Summer 2005
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

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 He was ready to begin His ministry. Instead, Jesus 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.

There are “divine delays” that we face in the outworking of our spiritual development. 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.

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 that which we have been given (what we do), to a change in our nature (what we have become).

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 who will again do all that He did in a single body, through a corporate body. For us to have a part in this, we must be prepared, as He was prepared.

We progress from one level of relationship to another. Each time, and in each step of 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.

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.”

“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 and Mary (service and devotion) were attempting to get the Adamic nature (Lazarus) 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” (Church Age). 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, Lazarus is sitting at the banquet table with Jesus (John 12:1-2). 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.”

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 (comments added)

There is a time of “divine delays” - 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 our present circumstances (where we are comfortable), up into the unknown.

Here, we can look back and rejoice in all that we endured, in order to have a part with Jesus in the “third day” that is before us.

“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.” Hosea 6:1-2