How can that be? You might ask. How can God’s thoughts be good when I am in suffering? How can His plans be for my good when I am in this uncomfortable season? Where is good in this? You may encounter situations that may trigger these questions. But trusting God’s plan, even when it is bitter, is always better than trusting a lie.
Beloved, when a word comes to you, test it against Scripture. Does it match what God has already said? People can call you with a prophecy, and it can sound spiritual, emotional, even convincing, and still be a lie.
Hananiah was not judged for hoping. He was judged for lying in God’s Name. God’s Name carries weight. He does not lack integrity. If He did not say it, do not put His Name behind it.
Sometimes God allows instantaneous miracles that bypass process. But He does not always work that way. Many times, He is more interested in what He is building inside of you than how fast you get the result.
Far be it from God that a Word He has spoken concerning you will go unfulfilled. He adjusts circumstances. He shifts things. He moves what needs to be moved and removes what needs to be removed. Not because He is controlling, but because He is faithful.
The Word of God is a messenger with an assignment in your life. It carries the picture of God’s promise and will not return to Him void. Faith simply allows that Word to finish the work it was sent to do.
Beloved, one thing God will do is send a word ahead of you, to wait for you at pivotal moments and seasons of your life and year. That word may feel irrelevant at first but GOD knows what He’s doing and what you need. So even if a that word may not seem relevant when you read it, declare it anyway and you will see it come to pass.
When God said, “Do not be afraid.” You have to understand that God knows you will feel afraid. He knows your frame. He knows you are in this fear-filled world. So He said, “do not be afraid and not do not feel afraid. There’s a huge difference between a being and a feeling. You can feel fear and still not be afraid.