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We're in the month of August—a month of accelerated elevation. Our foundation is Isaiah 60:22, which declares: "The smallest one will become a thousand, and the least one a mighty nation. I the Lord will quicken it in its appointed time."
It's easy to get excited about God's promises. Yes, a small thing becoming great is fantastic. But here's what we must understand: the Lord will do it in His appointed time. There's a time and season for everything under heaven.
We need to grasp the difference between Kronos and Kairos. Kronos is chronological time—linear, natural time. You cannot pray today and decree that tomorrow will be Friday. It will be Thursday, then Friday. That's the natural cycle. But Kairos is God's divine appointed time, when heaven's agenda aligns with earth and God can speed things up suddenly. When Isaiah speaks of the small becoming a thousand, that is Kairos—supernatural according to God's timing.
Here's the critical insight: It is one thing for God to increase you from the smallest to a mighty nation. It's another thing for you to be ready for it.
God's responsibility is multiplication and influence—that's supernatural. But when He does it, for us to be ready is our responsibility. Let me illustrate.
Imagine a talented musician friend comes to you saying, "I just need a platform. Give me one opportunity in the right place, and I promise I'll do the rest." So you secure him a slot at a major event, packed out with thousands watching. But then he goes on stage and bombs. Not only does he embarrass himself—he embarrasses you, the one who believed in him and gave him the platform.
Many of us pray for God to accelerate us, but we don't do the work to be ready when the opportunity comes. And sometimes God withholds elevation not out of cruelty, but out of mercy. It's mercy not to release you for what you're not prepared for. The embarrassment—or even destruction—could be catastrophic.
Look at talent shows like American Idol. You see people full of confidence, but their talent doesn't match it. You wonder: don't they have friends or family who told them the truth? Because faithful are the wounds of a friend (Proverbs 27:12). If that musician friend couldn't sing, I would withhold the opportunity. Not because I don't care—because I do care. If I put him on that stage, he'd embarrass himself before thousands and might never recover.
God often waits for our preparation before He releases elevation. So how do you prepare?
Acceleration flows from God's presence. You cannot walk in divine speed if you are disconnected from the one who sets the pace.
John 15:5 says: > "I am the vine and you are the branch. He who remains in me and I in him bears much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing."
It all starts with the presence of God. Many of us want the speed without the presence. We want the perks of relationship without commitment.
We want the benefit of hard work without working hard. We want the glory without the story. We want to drive a Bentley without paying the price Dangote paid. We want supernatural speed but we don't want to pay the price of relationship. And when I say "pay the price," I mean commitment. You want My money but you don't want to love Me. Is that not theft? People call it "gold digging" when a woman does it to a man—how many are digging God?
Give me this. Give me that. Bless my life. Cover me. Everything in your life is necessary, but when it comes to God, it's optional.
What if God treated us the way we treat Him? What if His protection were optional? What if He said, "I'm tired today too"?
Even Jesus—who was fully God and fully man—maintained intimacy with God. Mark 1:35 says: > "Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went out to a place of solitude, and was praying there."
If Jesus prayed, what's your excuse? Jesus understood that everything flowed from His relationship with the Father. John 5:19 records His own words: > "The Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, the Son is in turn also does the same way."
If Jesus maintained uninterrupted communion with the Father, you and I have no excuse.
When you're walking in vital union with God, He knows when you're ready to be accelerated. Just as a true friend knows you well enough to say, "You're not ready for that platform yet," so God knows. And if God says no, it's not from a place of not caring—it's because He cares.
Before God catapults you or positions you, it's almost always preceded by a season of obscurity, a season of hiding. God prepares you in private before He presents you in public.
This is why we see what looks like "overnight success." Yesterday he was nowhere; today he's everywhere. But what you don't realize is that overnight to you—God has been preparing that person for many years behind the scenes.
Often, when God is preparing us, we try to pray away our preparation season. "Lord, deliver me! I'm ready!" But if a baby prays in the womb to be delivered in the second month, it would be premature—not ready for the environment, not fully developed.
Rather than pray away hidden seasons, embrace them. That's when you learn what God is teaching you.
Consider the patterns in Scripture:
Luke 2:52 tells us: > "Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and with man."
If He increased in favor with man, He must have embraced His hidden season. He was preparing.
