God is speaking a promise over you today rooted in Isaiah 54:11. The first portion of this prophecy says this: “Afflicted city, lashed by storms and not comforted, I will rebuild you” (NIV).

Somebody receiving this word has been lashed by storms. Storms in your health. Storms in your finances. Storms in your relationships. Storms in your career. Storms in your ministry. Storms in your business. Storms in your mind. Storms in your emotions. Storms in unexpected places.

There has been turmoil and upheaval. There have been setbacks and setups. There has been disappointment and disillusionment.

But God is making you this promise today that He will rebuild you.

God Is Declaring His Word Over You

Just as He used Nehemiah to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem in 52 days (Nehemiah 6:15)—despite the enemy’s numerous coordinated attacks designed to thwart the restoration process—God will rebuild you also.

Right now, He is declaring this word over you: “Surely, I will do it quickly. Your walls have been broken down long enough. I will restore you. But not only that. Your latter will be greater than the former, and I will give you peace.”

Prior to this new season of rebuilding, you endured some intense struggles. You didn’t understand why you were fighting so many external and internal battles. You could not see what God was doing. In fact, the enemy tried to tell you to give up hope and quit believing God altogether. But here you are, still seeking God’s face.

Because of that, God sent me to speak life over you and command the dry bones of your dreams to rise up—as the dry bones in Ezekiel 37 did at His command—and live again. He is breathing new life into your situation. He’s breathing the breath of life on your vision. He’s reinvigorating, reinventing, and renewing you for the glory of His great name.

It’s not over for you. It’s a new chapter. “Behold, I will do a new thing,” says the Lord (Isaiah 43:19). The discomfort and pain, though hard to deal with, were necessary to prepare you for what’s coming next. And it’s not many days away.

I know that the wait and the process were difficult, but I speak Romans 8:18 over you: “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (NKJV).

Your Suffering Will Benefit You

Speaking of suffering, my youngest son, Kaleb, who is also the last teen in the Hobbs family (His three other siblings are 20 and older.), has been having pain in his gums lately. Although he’s been in a lot of discomfort, his oral health is great.

He has no cavities, infections, or other serious issues to speak of, so, what’s the problem, then?

Well, my 17-year-old is experiencing the pain of growing his third molars, most commonly known as wisdom teeth. These back teeth usually come in right around the late teens and early twenties—sometimes later or not at all depending on the person.

But, whenever they do grow in, wisdom teeth can take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months to fully come through the gums. Unfortunately, Kaleb may have to deal with nagging pain for several more weeks depending on how long his back teeth take to break through his sensitive gum tissue.

Since wisdom teeth are the last teeth to develop and pop up later than all the other teeth, they have been said to appear during a life phase called the “age of wisdom.”

While the age of wisdom is debatable, there is something we all can agree on: wisdom and pain go together.

We can easily understand why growing wisdom teeth can hurt, but why does growing in spiritual wisdom and understanding have to hurt so bad? Well, that’s because our sovereign God uses tests, trials, afflictions, and challenges to build our character and grow our spiritual wisdom teeth.

Show me the experiences God has used to make you wiser and more like Him, and I’ll show you pain. Though it may not feel great, your suffering benefits you. In God’s Kingdom, pain leads to preparation. Preparation leads to purpose. Purpose leads to promises. And promises lead to privileges that are set aside for God’s faithful children. God has a way of using exactly what seems to be breaking you down to build you up.

Someone receiving this word endured some serious pain last year. The Lord sent me for you. Some things broke down in your life, and there were moments when you broke down, too. But it is time to arise. It’s your rebuilding season.

The God who resurrects dead things, who called Lazarus forth out of the grave (John 11:43), and who “brings the dead back to life and who creates new things out of nothing” (Romans 4:17) is rebuilding you from the ground up. The things that appear to be in shambles and lying in ruins, God is restoring.

