SYSTEM FAILURE!

When two armies were facing each other in battle in conventional warfare, each side would probe the other looking for a weak spot where they could break through. Once there was a breaching and one army began advancing through the lines of the other, it was important to the success of the advance that all the necessary support flowed to the troops that had broken through. If supply lines were not quickly established, then the breakthrough would be halted or even reversed.

Becoming operational in Normandy on August 1, 1944, the Third Army under General George Patton was in nonstop combat for 281 days, advancing farther and faster than any army in military history. With a normal strength of 300,000 men, the Third killed, wounded, or captured some 1,811,388 enemy soldiers, six times its strength in personnel, and liberated over 12,000 cities and towns. The only time Patton’s forces were not in full speed advance was when they were resupplying or had outrun their supply lines.

A few weeks ago I shared an insight from Isaiah 54:1 about breaking out of barrenness.
“‘Sing, O barren,
You who have not borne!
Break forth into singing, and cry aloud,
You who have not labored with child!
For more are the children of the desolate
Than the children of the married woman,’ says the LORD” (Isaiah 54:1).

Isaiah 54 then goes on with instruction about sustaining a breakthrough. What good is a breakthrough if it’s just momentary and a few days or weeks later the situation is back to where it was?

God is not silent on this. He wants us to break through and “possess and occupy the land”—not go on a short vacation and then retreat to a life of barren fruitlessness (see Joshua 1:11).

“Enlarge the place of your tent, and let them stretch
Out the curtains of your dwellings” (Isaiah 54:2).

If fruitfulness is not prepared for, its arrival can destroy its intended home. The word tent in this verse is a reference to the tent dwellings that were home to the Jewish exiles from Egypt during their years in the wilderness. This is speaking of preparation for breakthrough, of preparing to receive what God is giving. It is speaking of the heart, of the inner man. Do not worry about things physical because there is a more important question. Are you prepared and ready to receive what God will give you? Are you ready to be stretched? Do you have a generous spirit? Fruitfulness and generosity are tied together in Scripture: “Give, and it shall be given unto you” (Luke 6:38).


“Do not spare”

Don’t hold back from what God is doing because of fear; don’t hold back things for yourself that He has instructed you to release. More people lose out on breakthrough because of fear of the unknown than anything else. Hebrews 12:1 tells us to “. . . strip off and throw aside every encumbrance (unnecessary weight) and that sin which so readily (deftly and cleverly) clings to and entangles us” (Amplified Bible). Holding on to things God has told us to let go of weighs us down and slows our progress. Sin fills our lives with unnecessary junk that clutters and impedes our ability to receive. This portion is also saying, “Do not lack in the area of preparation; be thorough and have everything in place.”

“Lengthen your cords”

To “lengthen” or to be stretched signals a call to change. You cannot lengthen a cord by remaining the same. Some say, “Well, bless God, that’s just the way I am and I’m not going to change!” And they are right about one thing—they are not going to change and the move of God will go right past them and they will miss it. Very few things will diminish a move of God more quickly than an inflexible spirit. Willingness to change is a willingness to listen to the Holy Spirit and be obedient to the Word.

“And strengthen your stakes”

When the wind of the Spirit begins to blow and increased fruitfulness stretches our dwelling place, it is imperative that our “foundation stakes,” the principles that hold us in place, have been driven deeply into bedrock.

I like most of the changes in the contemporary church. I like the aggressive desire of churches to grow; I have no problem with multiple locations; I love video technology; I like it that pastors no longer have to wear three-piece suits; I even love the imitation of the Eagles rock band that now dominates worship teams.

But let me speak for a moment as an older brother and as a man of God. One of the dangers facing the contemporary church is not attack from the outside but system failure within. In our zeal to succeed, to grow, to be relevant, to reach this generation, we are in danger of failing the people God has called us to reach and to lead. If our core principles are wrong or are not firmly in place, then system failure is inevitable. If our people are not being taught to worship, to pray and to study God’s Word, then we will outrun our supply lines and everything will grind to a halt.

God’s heart for our future is displayed in Isaiah 54:3:

“You shall expand to the right and to the left, and your descendants will inherit the nations, and make the desolate cities inhabited.”

So be it!