The Pain That Precedes A Promise

 

Having testimonies of promises fulfilled are a huge encouragement to those who are spiritually pregnant with promise with promises from God. Sharing our stories is like showing pictures of the birth of a child. It is a moment of joy, and a time when faith looks and feels so strong. 

 

But we must also remember the pain that often precedes the breakthrough of a promise fulfilled, like those uncomfortable moments in the last trimester of pregnancy, and during the agonizing time of labor. Because until we COMPLETELY die to those flesh of fears and doubts, there is pain felt emotionally, because we still have belief in the taunts of anguish. 

 

It is up to each individual person to put to death the fears that oppose trusting God’s promise. It is quite easy to say you believe, but try to beleive in when you are facing a life-threatening crisis. That is different…it is then that the dormant fears are unleashed as fury, and we realize that we needed much more healing then we thought to trust God fully. 

 

I have shared countless stories of all the shiny, perfect-looking moments of promise fulfillment, but I have hidden the gritty, painful, and very dark moments before it. The problem with that, is just like expecting to give birth to a child, it helps to know what we may face. 

 

When we are spiritually pregnant with a baby, our world is changing on the inside, as God’s promises bring us into a new life. We become like children on Christmas Eve, dreaming of the sugar plums and gold-foiled gifts that will appear in the morning. 

 

What really happens during a spiritual pregnancy of promise is a time of intense contrast. The outer world is being replaced by the beauty that is within, given as seed of promise. Things often look to be worse, before changing. 

 

It is like exhaustively dragging through a dry, scorching desert, with the hidden well of water within. We are coming into the place where two worlds collide, as the old life on the outside is replaced by the promised new life inside. 

 

The outside situations will blow away like wispy clouds, as the promised life emerges like a tropical oasis with glittering blue water. Every fear, doubt, insecurity, and worry must be pushed out of the way, as we buckle down through the pain of change, to choose faith in the midst of the seemingly opposite conditions. 

 

If you have a promise, then you can expect to go through something opposite before that promise is birthed into your world. That is when the battle of faith becomes intense, it is a stand-off moment with the enemy, when we must die to how things look, and choose to trust with an unwavering heart in what God said. Our faith must be in the invisible, and not the logical seen. 

 

Before I wrote the book of getting a miracle answer to prayer, called, “Filled the Boat”, I went through a time when we barely had money for our food. I remember having only $2 on a card left, and going into the grocery store to get two donuts, because it was literally the cheapest thing I could buy at that place and time. 

 

When I came out of the grocery store, the birth of the promise God made to me was fulfilled, and I instantly received $7000. However, I never talk about the pain that precedes the moment of a promise fulfilled. 

 

It is a time when everything that was promised seems impossible. For my situation, things looked, felt, and seemed unsurvivable. The fears, doubts, and worries about how I would feed my child, or how we would have housing up piled up like an unbearable weight on my chest. God promised to give us plentiful food, and comfortable housing. He was my HOME, and yet everything looked the opposite for a moment. 

 

Often during those times, the pain of the fears coming against the promise were so intense that I would go through cycles of exercising my faith, breaking down crying in prayer, and giving God my fears over and over again. No one knows about that agony, as I was in war with the fear on the outside and making a decision to beleive the promises within as my only truth. 

 

It is a time when I am tempted to go into desperation and panic. This past week I have been in such a place, where it looked and seemed like we would not survive. Normally I never share when I am in that part of the faith test. I never share the pain, the struggle, or the ugliness of the battle between the outside world, and the promise within. 

 

I prefer to share the beauty of the fulfillment, the polished, perfectly dazzling moment of fulfillment. That feels good. That is a happy time that makes me feel beautiful. But the time that precedes the fulfillment should not always be ignored. 

 

That is like the time of lifting heavy weights in the gym, it is the brutal sweat and exercise that no one ever sees behind the ‘picture’ of the final testimony. Every day this week, I woke up and had to choose what to believe. 

 

Before the past week, God had given me promises for our next room and present food needs, and other things. There were days when I didn’t know how we would get meals for the day, or the things that we needed. I was in the time that precedes the promise fulfillment, the difficult time of labor and pushing. 

 

The contrast between what I had and what God promised were in a collision, and I had to constantly push through with faith, when I was so tempted to give into the pain of being hurt, or having nothing. When we are in spiritual labor with a promise, we often battle the opposite conditions. Having everything be opposite is like an illusion that plays tricks on the mind, and can cause a spiral into panic and fear. 

