NO SHORTCUTS TO THE NEXT LEVEL

Have you ever seen those preachers offering special anointing oils or “Holy Ghost” hankies that supposedly contain supernatural power to make you prosper, receive a miracle, or catch a healing?

Recently, while in East Africa I heard about the “anointed broom” with which you can sweep the devil out of your house, or the “prophetic pen” that guarantees an “A-grade” to students who use it on exams. Of course, there’s the ubiquitous “miracle anointing oil” that will heal any sickness, break any curse, release untold riches, and generally invoke God’s blessing on anything it touches. It’s modern day heresy in a clerical collar.

What amazes me more than the heretical gimmickry coming from pulpits is the eager gullibility of those who actually buy into it. It’s indicative of a mentality so prevalent in the human condition today. We want “it” now. It’s the “quick-fix,” “easy-come,” “give-it-to-me-right-away” attitude. We want the devil out of our house, but we don’t want to fast and pray or do spiritual warfare. We want an “A-grade” on the exam, but we don’t want to study, prepare, or memorize. We want the miracles, but we don’t want to hear about the responsibilities we have that facilitate such works. It’s like the mountaineer who says he wants to go the next level, but is unwilling to climb. Just lay hands on me and prophesy, just pour oil on me or pray and let God float me upward without any effort being expended on my part.

Sorry; it doesn’t work that way.

Here’s the truth, the way to the next level is a struggle. It’s a difficult journey. There’s no quick prayer, no anointing and certainly no magic broom. If you want to be more effective, there will be struggle. If you want to be more successful, there will be a struggle. If you want to be happier, healthier and even holier, there will be a struggle because you can’t have fulfillment, satisfaction or any kind of success in life without facing hardship along the way.

Anyone who has experienced success, anyone who has mastered some aptitude or achieved some level of greatness; at some point, on some level, had to face the struggle. One cannot succeed without it. Hard work, self-denial, sacrifice, adversity, suffering, loss, rejection—it’s part of the journey, it’s part of the process.

It’s the kind of struggle that produces a certain kind of wisdom and strength that people who make it to the next level have. That’s why we want to go there. We see the caliber and quality of people at that level and we want to be like them. But what we don’t see is the struggle that got them there. The long days and sleepless nights, the countless tears and fears of the unknown, the cost, the sacrifice, the pressure and the pain. It was the struggle that made them wise, it was the fight that made them strong, and it was the journey that forged their confidence that those below so eagerly admire.

The words of the Apostle Paul from Philippians 3:21-14 make it clear:

“Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” 

The “next level” is not an overused cliché of self-help gurus and motivational moguls. For Paul, it was a way of life—it was his daily ascent. Never was he content with what he had achieved or how far he had come. Paul was always going higher, achieving more. He did not want to pass from this life with things undone. He wanted to reach the full potential of his existence, to achieve every purpose for which he was created.

There is untapped potential in your life. There is another level for you to achieve. Too many pass from this life believing the lie that they “can’t” or that they are “not good enough.” Let the journey to fulfill your purpose begin now. Embrace the struggle and realize that there is a life you have yet to live; a joy you have yet to know. The joy of overcoming, achieving, pushing through, and accomplishing what you never thought possible and what everyone knew you could never do. For there’s no greater joy than doing what everyone thought was impossible, if we do it for the glory of God.

(This is an excerpt from Gregg Johnson’s newest book, Upward! Taking Your Life to the Next Level. Look for it soon on Amazon or here on the site). ​

---