Have you ever received prophetic words or known specific promises God has made over your life, but it feels like the opposite begins to happen?

“Then Jesus was led by the [Holy] Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After He had gone without food for forty days and forty nights, He became hungry. And the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” But Jesus replied, “It is written and forever remains written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes out of the mouth of God.’” Matthew 4:1-4

When Satan presents Him with this statement, “If you are the son of God, command this stone to become bread.”  Those words are in direct opposition to the words spoken over His life.  What were the last words Jesus heard from the Father before this opposition?   

“And behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased and delighted!” Matthew 3:17

His promise was, “You are my beloved son in whom I am well pleased,” but His opposition was, “IF you are the Son of God,” the questioning and harassment regarding His identity.  In Matthew 13 of the parable of the seed and sower, Jesus says, “when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word.”  The word of the Lord spoken over you must be tested.  It’s not that you’ve done something wrong, but you don’t know the power of the word until it has come under opposition, and then you see the strength of the word arise. I’m thankful for the prophetic and cherish the words I’ve received. However, staying in the mode of only receiving and never stepping into actually engaging with the truth of the word spoken over us will mean it remains only a word.  It’s inside the opposition to the word that the strength and power of that word arises within us.  

It’s only then that the word shifts from a good promise spoken over us to truth within us.

I remember one school week in particular when my children were little. My two youngest children had an incredible week of school; they applied themselves, worked hard, and maintained a great attitude. As a home-schooling mom, it was the kind of week that kept me encouraged when I contemplated quitting! They didn’t know they were “working” for a prize because I didn’t promise one to them.  But at the end of the week, I took them both to the store and let them pick out a small toy as a reward.  They didn’t know I would reward them until they had already chosen to apply themselves in school.  Can God just give us something? Sure, He can. But a reward is given when a choice has been made.  When we walk through opposition to a word spoken over our life and choose to believe in the faithfulness of God even if our lives are falling apart, that is when the strength of the word is revealed.  

For years, I was given word after word about breaking chains of hopelessness and bringing life to dead things.  My husband and I had planted a church, and we were about ten years into pastoring that church when I found myself in a deep depression, unable to even get out of bed.  Did all those people who gave me the word “miss it”?  Was I just not strong enough to arise as the warrior prophesied?

My promise: I would break the chains of hopelessness
My opposition: Depression

You cannot come into what He has promised you if you cannot navigate the opposition, discouragement, and disappointment. Realizing the word itself attracts the opposition.

The words we are given are meant to call us INTO our destiny

The word itself creates a choice for us.  Like my two children, they had a choice, and a reward was given for their choice.  He desires to build something substantial in you.  He works within you so you come into your destiny and live it out.  If you’re encountering the opposite of what the word of the Lord is over your life, don’t believe the lie and think those are no longer His promises for you.  In those hard seasons when the word of the Lord is being tested, He is preparing you to shoulder the weighty blessing that is coming.  I indeed doubted that I would be breaking chains of darkness over others when I was in that season fighting for my mental health.  I felt weak and unfit to call in a breakthrough, but our feelings are not truth-tellers.  If it weren’t for the supernatural power of God, the word being fulfilled amid so many opposing components would otherwise be impossible.  But we serve the God of the impossible!

I don’t know your particular situation, but He does; He sees you declaring the promises you’ve been given and using the truth to silence the accuser. You might find yourself at a place in your marriage that is the farthest from what you know His promises are for you. He sees your pain, and He’s right there next to you; it’s His very name; He is Jehovah El Roi – The God that sees me (Genesis 16). That prodigal son or daughter, don’t give up out of discouragement from not seeing the situation change; stay engaged in the spirit and stay the course.  Review the prophetic words, and meditate on the promises you’ve been given. I declare that the truth of the Lord is stronger than any opposition, and you WILL SEE His promises fulfilled.