Life out of death

(1) the vision or initial possession of a new truth or aspect of relationship with Christ, with faith to exercise new abilities thereof;

(2) a subsequent loss of our awareness of Christ's presence in this new relationship, and an apparent loss or diminution of our abilities to walk in the new vision;

(3) our vain striving, with human wisdom and strength, to regain Him and them;

(4) surrender, when we become "burned out" or otherwise realize that our self-strivings are vain and useless;

(5) restoration, when He restores our awareness of His presence, and also our faith to exercise the new
abilities; and

(6) consummation of the stage, whereupon we actually walk in our new relationship with Christ with faith to exercise the new abilities, purely on His strength, by His wisdom, in His righteousness, and upon His initiatives.

When God gives us a specific personal promise, He also puts a sentence of death on that promise, and places us in
circumstances in which there is no way that the promise's fulfillment is possible. Just before its fulfillment is the
darkest moment, when its fulfillment appears to be totally and utterly hopeless. His purpose for this is to get us to the
point where we trust only in Him to bring it to pass, that He alone gets the glory, and that our faith in Him become
purest (i.e., most refined).
It is natural, but a lack of faith, for us to doubt the promise in those times. How do we know that the promise was/is
indeed of God and not of our vain imaginations? Two ways: 

(1) the promise keeps repeating itself in our spirit; He won't let us forget it
. 
(2) Many tiny blessings, including micro-miracles, all reveal the promise but not its fulfillment, occur during those darkest and most hopeless moments.