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Lou Coleman
By Lou Coleman
How many of you have ever needed a breakthrough in your life? You were up against a wall that wouldn’t move, a door that wouldn’t open, and you needed a breakthrough. Even now, you feel like you’ve been beating your head against a wall, but nothing is happening. You feel like your knuckles are raw from knocking, but no one is answering. You’ve been praying and crying, pushing and pulling, but there’s no movement, no sign, no evidence that anything is about to happen anytime soon. You are at the end of your rope, just about at the end of your hope, and everything within you is crying out, “God! I need a breakthrough, and I need it now!”
Well, can I tell you about Moses? Moses understood the ways of the Lord and he knew just what was happening with Israel. He realized that God was letting His people be stretched beyond measure. Why? Because He wanted them to cast themselves completely into His care. He longed to see them rise up in faith and say, “God is able!” Let me tell you something; if you are His child, and if you are serving Him and seeking Him with your whole heart, then I know that God will make a way for you. God will open doors that no man can close. He’ll part the Red Sea back up the Jordan River in a heap. He’ll bring down the walls of Jericho. He’ll shut the mouths of lions. He’ll open prison doors. Our God is a breakthrough God, that’s my testimony. God hasn’t forsaken us, so keep holding on! He is looking for faith, wanting to know what’s in our hearts. He knows how to meet our need – He only wants us to trust Him!”
If you are feeling as though you could lose your mind because life is so hard, I want to encourage you to remember that God has not and will not let go of you. To keep your sanity, keep your mind on Jesus. [Isaiah 26:23] You see, the good news is that God works the midnight shift! And in fact, God sometimes does his best work on the midnight shift. Acts 16 tells us what God did on the midnight shift for Paul and Silas “Around midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God… Suddenly, there was a great earthquake, and the prison was shaken to its foundations, all the doors flew open, and the chains of every prisoner fell off!” (Acts 16:25-26) Hallelujah! God is a midnight God. Thank you Jesus!
Now unlike Paul and Silas, Peter who was sound asleep in his dark hour, without hope and believing that his days had come to an end. The enemy does this to us, too. He will press and bind us to the point that we feel it is impossible to get free from our prison cells so we lay down to sleep, void of hope and oblivious to what God is about to do for us. {Like Peter, that was me and the enemy almost had me}. But I tell you, don’t give up in those midnight moments but know Whom you have placed your confidence in. Grid yourself and strap those boots. I know it’s not easy to do when you are feeling tremendous pressure. I know it’s hard, very hard. But I tell you, joy do come in the morning.
Many times, we want to get where God is leading us without going through the process but the process is crucial. When we are set free, there is an empowerment from God that prompts us to testify our experience to others who need to be free from their own prison cells. Today I am testifying to you that midnight is the darkest hour before day. It is the turning point from one season to another. Since it is a turning point God is concerned where our mindset is because he cannot pour new wine into old wine skins… Midnight! A clue it’s time for blessing.
What I’ve learned with my midnight experience is that if you’re going to live in victory you have to know how to praise in your midnight hour, when things seem the darkest, when you’re in pain, disappointed, or lonely. When you praise Him no matter what, that’s when God can enter your situation. That’s when He can break your chains and set you free. Praise Him in your midnight hour and get ready to embrace the freedom He has planned for you!