Think about Jesus—the God of the universe, walking as a carpenter, a commoner, for 30 years. That's humility. Anyone can be humble when they have nothing. But if you have 10 billion in your bank account and you're still humble, choosing to walk lowly despite your power—that's a different kind of humility.
Joseph was hidden for years before the palace. How do we know he embraced it? Because even in Potiphar's house as a slave, the Bible says the Lord blessed Potiphar's house because Joseph was in it. Potiphar trusted Joseph so much he relinquished everything to him. One minute Joseph was the favorite prince in his father's house; the next he's a slave in a foreign land. But even there, he found a way to be useful.
Many of us live so focused on what God hasn't done that we don't see what He has done. We live life half-empty instead of half-full. "Lord, I'm in obscurity. I'm not where I want to be." But you're not where you used to be. If you don't see how far God has brought you, you'll always be looking for where He hasn't taken you yet—and you'll miss what He's teaching you in this season.
Joseph needed to learn the ways of Egyptian royalty because he would end up in Pharaoh's palace. That's why he was positioned in Potiphar's house. But if Joseph had been bitter, grumbling, angry—"Why would God allow this? I trusted You!"—he would have missed the entire season of preparation.
And when the butler and baker came to prison, if Joseph had been bitter, he would have ignored them. But he engaged, interpreted their dreams, and the butler eventually took him to Pharaoh.
You'll find yourself in a job you're not happy about. But because you feel it's beneath you, your attitude stinks. You don't know if God is about to send someone through that job who will take you to your next season. And because you're upset, you're distant and cold. You miss the very person God sent.
God will use men to answer your prayers. He abides in the affairs of men. He raises one and reduces another. Your answered prayer might be in the hand of a man—but you're so upset, you won't even see him.
David ran, being chased like a vagabond, broken and distressed. Everyone who was oppressed and distressed came to him, and he became captain over them. Those broken men became his mighty men of valor. His 600 men became mighty men who did amazing things.
But what if he didn't embrace his season of being hidden? What if he gave up?
Do not despise humble beginnings. Wherever you may find yourself, learn, serve, grow. If God has you in a place of being hidden, it is not punishment—it's preparation.
Acceleration will expose your gifts. If you are not ready, you will collapse under what you prayed for.
Proverbs 22:29 says: > "Do you see a man skillful and experienced in his work? He will stand in honor before kings. He will not stand before obscure men."
Daniel sharpened his skills and gifts. Daniel 1:17-20 records: > "God gave these four young men knowledge and skills in all kinds of literature and wisdom. Daniel also understood all kinds of visions and dreams. At the end of the time set by the king to bring the young men before him, the commander presented them to Nebuchadnezzar. The king spoke with them and among them all, not one was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. So they were selected and assigned to stand before the king. In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king consulted them, he found them 10 times better than all the learned magicians and enchanters in his own realm."
Don't carry the badge of "I'm a Christian" and be the worst in your office. What kind of Christian are you? You say, "I'm the light of the world," but when you come, darkness follows. You say, "I worship the Prince of Peace," but you bring chaos. What kind of God are you serving?
Genesis 1 says everything He created, He looked at and said it was good. Jesus said, "Let your light so shine before men so they will see your good works and praise your Father in heaven." If your works are not good, how can they praise your Father?
Your gifts will make room for you and bring you before kings. The Bible doesn't say your Christian gifts—it says your gifts. There are certain principles that aren't Christian-specific. If anybody works them, they get results. That's why unbelievers prosper—they're working.
Why do we add qualifiers like "good for a Christian movie" or "good for a Christian song"? Why not just say "good"? And we've trained ourselves to expect less from Christian things. When we see something from the world and it's excellent, we're not surprised. When something Christian is good, we're shocked: "Wow, I never expected this from a Christian."
Why?
Even Jesus sharpened His gifts. Luke 4:16 tells us: > "Jesus came to Nazareth where He had been brought up. As was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. He unrolled it, found the place, and read. He had been going so much to the synagogue that they gave Him the scroll to read as a young boy."
He honed His gifts. Before His ministry started, John 7:15 records the Jews' amazement: > "How did this man become so learned, so versed in scripture and theology without formal training?"
