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Look, he answered, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. Daniel 3:25 When the three Hebrew teenagers were thrown into the fiery furnace because they wouldn’t bow to King Nebuchadnezzar’s golden idol, they were bound with cords. They should have been killed instantly, but when the king gazed into the furnace, he saw four unbound men, and one who looked like the Son of God. Your hands may be tied today—you’ve worked, prayed, believed, and done the right thing, but it seems like your dream is never going to work out. The good news is that God’s hands are not tied. He’s not limited by what’s limiting you. I believe that what’s restricted you in the past has lost its grip. It’s a new day. The fourth man has shown up. Like the Hebrew teenagers, you’re coming out, not bound. Your hands are not tied anymore. God is releasing you into new levels of your destiny.

…for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries. 1 Corinthians 16:9 When you have a big future, the enemy is not going to roll out the red carpet and let you fulfil it. Paul recognized that a wide door of opportunity had opened for him, but he had many adversaries because of the favour that was on his life. The enemy recognized that Paul was a history maker, which is why he came against Paul so strongly. Many of the challenges you’ve faced—the things that didn’t seem fair, the obstacles that came out from nowhere, the people who turned on you—are because there are seeds of greatness in you. You may not see it yet, but the enemy sees it. Have a new perspective. Those difficulties are a sign that something amazing is in your future. There’s something in you that the enemy doesn’t want you to have. There’s an assignment God has for you that the enemy is trying to stop—an anointing, an empowerment, a favour that he...

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you !” John 20:19 One evening the disciples were huddled together in a room behind locked doors for fear of being arrested. They did everything they could to keep people out, but Jesus suddenly walked through the door. He didn’t unlock it, open it, or try to beat it down. He just came through it. God was showing us that closed doors can’t keep us from what He has for us. The good news is that God comes through doors. He’s not limited by what’s limiting us. We’re natural; He’s supernatural. Closed doors can’t stop you. God is going to walk right through it. He’s not going to let you miss your destiny.

As the enemy came down toward him, Elisha prayed to the Lord, “Strike this army with blindness.” So he struck them with blindness as Elisha had asked. 2 Kings 6:18 The king of Aram was so angry with the prophet Elisha that he sent an army to capture him. Elisha was only one man against an army, but he knew how to pray bold prayers. He had seen God open blind eyes, and now he prayed for the reverse. Not only were the soldiers struck blind, but Elisha led them into Samaria where the king of Israel captured them before their eyes were reopened. When you know that God is with you, you’ll see God do amazing things. He can protect you, guide you, and make things happen that you could never make happen. Just as with Elisha, you are so powerful and full of favor that even when the enemy does his best to defeat you, his best will never be enough. You cannot be defeated because you have the favor of God.

We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps. Proverbs 16:9 God doesn’t always take us in a straight line. We make our plans going from A to B to C. But sometimes He’ll take you from A to C, then to B. Sometimes it’s going to look like you’re going backward. You have to trust Him when you don’t understand. You have to know that God makes the final determination about your steps. The test is for you to stay in faith, believing that God is still in control, that He’s working behind the scenes, that what He started He will finish. Some of the challenges you’re facing now don’t even have anything to do with today; they’re positioning you for something in your future. If you stay in faith when things don’t make sense, over time you’re going to see how God connects the dots, how it was all a part of His plan, strategically orchestrated.