Experiencing Spiritual Breakthroughs

by Bruce H. Wilkinson

Every Second Chair person discovers soon enough that what started out as a street-smart way to win (even over God’s revealed will) ends up as a deep personal loss. Relationships falter under the weight of deceit. Dreams splinter. The spirit withers and eventually admits defeat. From personal experience I can tell you that the most unhappy, frustrated, stressed, and disillusioned people in the world aren’t non-Christians as you might expect, but Second Chair people who know Christ yet who fight Him and His leadership for years and even decades. Why? Because when compromised believers turn away from the Lord and strike a deal with sin, the Holy Spirit convicts and disciplines them so that they’ll return. Why wouldn’t He? They gave themselves into God’s eternal keeping at the moment of salvation. Yet when they try to turn toward the Lord to receive His best with only a few parts of their life in agreement (that is, without fully embracing His agenda and His leadership in every “drawer”), they experience only frustration and failure. Of course! God made us with one will, one mind, one heart, one spirit; it is Satan’s lie that leaves us fractured and paralyzed. I believe that what drives a person to a compartmentalized lifestyle more than anything else is this root commitment to using every opportunity and gift God has given you to get the most for yourself. And to get the most return when you’re living in between requires that you play a lot of different roles. For Second Chai...