David Diga Hernandez - Many Christians Fail this Test from God

How do you respond when someone else is blessed with what you’ve been praying for? Do you get angry? Do you get upset? Do you secretly hope they’ll fail? Do you secretly wish in your heart that it’ll all fall apart for them? Psalm 105:19 states, «Until the time came to fulfill his dreams, the Lord tested Joseph’s character.» I’m going to read that again. Listen to this: «Until the time came to fulfill his dreams, the Lord tested Joseph’s character.» Comment this in the comment section: «Now I want to pass the test.» In Genesis chapter 40, we read about how Joseph is now in prison and he’s approached by a cupbearer and a baker who both used to serve Pharaoh. Of course, both of them had dreams. He interprets their dreams for them. The baker was to be killed, and the cupbearer was to be restored after three days to his position. So, the cupbearer and the baker fell out of favor with Pharaoh, and now they’re both in prison with Joseph. But here’s the point I want to make: we’ll read verses 13 and 14 of Genesis 40. «Within three days, Pharaoh will lift you up and restore you to your position as chief cupbearer.» So now here Joseph is interpreting the cupbearer’s dream. Watch this now; please remember me! Joseph is like, «Hey, help me out here. When you get restored, remember me and do me a favor: when things go well for you, mention me to Pharaoh so he might let me out of this place.» Now in Genesis chapter 41:1, we later discover that two years went by before the cupbearer finally remembered, «Oh my goodness! I forgot about Joseph.» Now watch this: Joseph was imprisoned before the cupbearer was imprisoned, so he was serving a much longer sentence than the cupbearer was. Yet, God used Joseph to help the cupbearer and interpret the dream to know that he was going to be restored to his position. The cupbearer comes in, and if I were Joseph, I would have said to the Lord, «Lord, I’ve been in prison longer. Why did you restore the cupbearer before you restored me? I’ve been waiting here. I’ve been obedient to you. I’ve been serving you. I’ve been faithful. How is it that the cupbearer gets here and then all of a sudden is promoted before me?» I think some of you might know where I’m going with this: it’s the test of jealousy. This is especially true, and I know I’m going to upset some people, but let me say this: especially in the age of social media. I’ll tell you this: there are many who operate out of competition and jealousy. I’ve watched it happen. A few years ago, I witnessed one ministry being destroyed by others who were claiming to do it in the name of God, and the Holy Spirit told me, «No, that’s jealousy.» Now, the person they came against did say some foolish things and do some foolish things, but you know they repented and clarified it. I watched these people destroy this other ministry, claiming, «Oh, I’m grieved about it, but I have to do it. Oh, I don’t want to, but I need to say this.» And I’m watching this, and the Holy Spirit told me two things: first, yes, that person was in the wrong for what they said and did, but two things can be true at the same time. But these others took the opportunity because of the jealousy in their hearts. I’m going deep here, and again, I know some might not like this, but this is the reality of the church sometimes. You’ve probably seen it at your local church: backbiting, competition, and fighting for status. The Holy Spirit told me, «Yes, two things can be true: that person was wrong, but the attacks also came from a place of jealousy.» Why? Because that person was gaining what they all wanted. I watched this and prayed for everybody involved. It’s easy to celebrate others when they are blessed with something that has nothing to do with you. It’s easy to celebrate others when they’re blessed with something that doesn’t really affect you and is not really a part of your world and wouldn’t interest you, per se. Here’s my question: how do you respond when someone else is blessed with what you’ve been praying for? Do you get angry? Do you get upset? Do you secretly hope they’ll fail? Do you secretly wish in your heart that it’ll all fall apart for them? You know why? That’s insecurity. If you think God can’t bless you and someone else at the same time, you’re mistaken. You need to acknowledge that jealousy, repent of that jealousy, and realize that your security comes from your identity in Christ and nothing else. Because if you find your security in anything else but Christ, it leaves room for jealousy, and you can’t celebrate others. Let’s add to that: how do you respond when somebody else is blessed with what you’ve been praying for and they haven’t been praying for it as long as you have? You’ve been praying for years and years and years, and then someone else just gets it. I remember a story a pastor told me. He was praying for the gift of prophecy and asking God, «Please, I want the gift of prophecy.» He was just asking the Holy Spirit for this gift, and he had been asking for months—like six months or more.