All of us have areas of our lives where we’d like to see victory, but we can’t seem to get it. It feels like we’ve tried everything. We’ve read all the books, talked to counselors and still we continue to struggle. Whether we want to see it this way or not, there is an invitation embedded in the frustration.

The answer is deeper than what we’ve found. Believe me, my natural tendency is not to get excited about this. There are times when I rejoice in the struggle and enjoy the search for answers, but there are other times when I just want low-hanging fruit. I want solutions to be simple and straightforward and I definitely don’t want to go digging.

We need to change our mentality. The quest for holiness and spiritual freedom is an adventure and needs to be seen as such. It is a search for buried treasure. In the very pits where you find the most struggle, the most difficulty and the most frustration, therein lies the potential for the greatest breakthrough.

The only way however, that we will obtain and experience that breakthrough is if we change our perspective. We must begin to roll up our sleeves and take our shovels out. Have you ever seen any of the National Treasure movies with Nicholas Cage? I think they’re awesome! Cage is constantly on the search for the next clue and just when he thinks all hope is lost and the treasure is gone forever, a new breakthrough is right around the corner.

So, if you’re going to embark on the treasure hunt and continue to seek breakthrough in your areas of great frustration and difficulty, you’re going to need a couple of things for the journey.

1. You need a team

It’s never wise to go on treasure hunts alone. You need a team of companions that are searching with you and who bring different talents to the equation. These people will catch things you miss and it is vital that you lean on them throughout the process.

2. You need motivation

If you’re going to find breakthrough in difficult areas, the road will most likely be a difficult one. You’re going to have to find a motivation that transcends the difficulties. That motivation can be found in Christ. He wants breakthrough in your life more than you do. In John 10:10 Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” Jesus wants you to have abundant life and is the only one who can lead you to it…it only makes sense to have him as an intimate ally. In fact, your deepest desires for breakthrough ultimately come from him anyways.

3. You need a map

If you’re going to embark on a search for buried treasure, a good map is a necessity. This is what we find in the Bible. The Bible is far more than an instruction manual with a few solid moral principles on how to live your life. It is the divinely inspired word of God and as we begin to see it as such, it quickly becomes a daily light and guide to empower us throughout our quest.

I’m certain the list could go on, but these are certainly a few of the essentials. Finding breakthrough in areas of breakdown is a difficult process. It probably will not happen overnight and there will be times when you think it’s not worth trying anymore. I offer to you one of my favorite passages of scripture as an encouragement for the road ahead. Notice how down and out Paul was and where he ultimately placed his hope even when all hope seemed to be lost. Happy hunting!

2 Corinthians 1:8-10 says,

“We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. ⁹ Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. ¹⁰ He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us”