They could see He was a skilled carpenter. So why was He speaking like a rabbi? Where did this training come from? While Jesus was in obscurity, He was owning His gifts, studying His craft, becoming excellent as a carpenter. So He couldn't be accused of being useless. But He was also skilled in Scripture and theology.
Whatever you find your hand to do, do it well. Don't settle for mediocrity. Strive to be the best in everything. That's how you glorify your Father in heaven.
And remember this: consistency and diligence will always surpass talent. Some people are naturally gifted but don't put in the work. Others aren't naturally gifted but are so committed and diligent that they surpass the naturally gifted. It's important that you sharpen your gifts.
Obedience is the trigger for divine acceleration.
Remember: He's the one who sets the pace. If you're in intimacy with Him, and He says walk, you walk. If He says run, you run. If He says stop, you stop. Radical obedience.
Deuteronomy 28:1-2 says: > "If you diligently listen to and obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I have commanded you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. And the blessings will come upon you and overtake you if you pay attention to the voice of the Lord."
Isaiah 1:19 says: > "If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land."
Consider Peter in Luke 5. Peter was a skilled fisherman. If you woke him from sleep and asked him to fish, he could deliver. He understood tides, knew when to fish, where to fish, what kind of fish he'd catch. His net-casting wasn't recreational—it was his livelihood.
But one day he caught nothing. Jesus comes and says, "Cast your net. Pull out into the deep and lower your net."
Peter responds: > "Master, we have worked all night and caught nothing. But nevertheless, at Your word, I will do as You say."
He abandoned what he thought he knew for what he was hearing Jesus say. That's radical obedience.
The Bible says: > "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding."
Notice: same place, same location, same boat, same net—different instruction. The only thing that changed was that Jesus gave the instruction. And because Jesus gave the instruction, Jesus brought the provision.
Any fisherman would tell you: at that point, there's no point continuing. There are no fish. This place isn't fertile. There's famine. Everybody is going to Egypt. But the instruction came: Don't go. Sow in the land.
Everybody knows this isn't a good time. But God says invest in this sector. The economy is down. But God says invest. You better hear God well because if God says move, you move.
I remember in 2008 when the stock market crashed horribly—people lost fortunes. God told someone in our church to buy shares. While everyone was selling, he was buying because he had a clear instruction. It made no sense. Any financial advisor would say: liquidate and get out. The more you buy, the more you watch the value tank.
God said, "Buy." He was buying, buying, buying. He looked crazy. But when the market turned around, because people were selling and cutting loose, he could buy at incredibly cheap prices. When the market recovered, he made billions.
Why? Because he heard God say, "Buy."
Sometimes His instructions won't make sense. It's not supposed to. It doesn't have to make sense as long as it makes God.
Consider Gideon. He had 30,000 men to fight 300,000. God said, "It's too much." Reduce it. Reduce it again. Down to 300. Thirty thousand to 300. God said if 30,000 beat 300,000, you'll say God did it—but mathematically, it won't be clear. So: reduce to 300.
Then God says: You and a servant will go down to the camp. You'll hear them talking. That will be proof I've given them into your hand. This is proof. He hears them talking and goes to wake the men. Everyone carries a trumpet and a lamp and shouts, "The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!" Blow the trumpet.
How does blowing trumpets defeat 300,000 men? How does that make sense?
How does it make sense to walk around a wall that's never been broken, walk around six times, and on the seventh day blow your trumpet so the wall comes down?
How does it make sense that God tells you to sow when you don't even have enough for yourself? But God says sow, and I'll bring the difference.
The world says: if you want to accumulate, hoard. The Bible says: if you want to receive, give.
How does that make sense? In the kingdom, the last shall be first. Who is the greatest? The servant.
Even Jesus walked in radical obedience. Philippians 2:8-9 says: > "He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God exalted him to the highest place."
How does it make sense that the highest victory was the cross? To everyone watching, Jesus dying was defeat. But by God's agenda, Jesus dying was the highest form of victory.
Hebrews 5:8 says: > "Although He was a son, He learned active obedience through what He suffered."
If you were Jesus—fully God, there from the beginning, all things made through you—wouldn't you refuse to suffer? But Jesus learned obedience through suffering.
What would our lives look like if we decided to live by radical obedience? Because when you live that way, you position yourself for accelerated elevation.
Faithfulness is God's promotion system.
