by Matt Sorger
Paul teaches in Ephesians 5:10 that we should “learn [in your experience] what is pleasing to the Lord [let your lives be constant proofs of what is most acceptable to Him].”
One of the healing generals that I have great respect for lived a highly consecrated life. Smith Wigglesworth connected this lifestyle of holiness to the power that flowed through him. He was known to have such high convictions that he wouldn’t even let a secular newspaper pass through the front door of his house. He was a consecrated vessel that moved in a tremendous power of the Holy Spirit. He once shared regarding his convictions:
You must every day make higher ground. You must deny yourself to make progress with God. You must refuse everything that is not pure and holy. God wants you pure in heart. He wants you to have an intense desire after holiness. Two things will get you to leap out of yourselves into the promises of God today. One is purity, and the other is faith, which is kindled more and more by purity. The moment a man falls into sin, divine life ceases to flow, and his life becomes one of helplessness.17
I remember a story where Smith Wigglesworth was staying at the home of a minister whose church he was preaching at. The man whom he was staying with had no feet, only stumps. Smith said to the man, “Go and buy a new pair of shoes in the morning.” This was an astounding thing to say to someone with no feet! So the man responded in faith and got up the next morning and went to the shoe shop. Upon entering the store, he was approached by the assistant, who asked if he could help him. The minister replied he would like a pair of shoes. The assistant, realizing the condition of the man, hesitated before replying that they could not help him. The minister, seeing his dilemma, said, “I would like a pair of black shoes, size eight please.” The assistant returned with the shoes, and as the minister put his one stump into the shoe, a foot and leg instantly formed. The same thing happened with his other leg. He walked out of the store with two new shoes and two new feet!18 A life of consecration and integrity is crucial to stewarding God’s power in our lives.
In Exodus 19:12–23 God instructs Moses to set boundaries around the base of the mountain so no wild beast or person can break through while Moses is with God on top of the mountain. God didn’t want anything unholy to break through and defile the place of communion He was having with Moses. Just as Moses set boundaries, you need to set boundaries. When you learn that something in your life separates you from God’s presence, you must surrender it to God in prayer and ask Him for the grace to let it go. There can be a battle within your own heart at times. There may be things you don’t want to give up, but they are having a negative impact on your relationship with God. The closer you want to walk with God and the more genuine power you want to live in, the more you may need to give up. But if your heart is after His presence, in the end it is worth it. These boundaries also protect you from falling into unnecessary temptation.
There is some temptation you can’t avoid. Sometimes it will be outside of your control. But there are other times we open the door to increased temptation and sin by what we allow ourselves to see and listen to. If we make the choice to watch things or listen to things that we know are not in agreement with God’s Word, we allow ourselves to be susceptible to increased temptation and attack. We make ourselves more vulnerable than we should be.
When you are walking with God, you are hidden in His secret place of protection and safety (Ps. 91). Making choices of integrity keeps you safe and secure in God’s presence. If you know there are things in your life that can potentially grieve God and make you weak to wrong choices, then you need to set boundaries. That may be choosing to turn off certain TV programs. It may be setting up Internet blocks, filters, and accountability programs to keep yourself from falling into sexual immorality. Whatever boundaries you need to set to cultivate your personal integrity, this is vital if you want to have a life filled with God’s ever-increasing power.
Choosing Right Associations
I learned very quickly in my walk with God that directly connected to a life of integrity is the power of association. Association brings transference. Whatever you spend time with is what you become.
He who walks [as a companion] with wise men is wise, but he who associates with [self-confident] fools is [a fool himself and] shall smart for it.
—PROVERBS 13:20
The more sensitive you are in the spirit, the more you will have to guard your associations. I know this from personal experience. I am like a sponge. I absorb whatever I spend time with. When I was younger, I got the nickname “the Sponge” because I would so easily soak up God’s presence and power. If I just got near the anointing of God, I would instantly soak it up. The same happened with spiritual gifts. If I got around people who would prophesy, I would prophesy. My prophetic gift would go off the charts. If I got around people who had tremendous faith for healing and miracles, I would absorb that faith and anointing, and the miracles I would see exponentially multiplied. It’s true. I have the capacity to absorb anointings. It’s wonderful!
Associate yourself with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation. It is better to be alone than in bad company.19
—GEORGE WASHINGTON
But because of this capacity, I have had to really guard what I let into my life. My extra sensitivities at times have caused me to absorb some very negative things too. I have learned through experience that my closest associations must be with people who really have a heart after God and are walking in faith and power. I have had to draw boundaries when it comes to relationships with people who have a lot of emotional baggage and issues that haven’t been dealt with. Hanging around angry, negative people can drain the life of God out of you. It’s one thing for God to use you to minister life to others; it’s another thing to open up your spirit to those who can drag you down. We have to choose our close friendships wisely. We also have to be wise in every area of association, including what we watch on TV, in the movies, and on the Internet. It’s a different world today. To maintain personal internal integrity, we must choose to associate with the anointing and presence of God as much as possible.
