A breakthrough is something we’ve all heard about very often.

It’s something we pray for and perhaps something we pray over others. Personally, I’ve often wondered what a breakthrough really is.

Is it a situation in our lives that stands like an immovable mountain until it is suddenly removed? Is it a sense of barrenness in our lives that is suddenly broken? I suppose, those are all pictures of breakthrough.

In the realm of the secular, a breakthrough is often much more easily defined.

A medical breakthrough represents a new discovery that enables us to combat a sickness or disease we were previously powerless against. In terms of innovation, a breakthrough probably comes in the form of a new technology for us to do things we previously couldn’t.

For the longest time, men were confined to the earth and unable to take to the skies like the birds – until the Wright brothers constructed the first aeroplane.

A hundred years ago, it was thought that our planet could not produce enough food to feed the population of the world by the year 2000. Yet in the last century, technology has allowed crop yield to increase over four times. This is what breakthrough looks like.

Could it be then that every breakthrough we need in the spiritual realm should also begin in our minds and in our thoughts?

I often recall the story of how the Wright brothers would dream of flying as young boys.

When they shared their dream with their father, he’d stoically reply, “If God intended for men to fly, He’d have given us wings.” How fateful then, that these two brothers would be the ones to create the first aeroplane.

The key to every breakthrough in the natural always stems from some “new” knowledge that was uncovered. The discovery of the laws of aerodynamics permitted men the ability to circumvent the laws of gravity.

In short, every breakthrough in the natural begins within the grey matter that resides between our two ears.

Could it be then that every breakthrough we need in the spiritual realm should also begin in our minds and in our thoughts?

Perhaps that’s why “repentance” translates from “a change of mind”. Without a change of mind, there can be no change of actions. Until there’s revelation and light that shines in our being, we invariably end up doing the same old, same old. This in turn results in the same results, the same ditch we find ourselves in.

But when God shines into our hearts and opens our eyes to something we’ve not seen before, that revelation brings with it a power to break through our present circumstance.

… “repentance” translates from “a change of mind”.

On the day David approached Jerusalem and gazed up at the fortress of Zion, it must’ve looked a daunting task to take it down for the Lord.

David must have heard of all those who tried and failed. It was after all a fortress built atop a steep hill. It was mounted on a natural defence and many had tried to scale the slopes of the hill and breach the walls of this fortress. David needed a special breakthrough if he was ever to take the fortress of Zion.

Of course we know in hindsight that David did take Zion’s hill. What we also need to realise is that David did something that no one else did before. Instead of a full frontal assault up the hill (which was likely the method that everyone else had employed), he sent his men up the water shaft in a sneak attack. He did something no one else ever thought to do! That’s innovation. That’s unexpected.

My thought for you this week is this: If you’re contending for a breakthrough somewhere in your life, the key really lies in a mental breakthrough.

Once we genuinely receive an insight from the Lord, the breakthrough is well on the way. God is most definitely in the business of changing the way we think.

Think about that!

This article was first published on Cornerstone Community Church’s website and is republished with permission.