Luke 16:10 says: > "He who is faithful in very little things is also faithful in much. And he who is dishonest in very little things is also dishonest in much."
This scripture explains why God hasn't promoted many of us. How can you expect God to trust you with more when you're not faithful with little?
We've deceived ourselves into believing that when God gives us more, we'll do better. How? You have five, you struggle to give one. But in your mind, you believe that when you have 500, you'll give 100. How?
Your salary is 30k a month, but you spend 20k on things you want. How do you expect God to make you a millionaire? How?
Your salary is 80k. You use 70k to buy the latest hair. How? If you're not faithful over little, how will God commit more into your hand? God knows He can't bless you because you'll bring sorrow into your life.
When you're faithful, God knows He can trust you. Some people, when they see money, lose their morals, their dignity, everything. Their conviction drops instantly.
I'll tell you a true story. When my dad was alive, a politician about to run for office sent his aide to the house with a bag of money. My father said, "Thank you very much." He told the man to wait outside—didn't even let him inside the compound. He called someone from church and said, "I don't want to see it. I don't want to hear it. I don't want to know what the money is. Take it and go and give it to charity or disperse it. I don't want to know."
My father was a man of integrity. Fled certain appearance.
Joseph was able to pass the test in Potiphar's house—the test many of us would fail—because God knew He could trust him. Too much was riding on Joseph's obedience. He had to deliver a whole generation.
Abraham was finally given that which he waited his whole life for: a son. And God says, "Give him to Me." When Abraham did it, God says, "Now I know. Now I know that I can trust you. In blessing, I will bless you."
Be faithful where you are. And even when it seems like no one is looking, there is a God who sees, who hears, who knows. Let the world call you stupid. Be carrying Jesus on your head. Your God is just and never forgets. What you do in private, He will bless you in public.
Father, we thank You. We give You honor, all the glory, all adoration. Help us to be ready for accelerated elevation. Help us to walk with You, talk with You, trust You completely. Help us to be men and women and children that can be trusted. So when it's time to go, we go with fullness of assurance that You are sending us.
We give You all the glory, all the honor, all adoration and praise in Jesus' name. Amen.
We're in the month of August—a month of accelerated elevation. Our foundation is Isaiah 60:22, which declares: "The smallest one will become a thousand, and the least one a mighty nation. I the Lord will quicken it in its appointed time."
It's easy to get excited about God's promises. Yes, a small thing becoming great is fantastic. But here's what we must understand: the Lord will do it in His appointed time. There's a time and season for everything under heaven.
We need to grasp the difference between Kronos and Kairos. Kronos is chronological time—linear, natural time. You cannot pray today and decree that tomorrow will be Friday. It will be Thursday, then Friday. That's the natural cycle. But Kairos is God's divine appointed time, when heaven's agenda aligns with earth and God can speed things up suddenly. When Isaiah speaks of the small becoming a thousand, that is Kairos—supernatural according to God's timing.
Here's the critical insight: It is one thing for God to increase you from the smallest to a mighty nation. It's another thing for you to be ready for it.
God's responsibility is multiplication and influence—that's supernatural. But when He does it, for us to be ready is our responsibility. Let me illustrate.
Imagine a talented musician friend comes to you saying, "I just need a platform. Give me one opportunity in the right place, and I promise I'll do the rest." So you secure him a slot at a major event, packed out with thousands watching. But then he goes on stage and bombs. Not only does he embarrass himself—he embarrasses you, the one who believed in him and gave him the platform.
Many of us pray for God to accelerate us, but we don't do the work to be ready when the opportunity comes. And sometimes God withholds elevation not out of cruelty, but out of mercy. It's mercy not to release you for what you're not prepared for. The embarrassment—or even destruction—could be catastrophic.
Look at talent shows like American Idol. You see people full of confidence, but their talent doesn't match it. You wonder: don't they have friends or family who told them the truth? Because faithful are the wounds of a friend (Proverbs 27:12). If that musician friend couldn't sing, I would withhold the opportunity. Not because I don't care—because I do care. If I put him on that stage, he'd embarrass himself before thousands and might never recover.
God often waits for our preparation before He releases elevation. So how do you prepare?
Acceleration flows from God's presence. You cannot walk in divine speed if you are disconnected from the one who sets the pace.
