Blessings Come With Battles

Have you ever felt like you were so close but yet so far away from your promise? Have you ever felt like the harder you pray, the harder it gets? You’re not alone. I call that the promise struggle.

With every promise, before every victory, there’s a struggle, there are attacks, there are faith challenges that you have not experienced before. The children of Israel had a promise challenge, David had a promise challenge, Sarah had a promise challenge, Jacob had a promise challenge, Joseph had a promise challenge – from the pit to the palace, and so will we.

“Until the time that his word [promise] came to pass, The word of the LORD tested Joseph” (Psalm 105:19).

Let’s unpack that…It’s not if we will encounter conflict on our path to our promise, it’s why? Inheritance comes before possession. In other words, the children of Israel inherited the promise before they went in and possessed the promise; Joseph inherited his promise before God fulfilled his promise. Between inheritance and possession there’s a season of testing. Our faith will be strengthened, increased by the process, challenges and difficulties according to what possession will require. And not only that, but after possession, we will be continuously sharpened to keep us humble and reminded that, “Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD Almighty” (Zechariah 4:6).

Put this in your spirit…When the children of Israel entered into the promise, God left some of their enemies in the land so that they would never stop growing, never stop trusting and never stop learning. The Bible declares: “God left enemies in the land to test all those Israelites who had not experienced any of the wars in Canaan…He did this only to teach warfare to the descendants of the Israelites who had not had previous battle experience” (Judges 3:1-2).

Did you hear what God said? We will have warfare even after the victory. The enemy won’t stop attacking us, challenging us, or trying to defeat us just because we have the victory. We don’t guard our heart or meet grace just because we read about it, we guard our hear and understand why it is necessary because we’ve had to fight to recover from hurt. We meet grace – again and again, when we can’t do anything about it. We don’t have a great marriage because we said, “I Do,” we have a great marriage because we learn how to fight through the problems that the enemy uses to kill, steal and destroy great marriages. You won’t be convicted to stand on your boundaries until you’ve had to fight your way back from compromising your boundaries.

You prayed for a business but did you anticipate the fight that comes along with possessing that promise? You can pray for a ministry, a marriage or authority to break generational curses but did you anticipate the attacks and the challenges that come along with that blessing? Most of us don’t. But God does…

“…for your Father knows what you need before you ask him” (Matthew 6:8)

God’s promises come with warfare that will train us how to keep and fight for the land that we possess. Why? Because God won’t take us to a place or level without training us in the warfare that will enable us to stay there.

You can be set free from a past relationship and no sooner than you get free, all hell breaks loose in your emotions. Before you were free you were miserable about being in bondage and now that you’re free, you’re struggling to be happy about being free. Why? Because God is going to allow the conflict you need to convince you that you don’t need what you had. You will have to war through emotions that will work out any doubt.

“Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us” (Romans 5:3-5).

That perfect relationship comes with hard work. That new chapter comes with new responsibilities. That business comes with sacrifice. That ministry comes with being cut. That breakthrough will require you to break out of some stuff. Resurrection power comes with resurrection suffering (Philippians 3:10).