When God’s Promises Over Your Life Get Tested.

Estimated reading time: 13 minutes

What do you do when, after God gives you a promise, all hell breaks loose? Have you been experiencing hell because of what God promised you? What do you do when God’s promises over your life get tested?

Warfare always precedes God’s promises. That’s just the truth of the matter. There are some challenges you will experience on your way to the promise that God has given you.

Table of Contents

• And to actually justify this, let us look at some Biblical examples. 
• Joseph. 
  • First he was betrayed by his brothers who sold him to the Ishmaelites. 
  • Second because he would not give in to the demands of Potiphars wife, she slandered him and that led him to end up in prison.
• The Israelites. 
• What lessons can we learn from these two Biblical examples? 
• Trusting in God is key when God’s promises over your life get tested. 
• Decree the word of God and remember His promises over your life when God’s promise over your life get tested. 
• When God’s promises over your life get tested, be honest with Him. 
• Conclusion. 

And to actually justify this, let us look at some Biblical examples.

Joseph.

God gave Joseph a dream that God would elevate and promote him. And his brothers and father would honor him. You would think that the ride would be easy because it came from God.

Now Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it to his brothers, and they hated him even more. He said to them, “Please listen to [the details of] this dream which I have dreamed; we [brothers] were binding sheaves [of grain stalks] in the field, and lo, my sheaf [suddenly] got up and stood upright and remained standing; and behold, your sheaves stood all around my sheaf and bowed down [in respect].” But Joseph dreamed still another dream and told it to his brothers [as well].

He said, “See here, I have again dreamed a dream, and lo, [this time I saw] eleven stars and the sun and the moon bowed down [in respect] to me!” He told it to his father as well as to his brothers; but his father rebuked him and said to him [in disbelief], “What is [the meaning of] this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers actually come to bow down to the ground [in respect] before you?” Joseph’s brothers were envious and jealous of him, but his father kept the words [of Joseph] in mind [wondering about their meaning]. Genesis 37:5‭-‬7‭, ‬9‭-‬11 AMP

In this passage we see the dream that God gave Joseph, it was such a beautiful dream. Joseph had no doubt in his mind that it would happen because of how his life was at the time. Jacob, his father loved Joseph so much so that his father tailor-made a special coat just for him. 

Now Israel (Jacob) loved Joseph more than all his children because he was the son of his old age, and he made him a [distinctive] multicolored tunic. Genesis 37:3 AMP

So looking at the dream and seeing how his father treated him, it kind of made sense that he would be elevated. Maybe Joseph thought his father would make him the leader of his brothers. I mean, after all, his father favored him and trusted him. But that was not to be. In fact, that was the beginning of the challenges that Joseph faced. 

First he was betrayed by his brothers who sold him to the Ishmaelites.

Israel (Jacob) said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers pasturing [the flock] at Shechem? Come, and I will send you to them.” And he said, “Here I am [ready to obey you].” Then Jacob said to him, “Please go and see whether everything is all right with your brothers and all right with the flock; then bring word [back] to me.” So he sent him from the Hebron Valley, and he went to Shechem. And when they saw him from a distance, even before he came close to them, they plotted to kill him. They said to one another, “Look, here comes this dreamer. Now then, come and let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits (cisterns, underground water storage); then we will say [to our father],

‘A wild animal killed and devoured him’; and we shall see what will become of his dreams!” Then they sat down to eat their meal. When they looked up, they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead [east of the Jordan], with their camels bearing ladanum resin [for perfume] and balm and myrrh, going on their way to carry the cargo down to Egypt. Judah said to his brothers, “What do we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood (murder)?

Come, let us [instead] sell him to these Ishmaelites [and Midianites] and not lay our hands on him, because he is our brother and our flesh.” So his brothers listened to him and agreed. Then as the Midianite [and Ishmaelite] traders were passing by, the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and they sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. And so they took Joseph [as a captive] into Egypt. Genesis 37:13‭-‬14‭, ‬18‭-‬20‭, ‬25‭-‬28 AMP

Can you imagine the pain of betrayal from your own blood? That at the very least must have been very traumatic. And Joseph must have gotten to the point where he told God that this was not the way things were supposed to go. Have you been telling God that that was not how things were supposed to go? Because of what you are going through? Maybe your life is contrary to what God spoke and now are even wondering if it will ever come to be.

