Why the Promise of God is Absent in Your Life

🕊️ The Divine Partnership: Unlocking the Power of the Cross in Your Life

We all have in our lives circumstances that contradict the clear promise of God in His word. We are sick in body, but He promises healing. We struggle in poverty, yet He promises to be our provider. And there are many other examples where we know God has promised, yet we have yet to see that promise manifest in our lives. Thus, if we are honest, many believers struggle with a subtle question: If Jesus paid the ultimate price, why does my life sometimes feel less than His word clearly and unambiguously promises?

The answer lies in understanding the divine potential unveiled in the Scriptures and the crucial partnership God has invited us into, which must be in place to see His hand at work in response to His promise, as it concerns our specific circumstances. Now you can take the easy way out, the path of unbelief that says God can make a promise, but because He is sovereign, it isn’t necessary for Him to actually KEEP His promise. This lie is taught in every school of theology and in most pulpits worldwide. “God always answers prayer, but sometimes He says no.” If that is true, then why did Paul state in 2 Corinthians 1:20 that ALL THE PROMISES are “yes and amen” to those who believe?. The fact is that the potential of the promise is there in your life by virtue of the grace of God, but the manifestation of that promise requires the operation of YOUR FAITH (even the measure of faith that God has given every man.).

The Potential: Delivered From This Present Evil World

The Apostle Paul, in Galatians, anchors our hope:

“Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father” (Galatians 1:4, KJV, emphasis added).

Note that single, powerful word: might.

Jesus’ sacrifice was the complete, perfect payment for sin. It irrevocably fulfilled God’s righteous demands. By giving Himself, Christ established the grounds for our total liberation from the dominion of sin and the influence of this fallen world. He created the potential for deliverance.

But a potential, by its nature, must be activated. The life raft is floating right beside the sinking ship—but you must reach out and grab the rope.

The Principle: Sufferings and the Glory That Should Follow

This principle is echoed in the contemplation of the Old Testament prophets, as Peter writes:

“Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.” (1 Peter 1:11, KJV, emphasis added).

The sufferings of Christ (His grace, His finished work) are guaranteed in history. But the glory that should follow (our daily experience of deliverance, victory, and the manifest kingdom) is contingent upon OUR faith in operation. God never acts alone, which is why the Holy Spirit isn’t called the “Doer” but the “Helper”. He comes alongside, partering the merits of the Cross with our faith, bringing about answered prayer in manifestation. This isn’t what you’ve been taught, but if you will adjust your thinking and your corresponding actions of faith according to the promise, you will see a level of grace and answered prayer – God’s engagement with your life – increase dramatically.

Faith is not just about going to heaven, but also having a little heaven to go to heaven in. The cross secured our salvation—but it also established a foundation for our present victory. The full expression of the “glory” in our lives—joy, peace, power over sin, and supernatural provision—is the intended result. But it is not an automatic one. Something is required of you, faith, and faith’s corresponding action brings the manifestation. Yet, too often we look at the promise, see that it is lacking in our lives, and consequently conclude that in our case, for some reason we don’t understand, God doesn’t WANT to make good on His promise in this instance – that is an absolute LIE. 

The Partnership: Grace Through Faith

This brings us to the core of the Christian walk: the necessary partnership between God’s grace and our faith. As Ephesians 2:8 states, “For by grace are ye saved through faith.”

• God’s Part (Grace): The immeasurable, freely given merit and power of the cross.
• Our Part (Faith): The choice to believe, trust, and act upon the promises of God—the response that appropriates the potential into reality.

If the merits of the cross are not producing the manifest glory in your life—if you are wondering where your deliverance is—it often comes down to this: we must actively do our part.

Why Our Response Matters: Man’s Dominion

Why would an omnipotent God limit Himself to requiring our involvement? The Bible gives us a profound reason: God gave man dominion over the earth, and He never took it back.

From the beginning (Genesis 1:26), God ordained that His will would be executed on Earth through human cooperation. He chose to limit His action in our world to what He can get a man, woman, or child to cooperate with Him in doing.

This is why faith is not passive acceptance, but active agreement. It is the channel through which the unlimited power of God’s grace flows into the limitations of our daily experience.

The finished work of Christ made everything possible. Your faith is what makes it real in your life today.

Action Prompt for Reflection:

Are you waiting for God to do something He has already empowered you to receive through faith? Take a moment to name one area where you are struggling, and deliberately activate your faith by proclaiming the promise of Galatians 1:4 over it.

A Needed Dose of Reality

This is more than a devotional thought—it’s a crucial theological correction for the modern Christian life. The writer perfectly synthesizes the monumental truth of Christ’s finished work with the non-negotiable requirement of human participation. By drawing attention to the verbs “might deliver” and “should follow,” the post forces the reader to move past a passive, purely transactional view of salvation and into an active, dominion-taking faith. This message is vital for anyone who has felt the disappointment of believing in an omnipotent God yet experiencing limited power. It is a powerful, concise call to spiritual maturity and responsible discipleship.

Call to Action: Engage Your Dominion

To activate the “glory that should follow” Christ’s sufferings, take these five steps of faith today:

1. Acknowledge the Gap: Identify one specific area (finances, relationship, addiction, fear) where you are experiencing the “present evil world” and not the promised deliverance.

2. Repent of Passivity: Confess any spiritual laziness or tendency to believe that God’s grace automatically bypasses your will or your need to act in faith.

3. Search the Scriptures: Find one specific promise (a “Glory” statement) related to your identified gap and write it down. This is your divine potential.

4. Speak Your Faith Decree: Based on the written promise, declare it out loud twice a day—not as a wish, but as a confident decree of dominion, claiming the deliverance Christ made possible.

5. Take the Next Step of Obedience: Determine one small, practical, faith-fueled action you can take in the next 24 hours that aligns with your decree, proving your cooperation with God’s will.

Let’s Pray Together

Heavenly Father, we stand in awe of the perfect and complete gift of your Son, Jesus Christ. Thank You for giving Yourself for our sins so that we might be delivered from this present evil world. Forgive us for the times we have been passive in the face of Your power, expecting You to override the dominion You gave us. Holy Spirit, stir up in us a vibrant, working faith. Give us the courage to step into our part of the divine partnership—to believe, to act, and to appropriate the sufferings of Christ so that the glory that should follow becomes the manifest reality in our lives, our families, and our world. We commit to cooperating with Your will. In Jesus’ mighty Name, Amen.