He is giving you beauty for ashes, joy for mourning, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. He is restoring the places long devastated in your life (Isaiah 61:3-4). The enemy hoped he could suck all the life and hope out of you before you received this word. But you are here absorbing this message because this is a divine appointment with destiny.

God Allowed It

God told me to tell you that He allowed the setbacks and difficulties to prepare you to step into the next dimension of divine purpose, promises, and privileges. What you had to go through hurt because you were growing your spiritual wisdom teeth. But you’re a different person now. You don’t think how you did before. You don’t move like you moved before. You don’t react how you reacted before. You’re a better version of yourself because of all you went through.

Who is God talking to?

You cried, but you also got wiser. You experienced setbacks, but you also got more resilient. You struggled, but you also got stronger. You were disappointed, but you also got more dependent on God. You were misunderstood, but you also grew more in your understanding of God’s Word. You were let down by inconsistent people, but you also got more consistent in prayer.

God put you in uncomfortable positions to train you, mature you, guide you and make you useful to the Kingdom.

God told me to tell you He increases your discomfort before He increases you. But after you’ve suffered a little while, according to 1 Peter 5:10, the God of all grace “will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.”

For a period of time, God held your feet to the fire, applied some pressure, took away some creature comforts, and forced you to lean into your faith as never before. He knew that the painful process would position you to enter this next phase of rebuilding, restoration, increase, favor, blessings, and enlargement.

God is enlarging you.

From Pain To Promise

You, dear friend, are like Jabez in 1 Chronicles 4:9-10. His mother named him Jabez because she said, “I gave birth to him in pain.”

As a matter of fact, Jabez, in Hebrew, means distress, pain, or affliction—an unfortunate name in light of the fact that in Bible days, one’s given name held predictive and prophetic meaning. Someone’s name foreshadowed their future. But Jabez shows us that being birthed in pain does not preclude us from giving birth to promise.

Jabez cried out to the Lord and said, “Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” And Scripture says, “God granted his request” (v. 10).

There’s an old congregational song I grew up singing in church that says, “I cried, oh, Lord, and He delivered me!”

Somebody has been crying, oh Lord, deliver me. Oh Lord, heal me. Oh Lord, bless me. Oh Lord, enlarge me. Oh Lord, restore me. Oh Lord, favor me. Oh Lord, rescue me. And your testimony will be, God granted my request. He took me from pain to promise.

I’m almost through.

In Zechariah 4, an angel spoke to the Prophet Zechariah and gave him a word for Zerubbabel, the governor of Judah. Zerubbabel had been chosen by God to lead Israel in rebuilding the temple that had been destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians during Israel’s time of captivity.

During this period in history, Zerubbabel lacked the resources he used to have access to, and the rebuilding efforts were delayed by the opposition of Israel’s adversaries (Ezra 4:1-24). Therefore, the Israelites’ ability to move forward and succeed in their efforts were greatly hindered—but only for a season.

God Is Interrupting the Enemy

God interrupted the enemy’s interruptions by sending  a mighty word to Zerubbabel through Zechariah that the rebuilding efforts would be successful despite the opposition. The Lord said that it would happen, according to Zechariah 4:6, “Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit.” And this is the passage of Scripture I’m stirring as the sweetener in your cup of inspiration today!

As you drink down the contents of your cup, be encouraged and know that your rebuilding season is here. Just as God sent a prophetic word to Zerubbabel, He is sending one to you. It will happen. You will recover because God will restore and rebuild you.

Declare this over yourself: “My latter will be greater. What’s to come is better than what’s been.”

And it is so.

Now, let’s pray.

God, thank You for making me aware that my season has changed. My circumstances have shifted. I have entered a new phase of rebuilding and restoration for Your glory. I praise You for giving me clarity regarding the purpose of my suffering season. You used it to prepare me to reap an amazing harvest of righteousness and blessings. Lord, I expect and anticipate the manifold blessings You will release to me this year. And I will be so careful to give Your name the glory and honor. In Jesus’ name, Amen.