Fearlessly Courageous
Desk of Dennis Piller
12 26 2025
Everyone struggles with reps when they’re pumping iron. But what drove you to the gym in the first place? A dream. A vision. A desire to become something better.
Faith is the same. Looking at someone else’s “six-pack” spiritual life doesn’t change yours.
We must put legs on our dreams and faith into action.
“Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” — James 2:17
Continue to Work Hard Through the Delays
Growth takes time. You don’t see results in one workout, one prayer, or one Sunday morning. Delays will test us, and many people quit because they don’t see immediate change.
“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” — Galatians 6:9
Delays Are Guaranteed — But So Is God
Difficulties, disappointments, and dead ends come to everyone. But delays do not deny destiny. Hold on. Grow your character. Remember who you are in Christ.
“In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” — John 16:33
Dead End Deliverances
What’s the hardest thing you’ve ever been through? Was it worth it? How long before the breakthrough came? Sometimes God leads us right to the dead end so we can discover deliverance.
Abraham understood dead ends. God promised him a nation (Genesis 12). At 75 he received the promise. At 99, there was still no child. In frustration, he tried to fix God’s plan his own way (Hagar and Ishmael). And the Arabs and Muslim nation was formed. It is interesting to note that from the beginning, the descendants of Ishmael were a warlike people, as “they lived in hostility toward all the tribes related to them” (Genesis 25:18). This fulfilled God’s earlier word that Ishmael would be “a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers” (Genesis 16:12).
Have you ever tried to bypass God’s timing? But God wasn’t done with them or you. He never is. Divorce… cancer… infertility… betrayal… bankruptcy… unemployment… war… recessions… heartbreak. Dead ends feel like the end — but they are often the doorway to divine intervention.
“…the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not.” — Romans 4:17
God Is Not a Dead-End God – When you don’t see a way, God makes one.
“For with God nothing will be impossible.” — Luke 1:37
“My God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” — Philippians 4:19
So what do we do at the dead end?
REMEMBER THESE FOUR TRUTHS
Every trial is a storm — but storms pass. James 1:2–4
Every storm tests your faith — not to destroy it, but to prove it. 1 Peter 1:6–7
Every test requires trust — obedience when quitting feels easier. Proverbs 3:5–6
Every difficulty develops you — God grows your character before He grows your platform.
Romans 5:3–5
Lastly, There are Three Kinds of Deliverance
Circumstantial Deliverance — God changes the situation. The healing comes. The job opens. The door unlocks.
Personal Deliverance — God doesn’t change the situation… He changes you. It hurts, but it heals deeper.
Ultimate Deliverance — Heaven. (We are not there yet) The day God wipes every tear and every dead end ends forever.
“But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord… my God will hear me.” — Micah 7:7
When you can’t get the next rep… God steps in.
When your strength runs out… His begins.
When your plan collapses… His purpose rises.
Dead ends are not God’s rejection — they are God’s reset.
If He can create something out of nothing, He can create something out of your situation.
Don’t drop the weights. Don’t quit the gym of faith. Don’t walk away when it hurts.
Stand. Believe. Lift again.
Because your God is not finished,
Your story is not over.
And your dead end… is where miracles begin.
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Marvin Sapp Thank you for it all
