Article of the Month

March

Divine Delays
Wade E Taylor

“But you shall receive power, after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you: and you shall be witnesses to Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and to the uttermost part of the earth.”  Acts 1:8

The word “after” tells us that there is something between the promised “power” and a productive life experience.  “After” speaks of a “divine delay,” until certain conditions are met, and the Lord is satisfied to release the desired and needed - “power.”

This “process” can be seen in the life of our Lord, when He was baptized by John in preparation for His ministry.

“And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up immediately out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon Him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”  Matthew 3:16-17

When Jesus was baptized by John, as He came up out of the water, the heavens opened, the dove descended to rest upon Him, and the Father spoke - “This (explicitly) is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.”  Jesus has now received the Spirit without measure, and a confirmation of “divine favor,” or the “approbation of God” resting upon His life.

It would appear that Jesus was ready to begin His ministry.  Instead, He was immediately led into the wilderness, where for forty days, He suffered hardship, hunger, and temptation.

“And Jesus being full of the Holy Spirit returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days He did eat nothing: and when they were ended, He afterward hungered.”  Luke 4:1-2

The “wilderness” is a place where there is nothing - no divine favor or blessing, no one to seek out for help, or to give a word of encouragement.  Instead, when Jesus became intensely hungry, the enemy came and reminded Him that He, being God, could easily feed Himself by turning stones into bread.  Jesus refused to satisfy His hunger with anything less than the provision of His Father.

“And when the tempter came to Him, he said, If You be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But He answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.”  Matthew 4:3-4

It was in the place of hunger and privation, rather than in the place of blessing, that Jesus received the ultimate blessing.  He had to go through a processing (wilderness time) in order to enter the higher purposes of God.

In relation to us, this “wilderness time” is an “indeterminate” span of time during which a particular purpose is accomplished.  Our self-dependence and self-centeredness must come to an end through an experience of “utter dependence” on the Lord.  When we are tested, we will either pass the test as an “overcomer,” or we will come short of gaining a victory over our self-life, and will need a further time of preparation.

“And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season.  And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee.”  Luke 4:13-14a

Notice that Jesus entered the wilderness in the “fullness of the Spirit,” and came out in the “power of the Spirit.”  Between the time of His receiving the blessing of the Father, and His receiving the enabling “power” for the outworking of His ministry, there was a time of testing - a proving time, during which Jesus suffered intense hunger.

We tend to measure our spiritual “attainment” with the “blessings,” or the “giftings” that we have been given.  However, these are only the beginning.  We must go beyond these (what we do), to a change in our nature (what we have become).  Therefore, by divine arrangement, the Lord will place us in situations where there are no available means of satisfaction (wilderness), that a higher purpose might be accomplished.

Because the Lord is more interested in what we have become, than in what we are doing, there are “divine delays” that we must face in the outworking of our spiritual development.

Especially, at this present time there is a call to come “higher.”  If we desire to go beyond the level of our present spiritual experience, and “apprehend” the present calling and purpose of our Lord, we will be taken through a difficult time of testing and proving in order to become a part of the “corporate” Jesus (He is the head, we are the body).  He will again do all that He did in a single body, through a corporate body.

“Verily, verily, I say to you, He that believes on Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go to My Father.”  John 14:12

For us to have a part in this, we must be prepared, as He was prepared.

“After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven ... And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.”  Revelation 4:1-2

In the message to the seven Churches, each “door” led into the next Church Age.  At this present time, there is something different, because we are living toward the end of the Laodicean Church Age, and there is nothing further.  There is a door that is to be opened, but it is not a horizontal door that will lead into another aspect of the Church, rather, it is a vertical door that leads to the throne.

“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him....”  Revelation 3:20

This spiritual hunger - the stirring and searching that is taking place within us today, is happening because the Lord is knocking upon the door of our heart, seeking entrance within our lives, due to the urgency of the hour in which we live.

“In My Father’s house are many mansions.”  John 14:2a

Jesus said, “If a man love Me, he will keep My words: and My father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him” (John 14:23).

The word “abode” in verse 23, and the word “mansion” in verse 2 in the original text, is the same word.  Jesus is saying, “I will come and make My abode in your very life.”  Another way to say this is, “In My Father’s house are many levels of relationship.”

We progress from one level of relationship to another level.  Each time, and in each step in this progression, there are dealings - things that the Lord does, to release us from the lower level, in order to prepare us for the higher level.  If we are not careful, we will misunderstand and misinterpret these things.

In the Song of Solomon the Lord said:

“It was but a little that I passed from them, but I found Him whom my soul loves.”  Song of Solomon 3:4a

At this present time, the Lord is beginning to move within those who are being stirred to come apart and “wait on Him” in His presence, where He can begin to speak and accomplish His purpose through them.

It was “but a little” that I passed from them (pulpit ministry) that I found Him.  This is a “forty-day period of time” (time of testing), where we are separated from the spiritual womb where we have been very comfortable, into a new place and level of relationship and attainment.  Our tendency, rather than to wait and allow the Lord to bring the adjustment, is for us to go back to the place where we were comfortable.