 

Many people reach this place, and end up losing their promises, because they embrace the outside conditions as real, and they choose the fear, over the faith in God’s promise. 

 

I have lost many promises being fulfilled because I allowed myself to drown in fear and doubt. But God was always so gracious to give me a ‘rainbow baby’ of a second new promise, by allowing me to go through the faith test again to see the promise fulfilled. 

 

Before God had fulfilled a promise of several thousand dollars to cover our room, and food last year, I remember being in the lowest low. We were sitting in the car waiting on the promised delivery.

 

It felt like nothing would happen, and I was starting to feel hopeless and discouraged. I had thoughts like, “is God going to fail me this time? Maybe we will die this time”….etc. I got lost at times, when I took my focus off of the promise and off of God’s love. 

 

I had no money for food, and nowhere to go. All I had was a promise of $10,000, and God’s word that He would sweep in to rescue us. The pain of that time was so intense, because it was so scary.

 

Having no place to go is a very terrifying place to be, and it is even worse when there is no money for something to eat.  I remember going into Barnes & Noble to use the restroom, and while I was in there, I was fighting back tears. I closed myself in the restroom, and I sobbed before God. It was more terrifying and painful than I can put into words. I had to release the toxic fears that were suffocating my spiritual baby.

 

But then I took a deep breath, and gave the pain to God. I chose at that moment to stir up my faith, and I started to imagine that the promise had happened, and that we had food and refuge. The faith work that happens before a promise can be intense, until we finally get free of the belief in the negative things, that are in resistance to the promise. 

 

My core foundation was exposed, I was stripped down and bare before God. Every fear He saw, every ounce of doubt, was out in the open. It was a battle of faith and fear. I knew that God was faithful, and that He would come through, but I didn’t expect it to be so scary and painful in the time of delivery. The fears of having no way to survive were piling on my chest, and the weight of it all was so intense. 

 

I had to keep giving my fears to God, like a woman breathing through the pain of childbirth. Even though it looked and seemed like nothing would show up, I had to push through the burning feeling of my situation, but choosing to use all of my strength to believe. It was not easy. It can be very hard to believe in something unseen, when you are facing a life and death urgency of survival. 

 

Ah….but then suddenly, in the most pain-relieving moment imaginable, the promise came. God showed up with what He promised, and the pain immediately went away, as I was immersed in the joy of fulfillment. 

 

When you are pregnant with a promise from God, the only way to the birth is to go through the pain of facing the doubts and fears, and it happens in a place that seems to be a complete contrast to the promise. That is how we leave the old behind, and enter in a new life. 

 

But, that is when the breakthrough comes, and once you hold your promise as a tangible result, you will forget the pain that precedes the promise. When you get to the moment when everything looks the opposite than what was promised, then you can be comforted to know that you are in the “Delivery Room” of fulfillment. 

 

If you are surrounded and being bombarded with the weight of burdens, fears, and doubts, that does not mean that you are doing something wrong. That means that your promise is coming out. Because the promise will confront every fear, with love. The promise will transform every doubt into a glorious, wonderful outcome. 

 

Just when you think you cannot take a single moment more, the relief of breakthrough comes, like a baby being born. At that moment, the pain of facing those fears and opposite conditions can no longer be felt, because what was spoken on the inside has come out. 

 

It is normal before a fulfillment to be submerged with those fears, worries, doubts, and contrasting situations. In the valley of trouble, God will open a door of HOPE fulfilled. The most important thing at that moment is what you do with the negative troubles and thoughts. 

 

That is when you need to push those fears out of the way, and choose faith in God’s promise, as you tuck your chin, and push through to trust. It is all about choosing to believe in the unseen, and not in the suffering of the natural realm, as the promise is born from within.  You must believe that everything can change at any moment. 

 

God did not fail you, and the prophecy was not wrong. It is when everything looks and feels the opposite, where the promise is positioned to come out. Keep going, my friend, it will be done just as God said. Before you know it, you’ll be washed in pure sunshine again, and the joy of fulfillment will replace the pain that precedes the emergence of promise.

 

The sorrows will be replaced with the comfort of relief. Instead of desperation, and struggling, you’ll be so happy and refreshed. Just like welcoming a new baby into your life, nothing will ever be the same. You will never know that same pain again, because the joy of fulfillment has come. ♡

 

 

I love you,

Until next time, Dannette

 

https://diamondsfromthedust.com/

 

Filled the Boat Book 

https://shop.dannetteward.blog/p/filled-the-boat-ebook-pdf-the-method-to-enormously-wondrous-prayer-results/