As we cultivate a life of integrity through godly repentance, brokenness, and good associations, we will harness God’s power in our lives for the long haul, enabling us to finish our race strong all the way to the finish line.
CHAPTER 8
The Power of Perspective
A Bird’s-Eye View
HAVE YOU EVER wondered what it’s like to see life through the eyes of an eagle?
Sitting high above the earth, majestically perched on a treetop, you look down and see the world from heaven’s perspective. Big things look small. There are no walls to confine you. No limitations whatsoever. All predators are far beneath you.
If you are truly going to soar and accomplish phenomenal things in your life, you will need to shift to see life through the eyes of an eagle. The power to persevere and live in God’s power during the difficult moments of life comes when you are able to see your life from God’s vantage point. This ability to see beyond the natural limitations will give you what you need to run your race to the end and obtain every blessing God has for you. It’s the power of perspective.
Genesis 37–50 contains the incredible story of Joseph. Joseph was a man given an amazing vision and dream from God. He saw greatness in his future. He saw a day where he would be lifted up above his father and brothers. When he shared his dream with his brothers, they were overcome by jealousy, rage, and hatred, and they conspired to kill him. Joseph was thrown into a waterless pit. In a moment of greed, they realized they could get more out of selling him than by killing him, so they sold him into slavery. He was sold to the Midianites, who then brought him to Egypt. In Egypt he was sold to Potiphar, the captain of the royal guard under Pharaoh.
After enduring this deep pain of betrayal, Joseph was then falsely accused by Potiphar’s wife of making advances toward her, and he had to run for his life. He finally found himself locked in a dungeon. He couldn’t
go any lower. How did this happen? How could he go from having such an amazing dream to this dark, cold, and lonely place? Where was God in all of this? I’m sure Joseph was tempted many times to think God had completely forgotten about him or had played a cruel joke.
After many years of enduring one painful trial after another, a suddenly happened in Joseph’s life, bringing everything into proper perspective. One day the chief of the butlers and the chief of the bakers were thrown into prison with Joseph. They both dreamed dreams that were interpreted by Joseph correctly. Soon the chief butler was released and restored back under Pharaoh, but he forgot about Joseph. The day came when Pharaoh had a dream and needed it interpreted. But no one in the land could interpret it. Then the chief butler remembered how Joseph interpreted his dream, so he told Pharaoh about it. The moment of destiny had arrived. The king called upon Joseph to interpret the dream. This was the result.
You shall have charge over my house, and all my people shall be governed according to your word [with reverence, submis sion, and obedience]. Only in matters of the throne will I be greater than you are. Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh took off his [signet] ring from his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand, and arrayed him in [official] vestments of fine linen and put a gold chain about his neck.
—GENESIS 41:40–42
What an amazing ending! Well, almost. The end had not yet come. There was still more God had planned for Joseph. We’ll get there in a minute. I want to pause and ponder the power of perspective and what it will do in your life.
Walls, Walls, Walls
For years Joseph was surrounded by walls—walls on every side and at every turn. First it was the walls of the pit his brothers threw him into. These walls were not only physical but also emotional. They were walls of betrayal, anger, bitterness, and pain that his brothers built around him. Then it was the walls of false accusation. Then finally it was the walls of a dungeon. And it was all out of Joseph’s control. These were circumstances that surrounded him due to the sinfulness in the hearts of other people.
There will be times you find yourself behind walls—walls that have been built by the actions and attitudes of other people, walls that you have no control over, walls that seem to hinder you and keep you from fulfilling God’s will and plan for your life, walls that have the potential to bring utter defeat and depression.
But I have really good news for you. You will be fruitful and will be everything God has called you to be despite any wall that seems to limit you. Get ready. You are about to break out of every wall, boundary, border, and limitation that tries to hold you back. How do I know this? Well, let’s take a look at the prophetic word Joseph’s father, Jacob, had over him at the end of his life.
In Genesis 49:22–24, 26, Jacob declares that Joseph is a fruitful bough planted by a well whose branches run over the wall. Despite the bitter attacks that came against Joseph’s life, despite the walls that surrounded him, he was fruitful in the midst of limitation and eventually grew right over the walls that surrounded him.
Many times we pray for God to change our circumstances. We think that if the apparent walls that surrounded us would just be removed, then we could move forward and have the life God intended us to have. Then we could be happy. Then we could have the joy, peace, and prosperity Jesus died to give us. Then we could fulfill that vision God has put in our heart. We wait and wait and wait, not realizing that in the midst of our limiting circumstances we are not limited at all.
When Everything Goes Wrong
My own life has not been an easy road. Much like the case with Joseph, when God’s promise came to me that I would see stadiums filled and numerous miracles performed, it seemed everything went in the opposite direction. I was a premed student with plans to become a doctor. When God called me, I left it all behind and went to Bible school to prepare for full-time vocational ministry. From there I graduated and went into pastoral ministry. Although my salary wasn’t high, I was happy because I was serving God.
