|
Supernatural
Biblical Guidance 9
When
Your Prophetic Fulfillment Seems to be Delayed
by
Pastor John Hamel
“This charge I
commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went
before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a
good warfare;” (1Timothy 1:18)
Allow me to remind
you briefly of what we have covered in this series on supernatural Biblical
guidance. We have studied the inner witness of the Holy Spirit, the
inward still small voice of the
Holy Spirit, the seemingly audible voice of the Holy Spirit, dreams, visions and prophecy.
This will be our
third lesson on the subject of the Gift of Prophecy.
We spent an
entire lesson looking at the Biblical steps that must be taken in order to
judge, or determine, whether a prophecy actually came from the Holy Spirit
or not.
In our last lesson we
saw some things that must be done in order to cooperate with the
fulfillment of that prophecy, once you have determined that it came from
the Holy Spirit.
In this lesson we
will look at the primary reasons that prophecies can sometimes take a long
time to come to pass.
These reasons will also reveal why sometimes
prophecies that really are from the Holy Spirit never come to pass. We
should not move too quickly, accusing Prophets of being frauds just because
what they have spoken over us does not come to pass as quickly as we might
prefer. Prophecies are often hindered or aborted for reasons
unrelated to the one who gave the prophecy.
The
Holy Spirit's Timing Is Critical
“For THE VISION IS YET FOR AN APPOINTED
TIME, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for
it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.” (Habakkuk 2:3)
“TO EVERY THING THERE IS A SEASON, and A
TIME TO EVERY PURPOSE under the heaven:” (Ecclesiastes 3:1)
There is a season or a
timing to every purpose in life including prophecy. The
prophetic vision that was imparted to you has an appointed time. The
Scripture says that although it seems to tarry that it will not always
tarry. It is not uncommon at all for the Holy Spirit to speak to us
way out ahead of a coming situation in order to adequately prepare us for
it. Sometimes we are simply just not ready for the dream that the
Holy Spirit puts in our heart.
Sometimes little children know exactly what
it is they want to do as adults. A child may decide to be a surgeon
but that does not mean that the parents should go out and purchase rubber
gloves and a scalpel for them. A normal parent will go out and
purchase one of those little Fisher Price doctor kits to keep the child’s
dream alive. That child is only able to progressively move into their
desire over a period of time. During this period they must continue
to grow and to mature to where they can handle the responsibilities of such
a dream.
We must allow the Holy Spirit to take us
progressively to the fulfillment of our prophecies over a period of
time. We must allow Him to mature us to where we are ready for what
it is He has spoken of. If your prophecies are being delayed, it is
probably because patience and maturity are
being developed in you to equip you for the fulfillment of
them. The Holy Spirit did not speak to you in advance to torment
you. He spoke to you in advance to prepare you. Cooperate with
the growing up process. He wants to give you greater responsibility,
but greater responsibility requires greater accountability. Do not
give up. Delay is not denial. Your time is coming.
Satan's
Opposition Is Unrelenting
“Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel:
for from the first day that thou didst set thine
heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before
thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words. But THE
PRINCE OF THE KINGDOM OF PERSIA WITHSTOOD ME one
and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help
me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia.” (Daniel
10:12,13)
Although Satan is absolutely powerless to
keep your prophecies from coming to pass, it does not mean he will not
try. He will be relentless in his efforts to get you to stop
believing in them. He was relentless in his efforts to delay the fulfillment
of Daniel’s need and he is not about to cut you any more slack than he did
Daniel. There is a battle presently occurring in the Heavenlies concerning the fulfillment of your
prophecies. There is a battle occurring right here on the Earth
concerning the fulfillment of your prophecies, as well. Satan will
use friends, relatives, civil, political and religious authorities to cause
you as much resistance as he can. He can even
cause the exact opposite of what was prophesied over you to come to
pass. Oh, have I ever seen this occur in my own life. He is the
god of this world and he enjoys pulling rank and pushing his weight around.
