When God gives a promise that rings true in our hearts, peace and joy always accompany that promise. We can see ourselves there and maybe we even imagine how He will do it. And when that promise is fulfilled, joy overflows.
But in between the promise and the fulfillment, there is often a road we need to travel. A road we didn’t plan on. A road of testing that purifies us in the fire. Where God gets us ready to carry the fulfillment of that promise. On that road peace and joy doesn’t come naturally. But it’s on that road that we need peace and joy more than ever. It’s on that road that we pick up our weapons and fight the battle, so we don’t give in to misery, sadness, or self-pity. It’s a daily journey to hold on to peace and trust, that when God has said something, He will also bring it to pass.
God’s road to fulfillment is never our road
In this world we often see people naturally advance in their careers or in life, by working hard and being recognized for what they do. But have you ever noticed that God often does the exact opposite? He takes us down a completely different road, when He is getting us ready to carry more. He does this so we will know the next place came from Him alone. Not from us, or anything we did.
Joseph received dreams about where he would be one day, when he was a teenager. Remember how happy and excited he was? (Gen. 37:5-10). But there was no natural advancement in his life. First he was beaten and sold as a slave. Then he started to advance a bit in Potiphar’s house, only to have it all taken away, and be put in prison (Gen. 39:4-20).
Maybe Joseph could have seen or imagined a way to the fulfillment of the promise as a young boy. Maybe it even started to become a bit clearer again, when he advanced in Potiphar’s house. But I’m pretty sure he never imagined the road would go through prison directly to Pharaoh’s house (Gen 41: 14-40).
David is another great example of this. He received the promise and was anointed by Samuel to be the next king of Israel (1 Sam. 16:13). But there was no road map for how he would get there. When king Saul took him in to play the harp for him, or even when he put him in his army, David might have started to imagine this was the way to the fulfillment of the promise. He could become Saul’s confidant and everyone would see him as a great successor to the thrown. But then the opposite happened. Saul started to reject David and even tried to kill him several times. How could he ever become the next king, when he was hunted and had to flee from the palace?
Even when Saul and Jonathan were killed in battle and God told David to go up to Hebron, it still took several years before he was finally king of all of Israel (2 Sam 2-5).
Attitude of the heart
Neither Joseph nor David advanced to their promise naturally. They both travelled a very different road to the fulfillment – just like many of us will have to. The dreams in their hearts might even have died along the way, because the reality was so far from the promise, that they could barely see it anymore.
But when we read about these two – and many others in scripture, who travelled a long road to their promise – their hearts and attitudes are always highlighted. David was called a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22). Joseph had a servant heart and found favor wherever he went (Gen. 39:4-6). Even though they went through hard times of being rejected and hurt, they still kept a good attitude. They honored the leaders God had placed over them and served God as best they could, wherever they went.
Skills and talents will only take us so far. When it comes to traveling the road God has laid out for us, the heart matters so much more. Do we forgive and move on, or hold on to resentment and bitterness? Do we serve others or only look to our own needs? Do we honor our leaders? Are we able to be at peace and have true joy, even in the midst of trials? Do we trust God to get us to the fulfillment, or take matters into our own hands?
At this moment in time, I’m standing before an open door to the fulfillment of a promise. But I can personally attest to the fact that the road to get here was not the one I had imagined. It took a lot of testing and fire to get here. But in that season, I experienced first hand that the most important thing to God was the attitude of my heart. That’s when He showed me the importance of finding joy and rejoicing in Him every day, no matter where the road took me.
When we can look to Him every day in joy and peace, and love Him even if we never see the fulfillment, that’s when we can lay it all down and trust Him. And that’s when He can truly get us ready for the fulfillment of our promises.
