Seven Steps to Victory

Did you know it’s possible to know there’s more for your life and still never do anything about it? 

I think that’s where a lot of people are. They aren’t really content, but they’ve become complacent. They’ve settled into a routine, and they just keep doing what they’ve always done. They go through life like they’re on a treadmill. They’re moving, but they aren’t really getting anywhere. 

God didn’t create you just to occupy space, survive, and eventually die. He created you with a purpose. There’s something He wants you to do with your life. And you need to discover it and pursue it. 

Moses gave the children of Israel an instruction that I believe still speaks to us today: 

Rise ye up, take your journey, and pass over the river Arnon: behold, I have given into thine hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land: begin to possess it, and contend with him in battle. 

• Deuteronomy 2:24 

There are seven things in that one verse, but the first two are especially important: rise up and take your journey. You’ve got to get up from where you are, but then you’ve got to know where you’re supposed to go. 

There’s a Journey with Your Name on It  

When Moses told Israel to take their journey, he wasn’t telling them to wander around and figure it out for themselves. God had a specific direction for them. Earlier in Deuteronomy 2, God had told them not to fight certain nations. But now He was telling them to go against Sihon, king of Heshbon, and possess his land. There was a particular journey for them.  

And there’s a particular journey for you. Some people think God might have a plan for a minister, a president, a general, or somebody else who seems important, but they don’t believe He has a plan for an ordinary person. But God knew you before you were born. 

Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. 

• Psalm 139:16 

He has a purpose for your life. But that doesn’t mean His purpose automatically happens. You have freedom to choose. The Israelites didn’t spend 40 years in the wilderness because that was God’s original plan. Their disobedience caused that. God brought them out of Egypt to bring them into the Promised Land. 

The same principle applies to us. God doesn’t sovereignly control every decision we make. If you hit your thumb with a hammer, God didn’t make you do it. We all make mistakes. We make wrong choices. We can choose our own path. God gives us a choice. 

I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live. 

• Deuteronomy 30:19 

God has a plan, but you have to choose to follow it. 

Get Out of the Boat 

If you’re going to take your journey, there comes a point when you have to leave what’s familiar. When Jesus came walking on the water, Peter said, “Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water” (Matt. 14:28). 

Jesus simply said, “Come.” That one word was enough for Peter to do something supernatural. But he had to get out of the boat before he could experience it. There were twelve disciples in that boat. Only one got out. That’s significant. 

You can be surrounded by people who are doing the same thing everybody else is doing and still have a different calling on your life. Maybe you’ve been molded by your family’s expectations. Maybe you took over the family business. Maybe you followed the path that seemed practical or acceptable. 

There’s nothing wrong with any of those things if that’s what God called you to do. But the question is, did God call you to do it? Too many people are doing their own thing and asking God to bless it. That’s like trying to fit a round peg in a square hole. It doesn’t fit. 

When you’re doing what God called you to do, there’s a supernatural grace to enable you to do it. That doesn’t mean everything will be easy, but you won’t have to manufacture something God never asked you to do. 

I know this from my own life. I’ve been seeking God’s purpose since I was a child. In 1968, I made a total surrender to the Lord, and my life took a dramatic turn. I haven’t fulfilled everything God has shown me. I haven’t arrived—but I’ve left. And I know I’m on the right track. That’s the important thing. 

Don’t Let the World Choose for You 

In Romans 12:1, Paul gives us the starting point for finding God’s will: 

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 

Before you worry about the specific details of your calling, you need to settle the bigger issue: Are you surrendered to God?  

Then Paul says in the next verse not to be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. The word conformed means to be poured into a mold. 

That’s exactly what the world wants to do. It wants to tell you what success looks like, what you should pursue, what you should value, and how your life should look. And if you aren’t careful, you’ll spend your entire life being shaped by a mold you never chose. 

God’s Word changes that. As you renew your mind through the Word, you begin to see differently. You begin to recognize that God’s plan may be completely different from what you once thought. 

And that’s where your journey becomes your journey. 

When I began in ministry, God led me to do things differently. We give away the vast majority of our materials. That’s what God told me to do. It may not be what He tells somebody else to do, and I’m not criticizing anybody else. 

Not everybody is called to be the conductor of the orchestra. Not everybody plays the trumpet or the bass drum. Somebody may play the triangle. It may seem small, but if that person doesn’t hit it at exactly the right moment, something is missing. You can’t measure God’s will by size. 

Find Out What God Put in You  

There are people you can reach that I’ll never reach. There are people in your sphere of influence who may never hear me, no matter how many millions of dollars I spend on television. You may be carrying something they need. That’s why your journey matters. 

Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. 

• Ephesians 5:17 

That’s a command. We’re supposed to understand God’s will. 

You aren’t going to fulfill God’s purpose accidentally—you have to pursue it. If you don’t know what God wants for your life, start by surrendering yourself completely to Him. Get into the Word. Seek Him. Ask. Knock. Pursue Him. And then be willing to get out of the boat. 

God has something for every person, but it won’t necessarily look impressive to everybody else. Your assignment isn’t supposed to be measured against somebody else’s. You’re not responsible for doing what God called them to do. You’re responsible for being faithful to what He put in you. 

So rise up. Find out what God has written in your book, and take your journey. 

I encourage you to get my Seven Steps to Victory teaching materials. They’ll give you more Scripture for each of the seven steps to help you understand this teaching and take it further. 

Don’t just be encouraged for a moment and then return to the same routine. Let this challenge you to seek God more seriously and discover what He has for your life. 

There’s a journey with your name on it, and it’s time to take it.