(2Corinthians 4:4)
But just like Jesus said, “My Father is
greater than all and no one can pluck My own out of His hand.” (John
10:29) Satan is mighty, but God is Almighty.
Satan can kick and scream and cause commotion once a prophecy is given, but
that is pretty much what he is limited to if you know how to use your
authority. If the Holy Spirit prophesied the salvation of a loved one
and the next thing you know, they get busted for drug possession,
drunkenness, prostitution, embezzlement or whatever, that is just a sign of
things about to get better. When an individual is at the peak of
conviction they can often go to the depths of their primary sin. Do not let it move you.
A drowning man will often thrash at his
rescuer, attempting to pull him down just prior to the actual rescue.
Finally, through exhaustion, he will yield to his rescuer. Sometimes
the rescuer actually has to slug his victim, knocking him out for his own
good. Jesus cast a demon out of a boy who fell like a dead man under
the power of the Holy Spirit. Everybody said, “Now look what You did,
Jesus. You killed him. He was better off before You got
involved.” Jesus ignored them, pulling the boy up by the hand,
sending him home completely delivered. (Mark 9:14-27)
Sometimes when Jesus gets involved things
can seem to get worse before they get better. It is just Satan
throwing what Midwesterners call a “hissy
fit.” The Holy Spirit delights to work and to bring hope under these
circumstances. The prophetic promise will come to pass regardless of
the opposition of man or demons, as long as you continue to
expect it.
The
Application of Faith Is Essential
“And BLESSED IS SHE THAT BELIEVED: for
there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the
Lord.” (Luke 1:45)
The Holy Spirit spoke to the Virgin Mary through her cousin, Elisabeth,
in this verse. He told her that the prophecy the Angel Gabriel spoke over her would
come to pass BECAUSE SHE BELIEVED IT WOULD COME TO PASS. If you take
the attitude, “Fine, God. You said it and now You’ll just have to
bring it to pass,” believing the lie that you do not have to cooperate by faith, you are finished before you even start. The
Holy Spirit is not obligated to fulfill any prophecy that is met with
flagrant unbelief or rebellion.
The Holy Spirit does not honor unbelief and rebellion. He honors only faith. (Hebrews 11:6)
Possibly you have come to the conclusion
that too much time has passed, or you are not good enough for the
fulfillment, or maybe even the prophecy just did not come from God.
This kind of thinking will force the forfeiture of the prophecy.
When the Angel of God appeared to me and
told me, “You will place your feet on the soil of no less than 35 nations
of the world and preach the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.” I did not
say, “Fine, tell God I said to send me some money and some preaching
material. I’ll be lying on my bed watching the Red Sox whenever He’s
ready.” I took that Word to heart and I began to prepare like I have
never prepared for anything in all of my life. I began to prepare
material to put into the hands of National Pastors who live in the
thirty-five nations I have been assigned to. You can peruse this
website and see just some of the results of how I responded to the Angel’s
message.
What is on this website is
one quarter of what I have prepared as I cooperated with the fulfillment of
God’s Word to me. I began to prepare teaching syllabi to put into the
hands of the nations God was going to shake through this Ministry. I
began writing books to help those I am called to.
This web series on
Supernatural Biblical Guidance that you are now utilizing via the Internet
came out of a desire to respond in faith to the Word of God that came to me
through His Angel. To date these teachings are reaching over 170
nations via the Internet. We get responses from Pastors and
Believers worldwide. This is in addition to placing my feet on the
soil of those nations as the Angel said I would.
I do not know what the Holy Spirit has
prophesied to you for the future. I only know that there is some way
for you to prepare for its
manifestation by faith.
If He told you that you are going
somewhere, you could pack a little bag and set it by the door in
faith. If He has called you to another nation, get a passport.
If He said your mate is coming home, clean out their side of the closet and
set a place at the table. If He said you would have a baby, get the
nursery ready. If He said He would add to your congregation, start
taking offerings now for extra chairs then.