I received a “word” directly from the throne of God in 1959, that I would begin a Bible school, with the purpose of preparing “overcomers” for the end-time purpose of the Lord.  This visitation was so powerful that I thought it would happen within a few weeks.  As time went on, things would happen that would cause me to think this ministry was about to begin.  The next thing I knew, it all fell apart.  This happened several times.

The blessing and the excitement came and then all at once, I was saying, “Lord, what happened?”  I sought out and tried all that I knew and understood, but none of it worked.  Finally, I said, “Lord, I give up.”  Within a short time after I said this, it happened.  It was as if the stage had been set and every player was in the right place, each one acting out his part.  I realized that it could not have happened sooner, as there were necessary parts that had to be in a certain place and order.

Divine delays stretch our patience.  “I sought Him, but I found Him not” (Song of Solomon 3:2b).  Why?  The Lord has something better for His Bride.  He is waiting (divine delay) so He can take us further, but there is a price we must accept.

The “sermon on the mount” is the “key” to a kingdom life.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”  Matthew 5:3

“Blessed” are all those who have come to the end of their abilities, into abject poverty and utter dependence – those who have come to the end of self, and trust the Lord, leaning heavily upon Him, and letting go of everything; “for theirs is the kingdom.”

We have “arrangements” and “accommodations” in our spiritual life experience, with which we are comfortable, as we know how these patterns function.  When we do certain things, we experience a certain response.  If we are to go further, we must enter into a time in the “wilderness,” where we can be separated from these dependencies.

In order to go higher, we must move into a place that is unfamiliar to us, leaving the familiar behind.  We must be careful to stay “in the wilderness” the appointed time, as we tend to say, “I am going back, as I felt much more comfortable there, and I knew what to expect.”

The Lord is seeking to bring us out from the familiar, into the higher - into the “ways” of the Spirit.  Here, I must learn a new language, as His voice is becoming as the “voice of the trumpet.”

“After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up here, and I will show you things which must be hereafter. And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and One sat on the throne.”  Revelation 4:1-2

We are moving from being dependent on the “pulpit” into the kingdom (throne), where we hear a present word from the Lord.  It is not easy for us to move from the familiar, into the place of dependence, where we become available for the Lord to speak through us, as He may desire.

“By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed and he went out, not knowing where he went.”  Hebrews 11:8

He went out not knowing – as the future was veiled.  There is a purpose in our wilderness experiences - the delays, and the reductions that we experience.

“And you shall remember all the way which the Lord your God led you these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you, and to prove you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments, or no.”  Deuteronomy 8:2

The delays of God reveal our true motives and intents, that correction might be made, and that we might be brought up into a higher level of relationship and experience.

“Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus.  When He had heard therefore that he was sick, He abode two days still in the same place where He was. Then after that says He to His disciples, Let us go into Judaea again ... Our friend Lazarus sleeps; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep.”  John 11:5-7, 11b

Martha (service) and Mary (devotion) were attempting to get Lazarus (Adamic nature) healed.

“Then said Martha to Jesus, Lord, if You had been here, my brother had not died.”  John 11:21

Jesus stayed away “two days” (divine delay).  Lazarus (the Adamic nature) is now bound up, and has become so dead that it smells.  In the “fullness of time,” Jesus came and said, “Lazarus, come forth.”

Later, Jesus is sitting at the banquet table with Lazarus (John 12:1).  The delay was to bring forth the higher, because life comes out of death and unless we go through that process, we cannot receive the word to “Come up.”  Service and devotion (religious activity) will hinder if they possibly can.

“The kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.”  Matthew 11:12b

There is a purpose in the Lord seemingly discouraging us.  That discouragement will only make our roots go deeper, and cause us to push all the harder.

Mark 7:25-29 is the story of a certain woman whose daughter had an unclean spirit.  She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, will you heal my daughter?”  He answered, “This is for the children, the chosen, not for the dogs.”  In other words, “you are a dog, you cannot have this.”  She replied, “The dogs under the table eat of the children’s crumbs.”  Jesus said, “For that saying, your daughter is healed.”

This Greek woman knew what she wanted, and she refused to be insulted.  Blessed are the bankrupt, the “poor” who will give up their identity, the right to their own life and become apart of the expression of His life.

“Let us not be weary in well doing (our present level of faith, believing and hope): for in due season (there is an appointed time) we shall reap, if we faint not.”  Galatians 6:9

There is a time of “divine delay” - of discouragement, where there is no apparent reward.  But, there is a “due season” - an “appointed time,” if we will patiently endure “our time in the wilderness,” and then move past the present place of blessing, from the known, up into the unknown.

The present word is, “Come up.” If we do not weary in well doing, in “that day,” at the appointed hour, the body that is veiled - that which all creation is groaning for - will be “unveiled,” for the outworking of the end-time purposes of the Lord in the earth.

“Come, and let us return to the Lord: for He has torn, and He will heal us; He has smitten, and He will bind us up.

“After two days will He revive us; in the third day, He will raise us up and we shall live in His sight.  Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord; His going forth is prepared as the morning; and He shall come to us as the rain, as the latter and former rain to the earth.”  Hosea 6:1-3

Submit to the time of processing, and “He will raise us up, and we will live in His sight.”