The promises of God give us hope for a better future. When we receive a promise from God, we can trust He will do it. Isaiah 55:11 (NKJV) reads,
“So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;
It shall not return to Me void,
But it shall accomplish what I please,
And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”
God said that whatever He says, He WILL do it. So when we receive God promises, we must grab hold of it and never ever let go.
However, there are things we need to do to keep the promises alive in our life and to keep the enemy from stealing them from us.
Believe by Faith
First, we must believe by faith what He says is true. Numbers 23:19 (NLT) tells us,
“God is not a man, so he does not lie.
He is not human, so he does not change his mind.
Has he ever spoken and failed to act?
Has he ever promised and not carried it through?”
When we are going through a trial in our lives, we must ask the Lord for a promise to hold onto during that season. A word from Him to carry us through. That’s why reading the Word of God on a daily basis is so important. God’s primary way to speak to us is through His written word.
Once we have a scripture that the Lord showed us, we must believe that His Word is true and live by faith that He will bring it to pass.
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1 NKJV).
We hope for the promise that yet is not seen.
Trust God’s Timing
Next, we trust God for His timing. I know—waiting is hard.
Joseph was 17 years old when the Lord gave him a dream that his brothers would bow down to him. After he boasted about it to his brothers, they sold him off as a slave where he lived in Potiphar’s house. While a slave, his master’s wife accused him of sexual harassment and Joseph was put in prison.
We can only imagine that during this time in prison, Joseph must have wondered if he missed God. Then God used Joseph to correctly interpret a dream for the baker and the cup bearer.
Out of desperation, after revealing the interpretation of the dream, Joseph asked the cupbearer, “But remember me when it is well with you, and please show kindness to me; make mention of me to Pharaoh, and get me out of this house. For indeed I was stolen away from the land of the Hebrews; and also I have done nothing here that they should put me into the dungeon.” (Genesis 40:14 NKJV)
However, the chief cupbearer forgot to tell the king about Joseph—that is until two years later when Pharaoh had a dream that he needed interpreted. Then overnight Joseph went from living in the prison to living in the palace.
Joseph spent a total of 13 years in captivity before the word the Lord gave him through a dream came to pass. We must remember to hold onto God’s promises, and trust in God’s timing to bring it to pass.
Don’t Try to Figure Out HOW God’s Promises Will Come to Pass
Lastly, when we receive a promise from God, we don’t try to figure out how God will bring it to pass. God is sovereign and He has plans that we don’t always understand.
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts.
(Isaiah 55:8-9 NKJV)
For about 15 years, Joseph’s father, Jacob, lived with a broken heart and Joseph’s brothers tap danced around their father’s depression. And none of them ever confessed the truth to their father.
Then famine struck the land and Jacob sent his sons to Egypt to purchase grain. Eventually it was revealed to Jacob that Joseph was alive and second in command over all of Egypt. Joseph had all of his family move to Goshen so they would be nearby and away from the famine. When Jacob passed away, the brothers were afraid of what Joseph would do to them. However, Joseph recognized that all of those circumstances God had orchestrated for a purpose.
“Joseph said to them, ‘Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God? But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive” (Genesis 50:19 NKJV).
The Lord fulfilled the word He gave to Joseph through a dream, but not in the way Joseph may have imagined. Psalm 105:19 says,
“Until the time came to fulfill his dreams, the Lord tested Joseph’s character” (NLT).
While waiting for God’s promises to be fulfilled, He is doing a work in and through us.
Continue to hold onto the promises God gave to you by faith and trust HE will fulfill them when the time is right.