John 15:5 says: > "I am the vine and you are the branch. He who remains in me and I in him bears much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing."
It all starts with the presence of God. Many of us want the speed without the presence. We want the perks of relationship without commitment.
We want the benefit of hard work without working hard. We want the glory without the story. We want to drive a Bentley without paying the price Dangote paid. We want supernatural speed but we don't want to pay the price of relationship. And when I say "pay the price," I mean commitment. You want My money but you don't want to love Me. Is that not theft? People call it "gold digging" when a woman does it to a man—how many are digging God?
Give me this. Give me that. Bless my life. Cover me. Everything in your life is necessary, but when it comes to God, it's optional.
What if God treated us the way we treat Him? What if His protection were optional? What if He said, "I'm tired today too"?
Even Jesus—who was fully God and fully man—maintained intimacy with God. Mark 1:35 says: > "Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went out to a place of solitude, and was praying there."
If Jesus prayed, what's your excuse? Jesus understood that everything flowed from His relationship with the Father. John 5:19 records His own words: > "The Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, the Son is in turn also does the same way."
If Jesus maintained uninterrupted communion with the Father, you and I have no excuse.
When you're walking in vital union with God, He knows when you're ready to be accelerated. Just as a true friend knows you well enough to say, "You're not ready for that platform yet," so God knows. And if God says no, it's not from a place of not caring—it's because He cares.
Before God catapults you or positions you, it's almost always preceded by a season of obscurity, a season of hiding. God prepares you in private before He presents you in public.
This is why we see what looks like "overnight success." Yesterday he was nowhere; today he's everywhere. But what you don't realize is that overnight to you—God has been preparing that person for many years behind the scenes.
Often, when God is preparing us, we try to pray away our preparation season. "Lord, deliver me! I'm ready!" But if a baby prays in the womb to be delivered in the second month, it would be premature—not ready for the environment, not fully developed.
Rather than pray away hidden seasons, embrace them. That's when you learn what God is teaching you.
Consider the patterns in Scripture:
Luke 2:52 tells us: > "Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and with man."
If He increased in favor with man, He must have embraced His hidden season. He was preparing.
Think about Jesus—the God of the universe, walking as a carpenter, a commoner, for 30 years. That's humility. Anyone can be humble when they have nothing. But if you have 10 billion in your bank account and you're still humble, choosing to walk lowly despite your power—that's a different kind of humility.
Joseph was hidden for years before the palace. How do we know he embraced it? Because even in Potiphar's house as a slave, the Bible says the Lord blessed Potiphar's house because Joseph was in it. Potiphar trusted Joseph so much he relinquished everything to him. One minute Joseph was the favorite prince in his father's house; the next he's a slave in a foreign land. But even there, he found a way to be useful.
Many of us live so focused on what God hasn't done that we don't see what He has done. We live life half-empty instead of half-full. "Lord, I'm in obscurity. I'm not where I want to be." But you're not where you used to be. If you don't see how far God has brought you, you'll always be looking for where He hasn't taken you yet—and you'll miss what He's teaching you in this season.
Joseph needed to learn the ways of Egyptian royalty because he would end up in Pharaoh's palace. That's why he was positioned in Potiphar's house. But if Joseph had been bitter, grumbling, angry—"Why would God allow this? I trusted You!"—he would have missed the entire season of preparation.
And when the butler and baker came to prison, if Joseph had been bitter, he would have ignored them. But he engaged, interpreted their dreams, and the butler eventually took him to Pharaoh.
You'll find yourself in a job you're not happy about. But because you feel it's beneath you, your attitude stinks. You don't know if God is about to send someone through that job who will take you to your next season. And because you're upset, you're distant and cold. You miss the very person God sent.
God will use men to answer your prayers. He abides in the affairs of men. He raises one and reduces another. Your answered prayer might be in the hand of a man—but you're so upset, you won't even see him.
David ran, being chased like a vagabond, broken and distressed. Everyone who was oppressed and distressed came to him, and he became captain over them. Those broken men became his mighty men of valor. His 600 men became mighty men who did amazing things.
But what if he didn't embrace his season of being hidden? What if he gave up?
Do not despise humble beginnings. Wherever you may find yourself, learn, serve, grow. If God has you in a place of being hidden, it is not punishment—it's preparation.