Second because he would not give in to the demands of Potiphars wife, she slandered him and that led him to end up in prison.

So Potiphar left all that he owned in Joseph’s charge; and with Joseph there, he did not [need to] pay attention to anything except the food he ate. Now Joseph was handsome and attractive in form and appearance. Then after a time, his master’s wife looked at Joseph with desire, and she said, “Lie with me.” But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Look, with me in the house, my master does not concern himself with anything; he has put everything that he owns in my charge. And so it was that she spoke to Joseph [persistently] day after day, but he did not listen to her [plea] to lie beside her or be with her.

She caught Joseph by his [outer] robe, saying, “Lie with me!” But he left his robe in her hand and ran, and got outside [the house]. Then she told her husband the same story, saying, “The Hebrew servant, whom you brought among us, came to me to mock and insult me; then as soon as I raised my voice and screamed, he left his robe with me and ran outside [the house].” And when Joseph’s master heard the words of his wife, saying, “This is the way your servant treated me,” his anger burned. So Joseph’s master took him and put him in the prison, a place where the king’s prisoners were confined; so he was there in the prison. Genesis 39:6‭-‬8‭, ‬10‭, ‬12‭, ‬17‭-‬20 AMP

Here was Joseph doing right and actually following God’s way and yet it lands him in more trouble. Can you picture this? Here he was making lemonade out of the lemons thrown at him. And then something terrible yet again happens to him. Have you ever gone through challenging situations close to each other? That you doubt if God even cared or if the promise was worth it?

We are not told whether Joseph questioned God and doubted the promise, but I sure would have. I don’t know about you, but I would have been so frustrated. And maybe asked God why He had to add fuel to the fire. I would probably have asked him why He had to make it worse when I had already started picking up the pieces. 

This begs the question then how did Joseph do it? How did he learn to make do with the situation at hand? But before we look at that.

Let’s first look at another group of people that experienced challenges after God made them a promise. 

The Israelites.

The Israelites had been in bondage for 400+ years and they had even grown accustomed to it. But at some point, they grew so weary and cried out to God. And this time, God heard their prayers. And knew it was time to act so He called Moses to do it. Moses was not interested in the process entirely. But because it was a task meant for him, he could not back away. And because of that, he gave in. 

Now you would think that Moses’ rebellion was the worst challenge they would experience. I mean the entire process was delaying the promise of deliverance for the Israelites. The task was for Moses to go and ask Pharaoh to let the people go. Unfortunately, it did not go as planned. Pharaoh was very stubborn. And to top it up, because of what Moses told him, he got so angry that he worsened their condition. Check out what he did. 

Afterward Moses and Aaron came and said to Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Let My people go, so that they may celebrate a feast to Me in the wilderness.’ ” But Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, nor will I let Israel go.” But the king of Egypt said to Moses and Aaron, “Why do you take the people away from their work? Get back to your burdens!”

The very same day Pharaoh gave orders to the [Egyptian] taskmasters in charge of the people and their [Hebrew] foremen, saying, “You will no longer give the people straw to make brick as before; let them go and gather straw for themselves. But the number of bricks which they were making before, you shall [still] require of them; you are not to reduce it in the least. For they are idle and lazy; that is why they cry, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ Let the labor be heavier on the men, and let them work [hard] at it so that they will pay no attention to [their God’s] lying words.” Exodus 5:1‭-‬2‭, ‬4‭, ‬6‭-‬9 AMP

Wow! Can you believe that? Here were the Israelites thinking that their day of deliverance had come only for their conditions to worsen. They got to the point where they even cursed Moses. They felt like it was his fault that their circumstance had changed. 

 The Israelites could not understand what was going on and why their lives had become a living hell when what they expected was deliverance. The same case was with Joseph. Eventually, both the Israelites and Joseph received their promise. Joseph became the second in command in Egypt and he also saved his entire family when drought struck the world. But it was not easy. God did not hand their promise to them before preparing and refining them. Why? 

