When It Looks Dead, God Is Just Getting Started

I’m excited to build on everything we’ve been laying down in this series. We’ve covered the promise, the presence, the choice to believe, and the size of the God we’re trusting. Today, I want to give you something that will keep you from quitting right before the breakthrough.

Because here’s what happens to most people in their walk of faith. They get to the point where it looks dead — and they stop.

The first ingredient in the recipe is still the Word of God.

Before we go further, let me say this about everything I’ve been teaching. Think of walking by faith like a recipe. The first and biggest ingredient — the one listed first on the label — is the promise of God. If you’ve tried to believe and failed, if doubt keeps plaguing you, I can almost guarantee you skimped on the main ingredient.

Jesus said in John 8:31, “If you will abide in My Word, you will become My disciples indeed — and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” Not just believing. Abiding. Living in it. Thinking about it. Letting it shape how you see everything.

You don’t walk in freedom just because you’re saved. You walk in freedom because you are a disciple of the Word. And a disciple is someone who has intimate, ongoing knowledge of what the Master said.

You haven’t lost just because the deadline passed.

Here’s something that changed my prayer life. I was believing God for finances by a specific day. I thanked Him every day leading up to it. The day came — and the money didn’t.

Early in my walk, I would have said, “Well, I guess it didn’t work. I’ll get up and try again.” But I finally realized — if I believed I had it yesterday, why should one day passing change that? So I kept thanking God. “Lord, I had it by that day. I have it.”

A few days later, someone called to repent. They were mailing me a check.

More recently, we needed $10,000 by a certain date for a TV bill. The day passed. I was out of the country. I kept believing. Then I got a text: “Can you call me?” When I did, they said, “The Lord had been dealing with me for two weeks. I was supposed to give this to you last week.”

God was not the problem. He was already the author of the solution. The person just took a little longer to obey. But I kept the faith pressure on the situation — not on God — and it broke loose.

What if I had quit? Don’t stop believing just because the deadline passed. He gives life to the dead — and a missed deadline is not a closed door.

God gives life to the dead — and that’s not just a saying.

Romans 4:17 tells us something crucial about the God Abraham was dealing with. He is the One who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did.

This isn’t a poetic flourish. This is a description of who you are trusting.

“…God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did.”

— Romans 4:17 (NKJV)

When something is dead — when the stone has been rolled in front of it, when the doctors have given you an hour, when the bank account is at zero and the house is in foreclosure — that is not the moment to quit.

That’s the moment God is just getting started.

Martha told Jesus, “Lord, I believe even now that God will give You whatever You ask.” Bold faith. Until it was time to roll away the stone. “But Lord — he’s been dead four days. He’s going to stink.” What happened to “even now”?

Don’t be Martha at the stone. Don’t let what something looks like talk you out of what you know. The same God who spoke the universe into existence can speak life into whatever you’re looking at right now.

They threw three men into a furnace seven times hotter than normal — and they weren’t done.

This is the mindset you need to carry. They threw Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego into a furnace heated seven times over. By every natural measure — done. Over. Finished.

They weren’t done.

Just because you’re at the edge of the furnace doesn’t mean you’re finished. Just because it’s been written off doesn’t mean God has written it off. Just because they’ve capped the stone doesn’t mean the story’s over. He can stop the sun. He can speak to dry bones. He can fold up all of creation like a garment. He gives life to the dead.

So if you’re standing at what looks like the end today — don’t quit. Stir yourself up. Remind yourself who you’re trusting. And keep believing.

We’re just getting started.

Fight To Win. Start today.