Acceleration will expose your gifts. If you are not ready, you will collapse under what you prayed for.
Proverbs 22:29 says: > "Do you see a man skillful and experienced in his work? He will stand in honor before kings. He will not stand before obscure men."
Daniel sharpened his skills and gifts. Daniel 1:17-20 records: > "God gave these four young men knowledge and skills in all kinds of literature and wisdom. Daniel also understood all kinds of visions and dreams. At the end of the time set by the king to bring the young men before him, the commander presented them to Nebuchadnezzar. The king spoke with them and among them all, not one was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. So they were selected and assigned to stand before the king. In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king consulted them, he found them 10 times better than all the learned magicians and enchanters in his own realm."
Don't carry the badge of "I'm a Christian" and be the worst in your office. What kind of Christian are you? You say, "I'm the light of the world," but when you come, darkness follows. You say, "I worship the Prince of Peace," but you bring chaos. What kind of God are you serving?
Genesis 1 says everything He created, He looked at and said it was good. Jesus said, "Let your light so shine before men so they will see your good works and praise your Father in heaven." If your works are not good, how can they praise your Father?
Your gifts will make room for you and bring you before kings. The Bible doesn't say your Christian gifts—it says your gifts. There are certain principles that aren't Christian-specific. If anybody works them, they get results. That's why unbelievers prosper—they're working.
Why do we add qualifiers like "good for a Christian movie" or "good for a Christian song"? Why not just say "good"? And we've trained ourselves to expect less from Christian things. When we see something from the world and it's excellent, we're not surprised. When something Christian is good, we're shocked: "Wow, I never expected this from a Christian."
Why?
Even Jesus sharpened His gifts. Luke 4:16 tells us: > "Jesus came to Nazareth where He had been brought up. As was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. He unrolled it, found the place, and read. He had been going so much to the synagogue that they gave Him the scroll to read as a young boy."
He honed His gifts. Before His ministry started, John 7:15 records the Jews' amazement: > "How did this man become so learned, so versed in scripture and theology without formal training?"
They could see He was a skilled carpenter. So why was He speaking like a rabbi? Where did this training come from? While Jesus was in obscurity, He was owning His gifts, studying His craft, becoming excellent as a carpenter. So He couldn't be accused of being useless. But He was also skilled in Scripture and theology.
Whatever you find your hand to do, do it well. Don't settle for mediocrity. Strive to be the best in everything. That's how you glorify your Father in heaven.
And remember this: consistency and diligence will always surpass talent. Some people are naturally gifted but don't put in the work. Others aren't naturally gifted but are so committed and diligent that they surpass the naturally gifted. It's important that you sharpen your gifts.
Obedience is the trigger for divine acceleration.
Remember: He's the one who sets the pace. If you're in intimacy with Him, and He says walk, you walk. If He says run, you run. If He says stop, you stop. Radical obedience.
Deuteronomy 28:1-2 says: > "If you diligently listen to and obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I have commanded you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. And the blessings will come upon you and overtake you if you pay attention to the voice of the Lord."
Isaiah 1:19 says: > "If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land."
Consider Peter in Luke 5. Peter was a skilled fisherman. If you woke him from sleep and asked him to fish, he could deliver. He understood tides, knew when to fish, where to fish, what kind of fish he'd catch. His net-casting wasn't recreational—it was his livelihood.
But one day he caught nothing. Jesus comes and says, "Cast your net. Pull out into the deep and lower your net."
Peter responds: > "Master, we have worked all night and caught nothing. But nevertheless, at Your word, I will do as You say."
He abandoned what he thought he knew for what he was hearing Jesus say. That's radical obedience.
The Bible says: > "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding."
Notice: same place, same location, same boat, same net—different instruction. The only thing that changed was that Jesus gave the instruction. And because Jesus gave the instruction, Jesus brought the provision.
Any fisherman would tell you: at that point, there's no point continuing. There are no fish. This place isn't fertile. There's famine. Everybody is going to Egypt. But the instruction came: Don't go. Sow in the land.
Everybody knows this isn't a good time. But God says invest in this sector. The economy is down. But God says invest. You better hear God well because if God says move, you move.
