The Power of I Am: Two Words That Will Change Your Life Today (26 page)

In the Scripture there was a man named Saul. He was the biggest enemy of the church. He hated believers. He was having them put in prison, doing more harm to God’s people than any person of that time. One day he was on the road traveling to Damascus and a bright light shone down on him, so bright that he fell to the ground and became blind. The voice said, “Saul, why do you persecute Me? Don’t you know it’s hard to kick against the pricks?” God was saying, “Saul, I have you in My frame. You’re trying to kick, trying to run, trying to ignore it. But Saul, you have to understand that I set the frame. I have a destiny for you to fulfill, and it’s not to stop My work. It’s to advance My work.” Lying on the ground, not able to see, Saul asked, “Who are you?” The voice boomed out, “I am Jesus, whom you persecute.” Notice, when people persecute you, give you a hard time for honoring God, or make fun of you for going to church, don’t let that bother you. They’re not really doing it to you. They’re doing it unto God. Saul was harming believers, yet God said, “You’re persecuting Me.” God took it personally. The voice told Saul to go to the city and see Ananias, who prayed for Saul. He got his sight back. Saul became the Apostle Paul, who went on to write over half of the books of the New Testament.

You may think that you’re too far gone and have made too many mistakes. People tell me often, “Joel, I’m just not a religious person.” But none of that matters. All that matters is that the Creator of the universe has put a frame around your life. You can kick, run, and try to ignore it. That’s just going to make you more miserable. As God said to Saul, it’s hard to keep kicking against the frame. The frame is not going to move. There is a calling on your life, a destiny
for you to fulfill. It has been set there by the Most High God. The Scripture talks about how God’s calling is irrevocable. God is not going to remove the frame. It’s wise if you just surrender and say, “God, my life is in Your hands. I’m going to live for You. I’m going to get rid of these friends who are pulling me down. I’m going to get help with these bad habits. I’m going to get in church and serve and grow. I’m going to pursue the dreams You have placed in my heart.” The sooner you do that, the happier and the more fulfilling your life will be.

You may have family members or friends like Saul. You’ve been praying for them a long time. It doesn’t look like they’ll ever get on course. In fact, the more you pray, the worse they get. Don’t get discouraged. Stay in peace. Just as Saul was, they’ve been framed.

A part of this frame is a hedge of protection. God has a boundary around your life that the enemy cannot cross. A friend of mine was driving home from work the other day and stopped at a light. When it changed to green, he cautiously looked to the left and to the right. As he was about to go forward, something said to him very strongly, “Look again!” He looked back to the right a second time. A car was coming full speed, never attempted to stop, and ran right through the red light. If he had not looked that second time, he would have gotten broadsided. There’s no telling what would have happened.

What was that? The frame. If it’s not your time to go, the enemy cannot take you out. The frame that’s placed around your life was put there by the most powerful force in the universe. That’s why
the psalmist said, “A thousand may fall at my side, ten thousand at my right hand. I’m not worried. It can’t come near me. I know there’s a frame around my life. Nothing can happen without God’s permission.”

I had somebody complaining to me once about how they were hit on the freeway. It totaled their car. They were upset and discouraged. They didn’t know if the insurance was going to cover it. It was a brand-new car. The feeling I got from them was that God had let them down. They said, “If I have this frame, how come I had an accident?” Keep the right perspective. You may have lost your car, but because of the frame, you didn’t lose your life. Because of the frame, you’re not paralyzed. Because of the frame, you can still see and talk and hear. I’m convinced, God protects us from so many things that we don’t even realize. We think sometimes,
I didn’t have anything good happen to me. Just an average week.
You can thank God for what didn’t happen. Because of the frame, you didn’t have an accident. Because of the frame, you’re not in the hospital. Because of the frame, you didn’t get laid off. Because of the frame, your children are still healthy and whole.

