When you read the Bible, you cannot but see how many incidents were prophesied in advance. That teaches us, that when God gives a prophecy, everything that happens thereafter is to ensure the fulfilment of that prophecy. God put it so clearly to Jeremiah when He said, “I am watching to see that My word is fulfilled” (Jeremiah 1:12 NIV). When God says that He is watching to see that His word is fulfilled, it means that every event must invariably lead to the manifestation of that word. In that sense, prophecy dictates the future.
One preacher explained this phenomenon so well when he said, “Our future is God’s past.” The more I think about that statement, the more I agree that it is true. When God speaks of what will be, according to Him, it is as good as done. Why? Because “God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?” (Numbers 23:19). His word is creative. When He utters a promise, that promise is immediately created in the spirit, waiting to be seen in the natural realm. Therefore, we should not wait to see before we believe, rather we should believe because ‘God said’.
Obviously, I am mindful that sometimes personal prophecies do not happen exactly as God predicted. However, I also know from study and experience that the ultimate purposes for these promises always comes to pass for the people who keep believing God and walk closely with Him. You see, there are promises that are a means to an end, but are not the end itself. For such promises, the real issue God is watching to fulfill is the ‘end’, not necessarily the promise – which is only a ‘means’ to the desired end.
Let me give you a simple example. God can promise you that a certain person will give you money for a car. However, the person God instructs to give you the money is not a robot; s/he has a will, which God will not violate. If that person forfeits the honor of being used by God to give you the money, God will use another means to bring about the promised end of the car. He might opt to give you a better paying job so that you will have the money to buy the car.
Therefore, we should not lose heart when a prophecy that was meant to be a ‘means’ does not come to pass. We should always discern the ‘end’ intention of God. That end always comes to pass when we keep the faith and work with God. Delays might happen, because of humans failing to cooperate with God; but God is and will always be faithful to His word.
I have promises from God concerning our church LAT that have not yet come to pass because their time is still in the future. Yet at the same time, I have promises that were undeniably from God that will NEVER come to pass. For the latter, God told me why they will never come to pass – uncooperative humans. However, though those promises will never be fulfilled, God told me that they were simply means to an end. He is still watching to ensure the fulfillment of the ‘end’, though the ‘means’ failed. For that matter, I am keeping the faith.
Find out which promises of yours are ‘means’ promises, and which are ‘end’ promises. Distinguishing between the two will sort out many of your concerns regarding prophecy fulfilment
Keep the faith, and may God bless you.