to do something major in your life. In this blog I want to provide three practical steps of faith you can take when you are trusting God for a RADICAL change in your life.
In the 17th chapter of Luke there is a story about 10 lepers whom Jesus met and they cried out for Jesus to heal them. Leprosy was an incurable skin disease. It was so bad that these men were ostracized from society. Because they were contagious they could not work a regular job, marry nor be around the common people. They had to live in their own separate colony of lepers and when they went out in public they had to announce to everyone that they were a leper by saying, “I’m unclean! I’m unclean! Here comes a leper!” What a sad situation! They were stuck. They desired to experience a breakthrough. Perhaps you don’t have leprosy today but you desire to experience some sort of breakthrough in your personal and/or spiritual life. I can’t promise that God will give you the breakthrough that you desire but I can provide what I believe are 3 steps that these men took that resulted in a breakthrough for them.
#1 – YOU MUST MAINTAIN HOPE
IF YOU WANT TO EXPERIENCE CHANGE IN YOUR LIFE YOU MUST FIRST MAINTAIN HOPE THAT GOD IS ABLE TO CHANGE YOUR SITUATION. Many people never experience the change they want to see in their lives because they’ve been in a bad situation for so long that they lost hope in believing that even God could turn their situation around. Imagine if these men said to themselves,
We’ve been lepers for years. There is no hope our situation will EVER change.
Would they have even cried out to Jesus for help that day? And if they had never cried out for help they more than likely would have remained lepers for the rest of their lives. But because they believed there was hope for change, even though their situation felt hopeless, they experienced a supernatural breakthrough that day.
Many people are stuck in a bad situation (career, marriage, habit, financial situation). And the best, quickest and easiest way to stay there is to believe that your situation will never change. Remember that there are plenty of examples in scripture where people’s situations seemed hopeless for very long periods of time. Joseph was imprisoned for 13 years. David served under a jealous and insecure king named Saul for years before he became king. Hannah was barren for years before she had her first child (1 Sam. 1). The woman who had continual bleeding for 12 years one day met Jesus and her bleeding stopped (Lk. 8:43-48). And of course we know that Job endured his very difficult trial for a very long period of time. So, if God can heal lepers of an incurable disease He can certainly change your situation.
#2 – TAKE A RADICAL STEP OF FAITH
Ahh! Now watch this! Notice here that Jesus could’ve healed these 10 lepers instantly. Instead He says to them, “go and show yourselves to the priests.” A little context is helpful here. If a leper believed he was healed of his leprosy he had to go and show himself to the priest and the priest would inspect him carefully. Once the priest was convinced he was healed he would officially declare him as CLEAN (Lev. 14:1-57). I can imagine the leper saying,
wait, wait…I still see spots all over my skin! If I go to the priest now he will reject me and send me away.
They had a choice to make. They could either stay where they were because they didn’t see an immediate change OR take that step of faith to do what Jesus told them to do. Did they have ALL the information? No. Did they know exactly how things were going to work out and exactly how they were going to experience this healing? No. But they knew what THE NEXT STEP was that God wanted them to take. God may not show you everything He wants to do in your life right from the start. But you must be willing to take that NEXT RADICAL STEP OF FAITH and be obedient to what God has shown you to do right NOW. I’m sure these men were afraid, but they didn’t allow their FEAR to paralyze their FAITH. Far too often we pray and ask God to do everything when often times God is pointing the finger back at us and saying,
If YOU want to experience change YOU take some steps of faith and stop expecting ME to do it instantly.
Have you been obedient to do all that God has already revealed for you to do? Take the NEXT STEP.
#3 – REALIZE THAT IT’S A PROCESS
Finally, when you’re trusting God for a breakthrough in your life realize that it may be a PROCESS! Notice three key words in verse 14 of Luke 17. It reads…
And AS THEY WENT they were cleansed of their leprosy
AS THEY WENT! This is the key to the whole passage! You may or may not experience the miraculous change you are looking for right away but if you keep walking, God will show Himself to you and may (I can’t guarantee what God will or will not do) bring about the change you are trusting Him for.
DON’T WAIT UNTIL EVERYTHING IS PERFECT IN YOUR LIFE BEFORE YOU MAKE A MOVE.
Could it be possible that the change you are looking for is right around the corner but you just have to KEEP WALKING? Many of us have been “walking” for some time and haven’t seen any change. What if these lepers walked two miles and didn’t see any change in their skin? What I love about this text is that it doesn’t specify how long they had to walk before they saw the first leprous spot in their skin to change. Sometimes we take the first step but then we get tired on the journey because we don’t see any change and we give up. Could it be that our change is just a few more steps away? JUST KEEP WALKING
I’m reminded of the story in Exodus 15:22-27 where the children of Israel were frustrated because there was no water out in the desert. They complained and grumbled against Moses! They were ready to give up. But little did they know that just a few miles down the road in a town called Elim there were twelve springs of water! What’s my point? KEEP WALKING!
Maybe you’re waiting to start a business or launch an idea that’s been circulating in your mind but you’re waiting for everything to be perfect before you launch out. Maybe you don’t have all the manpower. Perhaps you don’t have the resources. Maybe God is challenging you today to take the initial steps and “AS YOU GO” you will see the breakthrough that you want to see.
Or maybe you’re single and you feel as though everything needs to be perfect before you take that next step of faith towards marriage. If you believe God has sent this person to you, you’ve sought wise counsel and courted within a godly community, perhaps God is challenging you to move forward. AS YOU BOTH GO, he will make things right as long as you keep Him in focus.
Start that business. Start that ministry. Pour water on that idea and watch it grow. It starts with believing God can do exceeding abundantly above all you could ever ask or think. Then it requires YOU to be bold enough to take that RADICAL step of faith and trust Him. Finally, don’t expect your breakthrough to happen immediately. AS YOU GO, if it’s HIS will, God will show Himself strong and bless you with the breakthrough you are trusting Him for.