A few years ago I was in San Antonio at Brooke Army Medical Center, praying for some of our soldiers. This hospital specializes in treating people who have burns. I left one room, and a couple stopped me and asked me to go in and pray for their son who had been badly burned when he was a soldier in Iraq. In the middle of the night, he had been on the army base refueling the large tanks of gas. He was all alone about a mile from the main area when something caused the tanks to ignite. When he woke up, he was twenty yards away, flat on his back, on fire, unable to move. He was wearing ammunition
that could explode at any moment. Out of nowhere two Iraqi civilian men showed up and started rolling him in the dirt to stop the fire. Without those two men, he certainly would have burned to death. What’s interesting is that those men were not allowed on the base. They were in a secure area at three o’clock in the morning. The parents said, “Those men had to have been put there by God to save our son.” What was that? The frame. It wasn’t his time to go. The enemy doesn’t determine your destiny. God does. God is bigger than an explosion, bigger than an accident, bigger than a car running a red light. God has you in a frame.

When I was ten years old, our family went to Hawaii. We arrived about three o’clock in the afternoon and were so excited. After our parents checked us into the hotel, all five of us children ran down to the beach to go swimming. My brother, Paul, and sister Lisa were in their late teens, and they were supposed to watch over us. We rented some floats and took off into the waves. But in the excitement of playing in the big waves and having so much fun, we looked up and couldn’t find my eight-year-old sister, April. We searched and searched frantically—five minutes, ten minutes, twenty minutes, thirty minutes. I had never felt such a sick feeling in all my life. We were sure April had drowned. The waves were huge. We searched for forty-five minutes, then an hour; still nothing. An hour and fifteen minutes later, we saw April way, way down the beach, walking toward us, carrying her float. We had never been so happy and so mad at her at the same time.

April had fallen asleep on that float. It was six hours later at home, about eleven o’clock at night, and she was tired. She drifted nearly two miles down the shore. She could have drifted out to sea. She could have woken up in deep water and not been able to swim in it. A thousand things could have happened, but God had her in a frame. There was a boundary set around her.

Let me assure you, death can’t penetrate your frame. God has to allow it. The number of your days, He will fulfill. That’s why I always tell people who have lost a loved one, especially if they went home at an early age, while we may not understand it, know this: The enemy didn’t take your loved one. He doesn’t have that power. God called them home. God received them into His presence. The angels carried them into the Heavenly Father’s arms.

When Jesus rose from the grave, He said, “You don’t have to worry anymore. I hold the keys of death.” He was saying, “Nobody determines your time except Me.”

Death can’t penetrate your frame. An accident can’t penetrate your frame. Sickness can’t penetrate your frame. God has to give it permission. He controls the whole universe. When you understand this, you can say with the Apostle Paul, “O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory? I’m not afraid of you. You can’t defeat me. I know there is a frame around my life. I’m not worried about my health. I’ve been framed. I’m not afraid to drive on the freeway. A thousand may fall at my side. That’s okay. I have a frame. Ten thousand at my right hand. No problem. I’ve been framed. It’s a hedge of protection, a bloodline that the enemy cannot cross.”

We see this principle in Job’s life. Satan was looking for somebody to test. God said to Satan, “Have you seen my servant, Job? There’s none like him in all the land.”

Satan answered back something interesting. He said, “Yes, God, I’ve seen Job, but You know I can’t touch him. You’ve put a hedge around him. You’ve got a frame around his life.” He went on to say, “If You will remove the frame and let me get to him, he’ll curse You.”

What I want you to see is the enemy can’t just do whatever he wants. He has to ask God for permission. God has to allow him to do it. Job went through a time of testing. He fought the good fight. And in the end, not only did he not curse God, but he came out with double what he had before.

When you go through tough times, if you have a bad break, if you’re facing a sickness, don’t get discouraged. Remember, the frame is still up. You keep moving forward, and you’ll not only come out, but as Job did, God will bring you out better off than you were before.