After several years of pastoring, it became apparent through the anointing that was flowing through me that it was somewhere in God’s plan for me to travel. I began to get a desire to see people healed. One day God spoke to me that it was His desire to heal people. I knew in my heart that He wanted to use me in the area of healing. When I shared my vision to travel and see people healed with my church leaders and peers, at first it was met with joy. They could see that call on my life and agreed it was God’s plan. We rejoiced over the vision of how I could lead missions teams overseas and travel while still pastoring on staff. They witnessed the evangelistic call on my life and shared with me that it was God’s will for me to travel. Each time I was given the pulpit to minister, God’s power would show up and move in a mighty way.
But that joy quickly faded, and my ministry went in a different direction. Rather than teaching an adult Bible study class, I found myself with twenty kids, teaching them how to camp and tie knots. This was not my anointing at all. I couldn’t care less about how to tie a knot. Things that I thought were going to happen in ministry didn’t, and I had to walk through a very painful stripping process. Part of this was losing my pulpit ministry. But I knew what God had promised. I knew He had a higher calling for me. I was in the dungeon, but I could see the palace.
Not only did it look like I was surrounded by natural walls that limited my ministry, but also at times I was surrounded by spiritual and emotional walls. At times I felt like I was on an emotional roller-coaster ride. I even had to go for heart tests because of the emotional stress I was under. There I was, a twenty-five-year-old minister in the doctor’s office strapped up to all sorts of machines trying to figure out why I had so much pain in my chest. It wasn’t my heart. It was the stress.
While it looked like I was going backward in ministry, I was actually being positioned for a divine promotion from God. I just couldn’t see it yet. I was to learn some very valuable life lessons that would stay with me forever.
I’ll never forget the day I was in a leadership meeting with several other pastors and leaders. A minister introduced me to everyone as a “gopher.” I felt demeaned because at the time I was serving in leadership. In that moment I simply looked down and held my peace. Then suddenly, the president of my Bible college, Dr. Benjamin Crandall, a senior man in leadership who had led one of the greatest churches in New York City, said, “Let me tell you all about Matt. Matt was president of his Bible college class for four years. He graduated with highest honors and is an exceptional young man after God.” This was one of those many moments where God was vindicating me, yet working humility in me.
My father would always tell me, “Hindsight is 20/20.” It’s easy after you have been through something to later see what God was doing. I remember my very first days in ministry. I was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. I had such a glorified vision of ministry. I was so excited to get my first pastor’s office. My first week on staff I was told, “Well, Matt, we don’t have any extra office space for you, but you can have the storage closet.” The closet became my first office. It had no windows except a small one to the hallway. But I fixed that room up to be the best office I could. I took the blind down that was on the window just to open it up a bit.
The following Sunday morning I was in church, and the head usher came up to me in a panic. “Matt, where is the blind?”
I said, “I took it down.”
He said, “You can’t. That’s the nursing mothers’ room!”
I was in shock. “No, it’s not. It’s my office.”
“Well, it may be your office,” he said, “but it’s the nursing mothers’ room on Sunday.”
Week after week I would come into my office to find it filled with an aroma. And it wasn’t the aroma of Christ. It was the dirty diapers left there from the day before!
Then each Sunday after church I ministered at the local nursing home. I preached to the same five elderly people week after week. Some o
f them told me the same stories over and over. I had to get them saved every week because they couldn’t remember getting saved the week before! I had a vision for nations, and God had me sharing the gospel with five people. Nursing home ministry is wonderful. I never want to diminish anything we do for God. But in perspective, it didn’t fit where I saw myself going. Yet God was teaching me a valuable lesson. Along the way He was giving me His divine perspective.
The Power of Humility
True humility can’t be taught to you in a sermon. It’s something that must be walked out through experience. God will allow painful and limiting circumstances in our lives to work a deeper level of humility and servanthood in us. While I thought I was being limited, God was busy working humility and servanthood in my heart. It was painful at times. But the work done in me during those years has stayed with me and marks everything I do now.
Sometimes I hear people blaming leaders over them for more doors not opening for them. We must understand that God is our source, not man. He is the one who opens doors that no man can shut. He also shuts doors no man can open. God will allow us to go through seasons of frustration where we find ourselves doing things we don’t even want to do. But there is a divine purpose in it all.
Let’s face it, not everyone is built for manual labor. There are some people who love to be active doing things and others who prefer to be behind a desk working with their mind. But I have learned a very valuable lesson in life: none of us graduate from the kitchen. In other words, no matter what God entrusts us to do, we always have to be willing to stuff envelopes, empty the trash, and clean the bathroom. While these may not be our favorite things to do, nothing is beneath us. We have this kind of servant attitude worked in us, many times, by those in authority over us who ask us to do things we don’t want to do. If we get a diva mind-set that says, “That is beneath me,” then pride sneaks into our hearts, and we can disqualify ourselves from a promotion God wants to give us.
