In this powerful and deeply personal episode of Abide, host Penny Joy explores one of the most sought-after spiritual longings of this season: breakthrough.

After months of conversations with friends, leaders, and listeners who all sense something “off” in the atmosphere, Penny brings a timely word about the spiritual shift that is taking place—and what often stands between us and the breakthrough we’re praying for.

Drawing from her own stories of illness, obedience, pride, healing, relationship restoration, and seasons of waiting, Penny unpacks the hidden work God does beneath the surface. She reminds us that breakthrough is rarely instant. It is a journey—one shaped by alignment, surrender, courage, and trust.

If you’ve felt stuck, delayed, exhausted, or on the edge of giving up, this episode will feel like a breath of prophetic clarity.

1. Breakthrough Often Waits on Alignment

Sometimes the barrier isn’t external at all—it’s being out of step with what God has been asking you to do. Penny shares her own season of chronic illness and how healing came quickly after she finally obeyed God’s instruction to leave a draining job.

Obedience sets the stage for breakthrough.

2. “The Way To Your Breakthrough Is To Go Through”

Just like a seed hidden in the soil, much of God’s work happens in the unseen places. Delays are not denials. God uses discomfort, waiting, and pressure to prepare you for what’s ahead.

Formation precedes elevation.

3. Sometimes God Says “Not Yet”

Your breakthrough may involve someone else’s readiness, healing, or transformation. God may be aligning people and circumstances that you cannot yet see.

4. Waiting on God… While God Is Waiting on You

Some breakthroughs require movement—updating the résumé, sending the text, taking the course, or stepping out in courage.

Faith without action often prolongs the stagnation.

5. Let God Break Through Your Expectations

We often expect God to move in a specific way and overlook the new thing He is actually doing. Penny encourages listeners to stay sensitive to God’s voice instead of clinging to familiar patterns.

6. Seek the Giver, Not Just the Gift

Fixation on the outcome can eclipse intimacy with God. When we “seek first the Kingdom,” breakthrough becomes the overflow—not the idol.

7. Pride, Control, and Self-Sufficiency Can Block Breakthrough

Sometimes God must break us open before He breaks the situation open. Internal breakthrough precedes external breakthrough.

8. The Three Stages of Breakthrough

Penny outlines a biblical, repeatable pattern:

1. Wilderness — pruning, pressure, testing, stripping away what cannot go with us
2. Pause — the Red Sea moment, where God says “stand still” even when nothing seems to be happening
3. Promise — the quiet crossing-over into what God has prepared

9. Your Breakthrough Is Never Just for You

Every breakthrough is seed God intends to multiply. Your testimony, encouragement, and obedience can become the breakthrough someone else is praying for.

Scriptures Mentioned

• Isaiah 43:19 – “Behold, I am doing a new thing…”
• Isaiah 55:8 – “My thoughts are not your thoughts…”
• Matthew 6:33 – “Seek first the Kingdom…”
• Exodus 14:14 – “The Lord will fight for you; you need only be still.”
• 2 Chronicles 20:17 – “Position yourselves, stand still…”
• Hebrews 10:36 – Endurance needed to receive the promise
• Galatians 6:9 – “In due season we shall reap…”
• Joshua 1:9 – “Be strong and courageous…”
• Mark 11:23–24 – Speaking to the mountain
• Micah 2:13 – The One who breaks open goes before them

Reflection Questions for Listeners

1. Which stage of breakthrough am I currently in—wilderness, pause, or promise?
2. Is there an area God has asked me to obey that I’ve been resisting?
3. Am I seeking the breakthrough more than the presence of God?
4. Who might God be calling me to encourage, bless, or intercede for during my own waiting season?

If today’s episode stirred your spirit:

• Share it with someone who is waiting on breakthrough.
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• Leave a review, which helps spread these messages across the world.

And above all—

Keep abiding in Jesus.

Breakthrough is coming.

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