Do what you know to do by
faith and the Holy Spirit will take up the slack and fulfill the prophecy.
The
Fulfillment of Your Prophecy Is Conditional
There are two kinds
of prophecy in the Bible, conditional and unconditional. First, a
word about unconditional prophecies. For example, there are many
prophecies in the Bible concerning the first coming of Jesus
into the Earth. These prophecies were unconditional in that there was
nothing any man or demon could do to stop them. There are many other
prophecies in the Bible concerning the Second Coming of Jesus
Christ into the Earth, as well. These prophecies are also
unconditional in that ultimately they will come to pass and there is
nothing that Satan or man can do to stop them.
Then there is the
second type of prophecy. This type is called conditional
prophecy. These are personal prophecies that are spoken by the Holy
Spirit to the people in the Earth. They can be spoken over an
individual. They can be spoken over a congregation. They can be
spoken over a city. They can be spoken over a state. They can
be spoken over a nation. They can even be spoken internationally
regarding specific places and world events.
The one thing that all of
these types of prophecies have in common is that they are
conditional. They are dependent upon the cooperation of man for their
fulfillment.
Let us look at an example of a conditional personal
prophecy in the Bible.
The Holy Spirit
sent the Prophet Isaiah to King Hezekiah with a message to “set thine house in order: for thou shalt
die and not live.” (Isaiah 38:1-6) It seems that Hezekiah had a
little bit of a pride problem. He refused to give praise to God for
His many blessings. (2Chronicles 32:24-36) He also surrendered to the
Assyrians instead of trusting God to deliver him from them.
Once
Hezekiah realized, through Isaiah’s prophecy, how much trouble he was
really in, the Bible says he “…turned his face toward the wall unto the
Lord … and wept sore.” (Isaiah 38:3) This is an expression of
Hezekiah’s repentance.
Look how God responded.
“Then came the word
of the Lord to Isaiah, saying, Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith the Lord, the God of David thy father, I have
heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will add unto thy days
fifteen years. And I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand
of the king of Assyria: and I will defend this city.” (Isaiah
38:4-6)
So here we find the
Holy Spirit sending the Prophet Isaiah to Hezekiah prophesying a death
sentence upon him for his compromise. Isaiah had no sooner gotten out
of the King’s court, having delivered the prophecy, when the Holy Spirit
said, “Now go back and tell him that he’s going to live for another fifteen
years.”
Somebody said,
“What’s going on here? First he said Hezekiah was going to die.
Then he said Hezekiah’s going to live. Is the Holy Spirit a hypocrite?”
No, He is not. What is going on here is “conditional” prophecy.
The Holy Spirit was saying to Hezekiah, in essence, “Listen, Hezekiah,
based upon the present conditions of your disobedience
and your little pride problem,
you’re going to die if you don’t repent.”
Can you see it? This prophecy was
conditional. It was based on
Hezekiah’s present condition. If
Hezekiah changed his present conditions, the prophecy would change.
Hezekiah got the
message immediately and repented, weeping openly before the Lord, asking
for forgiveness. Now, based upon his repentance, the Holy Spirit
said, in essence, “Okay, this changes everything. You no longer meet
the conditions for death, but rather you meet the conditions for
life. Enjoy yourself now but please, smarten up, Hezekiah, would
you?”
We can clearly see
in this Bible narrative that some prophecies are conditional. If you
have sin in your life, it is just going to have to go. That is, if you want your prophecy to
come to pass.
God’s timing,
Satan’s opposition, your faith and a holy lifestyle all play a part in the
fulfillment of your prophecy.
Like Hezekiah, the
recipient has a whole lot to say about how, when and even if a prophecy
comes to fulfillment.
Be blessed … John
and Barbara Hamel
How
to Be Born Again (Receive Christ as Your Savior)
How
to Receive The Holy Spirit & Power
Home
l Bible
Training l Top l Beliefs l
Contact
|
