Not All of God’s Promises Are for You

Honestly, I have been searching God’s promises high and low lately.

I want one to jump off the page and right into my life.

I particularly like the ones that say things like, “He will give you the desires of your heart” or “Ask and it SHALL be given”. So I ask, but I haven’t been given. What is up with that?

As I have been studying about God’s promises, something did finally jump off the page and into my heart. Not every promise God makes in His Word is for me. Bummer, right?

Many promises in the Bible were given to specific people in a specific circumstance. For example, when King Hezekiah became ill, he prayed. Because he prayed, God added 15 years to his life.

I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I will heal you…2 Kings 20:5

Well I have prayed for many people who were sick and they died. Maybe while you are reading this post, you have a cancer that continues to overtake your body aggressively. You have prayed, but nothing has changed.

Why hasn’t God responded as He did to Hezekiah? I wish I knew. I do know we don’t get all of our answers here. I also know that sometimes sickness is for some greater glory (see John 9:3).

Here are a few cases where God’s promises may not apply to us specifically.

• God sometimes promises specific things to specific people for a specific circumstance in the Bible. We can’t claim those promises for ourselves; however, we can claim the general principle. In the example from Hezekiah, we can’t claim God will heal us or will add 15 years to our lives, but we can claim prayer can move God’s heart.
• Sometimes we overlook the “if” or a condition God puts on a promise. Take a look at this verse: And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son (John 14:13). So we see the promise of “I will do whatever you ask” but there is a clear condition – it must glorify Jesus.
• What is our motive in claiming a promise? James 4:2-3 clearly indicts us for praying with wrong and/or selfish motives. Or we may claim a promise trying to justify an action or selfish desire. We must not define God’s promises on our own terms.
• We can’t confuse God’s promises with general principles. Proverbs is a book full of wisdom sayings representing general principles, not specific promises. Consider Proverbs 22:6 “Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it.” We all know wonderful parents who have had a wayward child. So this not God falling short of a promise, it is an exception to the general principle of good child-rearing. Children do have free-will and can make bad decisions on their own.

Can we still learn a lesson from specific promises to specific people? Yes! Can we still be encouraged by them? Absolutely!

Now don’t get discouraged friends – even though not every promise in the Bible belongs to us – there are PLENTY of promises that apply to every believer! These are the ones upon which you can firmly stand.

A few examples of promises for ALL:

The gospel (Romans 1); Crown of Life (James 2:5); Holy Spirit (Acts 1:4); Eternal Life (Titus 1:2); Heirs (Galatians 3:39); Jesus will return (2 Peter 3:4); God is faithful (Hebrews 10:23); All of God’s promises are YES in Jesus (2 Cor. 1:20).

God’s promises reveal more about His character than our circumstances.

So go search those promises…learn from the specific ones He promised to individuals in the Bible and boldly claim the ones which belong to all!

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful… Hebrews 10:23