One thing you should never forget is that anytime God gives you a word, your situation will worsen because the word will be tested. There will always be a test before testimony and there will always be a process before you get to your promise. So even as you get excited about the word that He has given you, know that you will have to fight for your promise one way or another. 

With Joseph, he had to have a new mindset and also embody humility and sensitivity to God. He also had to have total reliance on God. 

The Israelites had to get to the point where they believed God was with them in the challenges and that they had to totally trust and depend on God for deliverance. The other thing they had to learn was that God’s ultimate will was freedom and redemption. 

What lessons can we learn from these two Biblical examples?

Trusting in God is key when God’s promises over your life get tested.

When things get so bad that you cannot understand, you need to turn and trust in God. Unfortunately, because we live in a fallen world, the blessings from God will not always come easily. The enemy will fight you tooth and nail to ensure you don’t receive them but your trust in God will get you through those challenging times. Always remember that God will never leave you nor forsake you even in moments when you are facing challenging situations.

The best sign of whether a word comes from God is the opposition that follows it. The enemy will always contradict God’s word and none other because God’s word is the one that holds the power. Remember when John baptized Jesus in the river Jordan, God validated Him and told Him that He was His beloved Son.  Soon after, when Jesus was in the wilderness, the enemy tempted Him by trying to get Jesus to doubt what God had told Him. But Jesus counteracted the devil’s word by using the Bible. This brings me to the second point. 

Decree the word of God and remember His promises over your life when God’s promise over your life get tested.

In moments where the challenges are causing you to doubt God’s word, speak it and Decree it. The secret is that you will overcome by the power of your testimony. Keep decreeing and speaking what God has spoken over your life. The more you do that, the more faith will rise upon you and we know that faith can move mountains and change the situation. Don’t grow weary decreeing and speaking out what God has spoken over you. This is because although it tarries, it will surely come to pass. Don’t lose hope. 

Also as you read the Bible find scriptures that talk about your situation and Decree them because we know that the word of God is alive so it will surely come to pass. It does not matter how long it takes, as long as God said it, it will come to pass. His words will never go back to Him void until they have come to pass. 

When God’s promises over your life get tested, be honest with Him.

It is important to take your frustrations to God. This is because He is the only one who can heal what you are going through. And also He will heal your heart. To ensure that you do not allow the bitterness that can hinder Him from moving on your behalf. Moses understood that and that was why he went to God with his frustrations. 

Then Moses turned again to the Lord and said, “O Lord, why have You brought harm and oppression to this people? Why did You ever send me? [I cannot understand Your purpose!] Ever since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has harmed and oppressed these people, and You have done nothing at all to rescue Your people.” Exodus 5:22‭-‬23 AM

Just like Moses, you need to turn to God when you feel overwhelmed. It is in Him that you will find the peace and consolation that you are looking for. You can never find it anywhere else. Jesus tells us to go to Him and give Him our burdens and our yokes. So run to Jesus in your tears and disappointments. Tell Him that you do not understand and that you are weary. Don’t be afraid of Him, He wants you to be honest with Him and tell Him exactly what is on your mind and in your heart. 

Conclusion.

God’s promises over your life will get tested. And this should be proof that it indeed came from God. When God’s promises over your life get tested, take it as a sign that they will surely come to pass. You are just going through a process to prepare for your promise. Sometimes, maybe God is redirecting you and shifting some things in your favor.

• WHAT WILL YOU DO WHEN GOD CHALLENGES YOUR BELIEFS?
• CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN: WHEN THINGS DON’T GO AS PLANNED.
• How To Know When God Is Asking You To Move.
• What To Know About God’s Promises.
• Process Before The Promise. 4 Interesting Reasons God Does This.

As you are going through the testing, it is important, to be honest with God and tell Him everything that you are feeling. God can handle your frustration and emotions. And it is when you take them to Him that you can actually receive healing and His peace which surpasses all understanding.

When you want to combat worry, fear, anxiety and the overwhelming feeling of discouragement, read the Bible. It has all the tools needed to help you grow and renew your mind. Don’t get discouraged when God’s promises over your life get tested. Also, ask the Holy Spirit for help and strength to endure and persevere because in the end you will reap a reward and God will definitely fulfill your promises.