Delay Does Not Mean Denial

Stay the Course

Recently I was discussing a particular matter with a friend and brother in the ministry. We were discussing the proclivity of most believers to blame Satan when their movement in ministry, business and life in general seems to be stalled.

The truth is that God is sovereign, meaning that the enemy can't do anything that God has not allowed and if God has allowed it, there is a specific purpose for it. It is so easy to see the inactivity in our lives, the inability to get ahead, the pitfalls in ministry, and the seemingly infinite delays in our progression and blame the enemy. Most of the time the enemy has very little to nothing to do with the delay.

Often God places you in a holding pattern because there is still work to be done. Maybe God sees character flaws that would be exploited by the enemy if you were to advance. Keep in mind that the further you advance the more vulnerable you become to a devastating crash. My friend used the following analogy: "If you are hovering five feet off of the ground and fall, you will get a little banged up, but you will be okay. On the other hand, if you are twenty-five feet or more off the ground and fall, you are going to receive some rather traumatic injuries." The point in this analogy is that Satan does not get nearly the effect in stopping your ascension as he does in allowing you to ascend and then pushing you off of your platform.

You have to understand how the enemy works. When you are five feet off of the ground, very few people even recognize that you are there. If you were to stumble and fall at this point, you can simply get up, dust yourself off and continue moving. Now, when you are hovering at a hundred feet, everyone can see you, people believe in you, people have began to follow you. If you were to fall at this point, the damage to your character and the faith would be significant. Not only would you fall, but you would bring a significant amount of people with you.

Dr. Rick Wallace

Often God places us in a holding pattern while giving us a chance to get in line with his will as well as grow to the capacity of future blessings. The latter part of this that statement may need a bit of elucidation. God will never impart blessings upon anyone that doesn't have the capacity to manage them. Maybe financial abundance has eluded you because you would either squander it or it would draw you away from God and your purpose. Maybe the mate you seek has not come because you would not honor them as God would have you to. See, you can say all of the right things. You can declare that you are ready. You can even convince yourself that you have it all together, but God knows. So often believers tend to become consumed with the blessing while ignoring or forgetting the blessor. There is a proclivity to become engrossed in the gift while neglecting the giver.

It is of immense importance to understand the machinations of the enemy while acknowledging the sovereignty of God. Delay is not always of the Devil; resistance is, but delay is the execution of the divine prerogative of God and when surrender is applied to the movement of God, the result is always efficacious. ~ Dr. Rick Wallace