Break Out.

Genesis 38:27 says, "When her time came to give birth, it turned out that there were twins in her womb. As she was giving birth, one put his hand out; the midwife tied a red thread on his hand, saying, “This one came first.” But then he pulled it back and his brother came out. She said, “Oh! A breakout!” So she named him Perez (Breakout). Then his brother came out with the red thread on his hand. They named him Zerah (Bright)."

Perez had a motley past even before he was born. 

The product of incest.

A Canaanite mother.

This kid did not have it going on. No bright future in sight. In fact, his brother was named "Bright", not him.

Today, you may feel like the last one out of the womb. The late bloomer. Last in place every time. But guess what? You can be the “break out”. 

You didn't go to the right school. 

Break out—here's your chance. 

You don't have the right skill set.

Trust that God is for you and break out. 

They thought it was Zerah coming out of the womb first—

They thought it was that person with the awesome résumé and the boss’s favor poised for promotion—

They thought it was the person with the best financial portfolio who would make something of themselves—

But it was YOU! 

IT WAS YOU!

Once, Peter asked Jesus how we'd be rewarded for leaving everything, and Jesus made a litany of promises. But at the end, He said something weird: “The first will be last and the last will be first.” 

What??

Before His death and resurrection, Jesus also said that we will have trouble in this world, but we should be of good cheer because He had overcome the world. 

So essentially Jesus is telling those of us who are always in last place and never seen to come out on top, that we WILL overcome our struggles.

He has given us all authority to face our issues, sins, sin patterns, and dreams. In fact, Peter later said that we have everything we need for life and godliness. That means we have everything we need in the natural and spiritual realms to do what we need to do by the divine power of Christ—to overcome.

This also means that life will often suck. We need to get good at processing pain. It's coming.

Peter was martyred for his faith, and so was Paul. 

In fact, all the apostles died for their faith, but do you think they were sorry? 

Or do you think they died fulfilled, awaiting to see The Savior, literally dying to see His face and hear Him (of all people!) say well done good and faithful servant? 

They lived their lives with full authority knowing they couldn't be stopped and ultimately couldn't be beaten. 

Hey, you! Break out.

They did.

And they were unstoppable.

So today, break out. 

That red cord was on your opposition's arm, but that cord was given to them by the world, by those who thought they had the power to judge who the successful one should be. 

But by God's strength through Christ Jesus, today I'm telling you that IT'S YOU. 

That other person can be successful, but so can you, because with God, there’s more than enough to go around!

You're the breakout. 

You're the overcomer. 

Walk in that.

In Jesus’ Name, amen.