In this 3-day reading plan by Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, you will learn to push aside doubt, anxiety, and worry and to continue praising God even in the midst of uncomfortable circumstances.
Charisma House
Day 1
Scriptures: Exodus 3:3-11, Genesis 6:9-22, 1 Samuel 17:32-50
Called Outside Your Comfort Zone
Once we learn to thrive, we will be called to break through barriers and blaze new trails. That’s because God’s vision is always bigger than our own. His plan for our lives is always bigger than we can imagine for ourselves. When you’re living a holy, healed, healthy, happy, humble, hungry, honoring life, you will be called to thrive outside your comfort zone. Based on what we see in the Bible, most of the people God chose to advance His kingdom didn’t aspire to greatness but simply remained willing and able to serve in whatever capacity the Lord called them to serve.
Many of them protested or made excuses—Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Gideon, Naomi, and Rahab, for example. Others, including Noah, Joseph, Joshua, Jeremiah, and Ruth, faced obstacles that appeared impossible to overcome based on human perception and earthly resources. One of my favorite examples, however, never questioned, wavered, or doubted God’s ability to use him according to His infinite wisdom, limitless power, and divine will.
David was always willing to trust God for the next step, which is essential for thriving in the power of God’s Spirit. As the shepherd king discovered, trusting God often requires ignoring the advice, opinions, and counsel of other people. But “thrivers”, those people whose spirits have been awakened by God’s anointing in their lives, aren’t afraid to disrupt existing systems or traditional paradigms. Sometimes drastically altering or destroying a system or structure already in place is exactly what God wants us to do.
Day 2
Scriptures: 1 Samuel 17:1, Psalms 22:3, Romans 15:11
Don’t Let the Devil Steal Your Praise
David’s showdown with Goliath shows that “thrivers” do not permit anyone or anything, no matter how large or threatening or powerful, to occupy their praise. You’ll recall that the Philistines gathered their army and occupied Sokoh in Judah (1 Sam. 17:1) and that Judah means “praise.” It cannot be repeated often enough that the enemy always wants to occupy your praise—through distraction, intimidation, diversion, conflict, crisis, or whatever it takes. So many people have struggled to praise God during the turmoil of recent events, but they’re forgetting that this is exactly what the enemy wants us to do!
The devil will use anything and everything to derail your faith. He begins to defeat you the moment he takes hold of your worship. If he can take away your willingness to praise God, then the spiritual warfare will tilt in his favor. The enemies of truth, love, grace, and hope always come after your worship first. It’s the same as a terrorist’s first strike at the source of your power, fuel, and motivation. So cherishing, guarding, and practicing your praise must be a priority in order for you to thrive.
Do not permit failure to occupy your praise.
Do not permit fear to occupy your praise.
Do not permit anxiety to occupy your praise.
If I were a betting man, I would wager that the enemy attempted to occupy your Judah during the pandemic, the economic fluctuation, and all the civil unrest in the recent past. So if you have not already, I dare you to say, “Get out of my Judah! You cannot occupy my praise!” Claim the truth expressed by the psalmist: “The Lord is enthroned in the praises of His people.” (See Psalm 22:3)
The Bible does not require you to be happy in order to praise God. The Bible does not require you to be smiling and joyful in order to praise the Lord God Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. As a matter of fact, sometimes you must choose to praise while you’re crying. Sometimes you praise while you’re wounded. Sometimes you praise while you’re hurting. Sometimes you’re aching and you still have to praise.
In his poetic songs David often chose to praise God despite how he felt and everything going on around him. He basically said, “I’m broken, I’m wounded, I’m at the bottom of the pit, but I will not refrain from praising you.” If we want to thrive, we must choose to praise with the same fierce determination. Don’t let the devil steal your worship! Don’t allow any obstacle to occupy your praise!
Day 3
Scriptures: 1 Samuel 17:4, Psalms 13, Philippians 4:19
Beware of the Giants
People who thrive have usually faced a giant or two. If you walk by faith for very long, there comes a time in your life when an intimidating, overbearing, behemoth, mammoth, mucho grande giant shows up, often unexpectedly. We’re told that Goliath was “six cubits and a span” (1 Sam. 17:4), and that’s no trivial detail. Size and height matters when you’re fighting battles of faith.
Our giants pop up in the forms of a problem, bad news, a scary diagnosis, financial calamity, marital strife, temptation, addiction, secret sin, and anything else that stops us in our tracks. No matter how and when our giant shows up, at the time it represents the biggest challenge of our lives.
The devil’s objective is to obstruct others’ ability to see Christ in you, with you, and through you. If the enemy can hide you behind a giant obstacle, then he disables your testimony, undermines your anointing, and hinders your destiny.
Not only that! The enemy also sends a giant to block your path so you’re temporarily unable to see what’s ahead of you. Hell is well aware that what’s in front of you is greater than what’s behind you. The enemy hopes you will lose focus on where you’re headed and become distracted, disoriented, and discouraged. He doesn’t want you to see the glory on the other side.
Here’s the thing: the size of your giant is directly proportional to the size of your blessing!
Goliath was big.
Goliath was overbearing.
Goliath was intimidating.
Yet Goliath made David famous. Defeating him made David a “thriver”!
I’m convinced the size of the obstruction speaks to the size of the overflow, your imminent advancement. If something big stands in your way, it’s only because you’re about to step into something amazing! Please understand that giants come to block your view and obstruct your vision. The bigger the future God has for you, the bigger the giant hell sends your way.
So no matter what you’re facing or how uncertain, unprepared, or unequipped you may feel about the battlefield to which God is calling you to advance, don’t forget that big problems mean big promises. Big battles lead to big conquests. Big adversity means big accomplishment. As you transition from surviving to thriving, remember that no matter how big, how loud, how intrusive, how overbearing, or how tall a giant may be, by the power of the Spirit and in Jesus’ name, that giant is about to fall!
Rather than complaining, worrying, stressing, despairing, or attempting to control circumstances when giants appear, thank God for what’s about to happen. There are giants we must conquer in order to move forward and take the next steps God wants us to take. Your future is based on what you’re willing to face today. When a giant looms and sends you wondering why God allowed such an obstacle to fall in your path, trust that He will catapult you over that giant and into greatness. He will give you everything you need to thrive and fulfill your God-ordained purpose and bring glory to Him.