I remember in 2008 when the stock market crashed horribly—people lost fortunes. God told someone in our church to buy shares. While everyone was selling, he was buying because he had a clear instruction. It made no sense. Any financial advisor would say: liquidate and get out. The more you buy, the more you watch the value tank.
God said, "Buy." He was buying, buying, buying. He looked crazy. But when the market turned around, because people were selling and cutting loose, he could buy at incredibly cheap prices. When the market recovered, he made billions.
Why? Because he heard God say, "Buy."
Sometimes His instructions won't make sense. It's not supposed to. It doesn't have to make sense as long as it makes God.
Consider Gideon. He had 30,000 men to fight 300,000. God said, "It's too much." Reduce it. Reduce it again. Down to 300. Thirty thousand to 300. God said if 30,000 beat 300,000, you'll say God did it—but mathematically, it won't be clear. So: reduce to 300.
Then God says: You and a servant will go down to the camp. You'll hear them talking. That will be proof I've given them into your hand. This is proof. He hears them talking and goes to wake the men. Everyone carries a trumpet and a lamp and shouts, "The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!" Blow the trumpet.
How does blowing trumpets defeat 300,000 men? How does that make sense?
How does it make sense to walk around a wall that's never been broken, walk around six times, and on the seventh day blow your trumpet so the wall comes down?
How does it make sense that God tells you to sow when you don't even have enough for yourself? But God says sow, and I'll bring the difference.
The world says: if you want to accumulate, hoard. The Bible says: if you want to receive, give.
How does that make sense? In the kingdom, the last shall be first. Who is the greatest? The servant.
Even Jesus walked in radical obedience. Philippians 2:8-9 says: > "He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God exalted him to the highest place."
How does it make sense that the highest victory was the cross? To everyone watching, Jesus dying was defeat. But by God's agenda, Jesus dying was the highest form of victory.
Hebrews 5:8 says: > "Although He was a son, He learned active obedience through what He suffered."
If you were Jesus—fully God, there from the beginning, all things made through you—wouldn't you refuse to suffer? But Jesus learned obedience through suffering.
What would our lives look like if we decided to live by radical obedience? Because when you live that way, you position yourself for accelerated elevation.
Faithfulness is God's promotion system.
Luke 16:10 says: > "He who is faithful in very little things is also faithful in much. And he who is dishonest in very little things is also dishonest in much."
This scripture explains why God hasn't promoted many of us. How can you expect God to trust you with more when you're not faithful with little?
We've deceived ourselves into believing that when God gives us more, we'll do better. How? You have five, you struggle to give one. But in your mind, you believe that when you have 500, you'll give 100. How?
Your salary is 30k a month, but you spend 20k on things you want. How do you expect God to make you a millionaire? How?
Your salary is 80k. You use 70k to buy the latest hair. How? If you're not faithful over little, how will God commit more into your hand? God knows He can't bless you because you'll bring sorrow into your life.
When you're faithful, God knows He can trust you. Some people, when they see money, lose their morals, their dignity, everything. Their conviction drops instantly.
I'll tell you a true story. When my dad was alive, a politician about to run for office sent his aide to the house with a bag of money. My father said, "Thank you very much." He told the man to wait outside—didn't even let him inside the compound. He called someone from church and said, "I don't want to see it. I don't want to hear it. I don't want to know what the money is. Take it and go and give it to charity or disperse it. I don't want to know."
My father was a man of integrity. Fled certain appearance.
Joseph was able to pass the test in Potiphar's house—the test many of us would fail—because God knew He could trust him. Too much was riding on Joseph's obedience. He had to deliver a whole generation.
Abraham was finally given that which he waited his whole life for: a son. And God says, "Give him to Me." When Abraham did it, God says, "Now I know. Now I know that I can trust you. In blessing, I will bless you."
Be faithful where you are. And even when it seems like no one is looking, there is a God who sees, who hears, who knows. Let the world call you stupid. Be carrying Jesus on your head. Your God is just and never forgets. What you do in private, He will bless you in public.
Father, we thank You. We give You honor, all the glory, all adoration. Help us to be ready for accelerated elevation. Help us to walk with You, talk with You, trust You completely. Help us to be men and women and children that can be trusted. So when it's time to go, we go with fullness of assurance that You are sending us.
We give You all the glory, all the honor, all adoration and praise in Jesus' name. Amen.