Friend, don’t worry about your future. You’ve been framed. There are boundaries around your life put in place by the most powerful force in the universe. Not only can nothing get in without God’s permission, you can’t get out. You may run as Jonah did, but there’ll be a fish waiting for you. You may kick, as Saul did, but before long you’ll be the Apostle Paul. You may be about to take vengeance on somebody, as David was. Don’t worry. Abigail is going to show up. That’s the frame.

Now, all through the day, instead of worrying, instead of being
stressed out, under your breath, say, “Lord, thank You that my life has been framed. Thank You that my children are framed. Lord, thank You that my health, my finances, my dreams, and my future are in Your frame. I am protected.”

If you’ll do that, you’ll not only be happier, you’ll not only have more peace, but God promises the number of your days He will fulfill. You will see His protection, His mercy, and His favor. And nothing will keep you from your God-given destiny.

M
any people are praying for a miracle. They’re saying, “God, please send me a friend. God, I need help with these children. I need training. God, I need a good break.” We have to realize that we can become the miracle they need. God uses people. He has no hands to heal except through our hands. He has no voice to encourage except through our voice. He has no arms to hug except through our arms. God will bring people across our path so that we can be the answer to their prayer.

You may not realize it, but you are a miracle waiting to happen. Somebody you know is lonely. They’re praying for a friend. You’re the miracle that they’re waiting for. Somebody got a bad medical report. They’re worried and praying, “God, please send me a sign. Let me know that You’re still in control.” You are that sign. A simple phone call to say, “I’m thinking about you. I want to let you know it’s all going to work out,” and you just became their miracle. Somebody is discouraged, saying, “God, I don’t understand this subject. I’m not going to pass this course. God, send me somebody.” You are that somebody.

Take time to become the miracle. Be aware of who is in your life. They’re not there by accident. God put them there on purpose. It’s because you are full of miracles. There is healing in you. There is restoration, there’s friendship, there are new beginnings. Life is so much more rewarding when you realize you can be the answer to somebody’s prayer. You can lift the fallen. You can restore the broken. You can be kind to a stranger. You can become someone’s miracle.

My brother, Paul, is a surgeon. He spends a lot of time in Africa operating on needy people way back in the middle of nowhere. It’s a remote village, hundreds of miles from the nearest city. The clinic is just a small tin building that barely has electricity, minimal medical supplies, and only one doctor. On a recent visit, a young man came into the clinic in the middle of the night who had been gored by an elephant tusk, right through his midsection. Paul took him back to the makeshift operating room to hopefully spare his life. The problem was that there was no blood in the blood supply with which to replenish the man. Paul could have thought,
Too bad. I’d love to help you, but you’re going to need several pints of blood. It’s just not your lucky day.
Before Paul operated, he took thirty minutes and gave his blood. He operated on the young man, then replenished the blood the man had lost with his own blood. What was he doing? Becoming a miracle. He could have prayed, “God, he’s in bad shape. He needs a miracle.” Paul realized,
I am his miracle.

We all know that God can do great things. We know God can
do miracles. But what I want us to see is that He’s put miracles in us. We can be the answer to someone’s prayers. You can be the good break they’re looking for. You can be the help they’ve been longing to have. It may not be something as dramatic as saving their life. It may be just teaching your coworker the skills you know. Or helping that family that’s struggling with the rent. Or taking that young man to baseball practice with your son each week. It’s no big deal to you, but it’s a miracle to them. It’s what will push them toward their destiny.

If we all had the attitude,
I am a miracle waiting to happen
, what kind of world would this be? I’ve heard it said, “Sometimes we don’t need a miracle, we just need one another.” Look around at who’s in your life. Listen to what they’re saying. Is there any way that you can help? Can you put in a good word for them at the office? Do they need a dress for a special occasion and you have a dozen in your closet you’re never going to wear? Do they live alone and their family is in another state? You could invite them to have lunch with your family from time to time. Make them feel welcome. Those are opportunities to become their miracle.