Bill Johnson - Why You Should Celebrate Your Breakthrough Before It Comes
I may not know what’s always happening, but I can always live with hope because I know that nothing I’m facing caught Him off guard. I can always return to that place of confidence, knowing that even though I didn’t know what to expect, my relationship with Him has kept me positioned to be a person of hope. So, I can actually celebrate the answer before I know what the answer is going to look like. I don’t ignore the fact that I’ve got this doctor’s report, this bill that is due, or this relational conflict. I may not have answers for these things that I’m facing, but I know that my Father does. I know that when Jesus died, He took into full consideration everything I would ever face in life. I like to go through the Bible book by book, section by section—like the Gospels, the Epistles, or the books of Law—and that’s how I enjoy going through the Scriptures. However, I also have portions that I turn to randomly, which I call recreational reading, and Isaiah 35 is one of my recreational chapters. It’s been very meaningful to me for quite a few years, going way back to my days in Weaverville. We’ve been here 22 years, and I first stumbled upon this chapter at least 35 years ago.
For what it’s worth, something I saw clearly this morning, which I had not seen before, was the relationship of hope to joy. I didn’t realize—don’t know why it didn’t cross my mind—that joy is connected to hope and that where you find hopelessness, you find no joy. Conversely, where you find great hope, you find great joy. I think it may be possible—at least, I need to think through this—but I think it may be possible to measure a person’s hope by measuring their joy. When you understand what the word «hope» means, it helps it make sense in the present culture. For us, hope is like a wish: «I hope that happens.» It’s like a shot in the dark. But biblically, it’s entirely different and couldn’t be more so. The word «hope» in the Bible is the joyful anticipation of good. That’s what the word means: it’s joy before you get what you were praying for. It’s the anticipation of good that measures joy, equal to how you feel after you get the breakthrough.
In another month or so, we’ll have a World Series. I love baseball; it has always been our family’s sport. There will be a winner of the World Series, and people in the locker room will testify that they are thankful to God for giving them their gift, their opportunity. I love seeing that because if you can’t thank God in the good times, you need help—maybe deliverance, I don’t know. I’m always thankful to see those reports, but that kind of joy isn’t hard to stir up because it responds to something wonderful happening, maybe something you worked for or just a blessing out of nothing. I remember years ago when my wife’s parents went into a particular grocery store here locally. I think they were the hundred-thousandth customer. As they walked through the doors, the bells rang, and they were given a brand new Toyota Camry. It’s not hard to rejoice when you’ve just won a brand new car. You didn’t do anything; you just happened to go shopping and won the car.
Of course, you rejoice. But the biblical word of hope is measured in a joy expressed before there is anything to rejoice for. It’s not wishful thinking; it’s not based on nothing. It’s based on the actual nature and character of God, on His prevailing word over your life and mine. It’s that we live conscious of the heart of God, the mind of God, the nature of God, and His devotion and commitment to us. Because of that, I may not know what’s always happening, but I can always live with hope, knowing that nothing I’m facing caught Him off guard. A lot of things I’m facing right now caught me by surprise, but there’s nothing I’m facing that caught Him by surprise. So, I can always return to that place of confidence, knowing that even though I didn’t know to expect this, my relationship with Him has kept me positioned to be a person of hope. I can actually celebrate the answer before I know what the answer is going to look like, before it ever even comes. That really is the life of a believer. Your responsibility, our responsibility in life, is to live with hope that is contagious. It is infectious.
There’s a kind of phony faith that just denies reality, and I don’t like that because real faith doesn’t deny the existence of a problem. Real faith denies the problem a place of influence. I don’t ignore the fact that I’ve got this doctor’s report, that I’ve got this bill due, or this relational conflict. I may not have answers for the things I’m facing, but I know that my Father does. When Jesus died, He took into full consideration everything I would ever face in life. He died in my place for my sin, going to the outer reaches of what love looked like. The implication of Scripture is that if He would do that, certainly everything less than that is covered.
Does that make sense? I just put a great verse into my own words; it didn’t work as well because I couldn’t remember how to quote the original verse. Here’s my attempt at paraphrasing: If He went that far, certainly everything on this side of that extreme act of love is covered by that same act of love. How will He not also freely give us all things? In Isaiah 35, we find the first couple of verses: «The wilderness and the wasteland shall be glad for them; the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly.» I just love the word «abundantly.» «Blossom abundantly and rejoice, with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the excellence of Carmel and Sharon; they shall see the glory of the Lord, the excellency of our God.»
So, what is this? This is a barren area that is visited by God until the blooms are blossoming with abundance. Ultimately, they finally see the glory of God, which in this passage is defined as the excellence of God. Are you tracking with me? Here they are in this place, and in hope, all of a sudden they have this wellspring of joy rising up in them because they have connected so deeply with God’s promise and purpose over their lives. There is abundance; they are flourishing; there is life where there has always been death, and now this joy is stirring up, and they are seeing Him. The ultimate is to see the glory of God, which is the excellence of God Himself.