Note: Although this article was written by David Demian in 2001, with the context of Canada in mind, there are gems throughout which are treasured, timeless teachings for us to lay hold of and walk in.
It is the Acceptable Year of the Lord’s Favour
A Message to the Church
by David Demian
A few weeks ago I was spending time with the Lord when suddenly I felt His presence descend strongly in the room. Immediately I began to weep. The more time I spent, the more intense His Presence became and soon my heart was so tender that I wept uncontrollably throughout the night. I could sense the Holy Spirit hovering over me, wanting to communicate with me, but all I could discern at this time was a sense of the urgency of the hour.
September 2001
All throughout the following day, I continued to weep. When I had finally exhausted my tears, I felt the Lord saying to me, "Next year, starting this Rosh Hashanah, is going to be a very significant year of new beginnings." I believe the Jewish New Year we will enter into on Rosh Hashanah, September 18, 2001 (1 Tishrei 5762), marks a year of unprecedented favour in Canada.
Furthermore, I felt the Lord saying that since Rosh Hashanah last year (September 30, 2000), He has been working very deeply within the hearts of His people. The Lord has been speaking to us individually and corporately as a body in Canada. And as we have obeyed, we have found ourselves moving into a season of suddenlies where God accomplishes in one step what normally would have taken ten steps. Where the danger has been for those who have tried to negotiate with the Lord or been hesitant at this time. Delay or hesitation could cause us to miss our window of opportunity and we could find ourselves drifting apart from Him or His purposes for our lives.
Chronos and Kairos
There are two different Greek words for time in the Bible - chronos and kairos. Chronos is defined as "time indefinitely or a certain time, period, season or space of time." Kairos is defined as "the right season, the right time for action, and the critical moment." Chronos is linear time; the normal day-to-day, week-to-week, year-to-year passage of time. In chronos times, our walk with the Lord is characterized by our daily faithfulness and obedience to follow His voice. Change is measured as we look back over our lives and see how the Lord’s hand has guided us faithfully one step at a time.
However, at specific times in history, God suddenly and sovereignly steps from eternity into the earthly timeline to effect His perfect plan and purposes. Normal rules that govern time and change are suspended. His supernatural becomes our natural. The intersection of eternity and earthly time produces sudden acceleration that propels us forward into His purposes.
Obey or Disobey, but No More Delay
In chronos times, when God speaks, we have three options: to obey, to disobey or to delay God’s plan. But when kairos moments come, delay is no longer an option. In these times, God has determined to do "whatever He wills" and there is no power on the face of the earth that can delay His purposes. So either we will walk with the Lord and enjoy seeing His purposes fulfilled or we will watch what He does at a distance. But either way, He will move and align circumstances and situations in accordance with His purposes.
I believe we are now entering into such a season in Canada. It is so important for us to be as the sons of Issachar, who knew the seasons and the times and knew what Israel had to do. Otherwise we could miss God’s window of opportunity for our lives.
Zechariah’s Response
The story of Zechariah illustrates the importance of obeying God in His kairos timings. Jesus was born in the fullness of time; God had decreed the time of His birth from the foundation of the world. As part of this plan, John the Baptist had to be born to prepare the way for Jesus. So as the timeline of human history approached the timeline of God’s eternal purposes, suddenly the Lord sent an angel to Zechariah.
Zechariah was a priest in the house of the Lord. He and his wife Elizabeth, who was barren, were living in the chronos timeline. Luke 1 says, "Now it came about when he was preparing his priestly service . . ." Zechariah was going about the daily business of everyday life when suddenly he found himself landing in a divine kairos moment.
"Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right hand of the altar of incense" (Luke 1:11).
The angel’s word to Zechariah was one that should have produced great joy.
"Your petition has been heard, and your wife will bear you a son, and you will give him the name John; and you will have joy and gladness and many will rejoice at his birth and he will go as a forerunner and he will turn back many of the sons of Israel to the Lord" (Luke 1:13).
But note Zechariah’s response.
"How shall I know this for certain, for I am an old man and my wife is advanced in years?" (Luke 1:18).
Zechariah had been praying for a son; the angel clearly stated that his petitions to God had been answered. And yet, when the time for the answer, for the fulfillment came, he could not accept it. He responded in unbelief – telling the angel he could not have a baby because he and Elizabeth were too old.
His Creative Word
We must remember that God’s word is creative and absolute. When God declares something, He does not work within the existing laws of nature; He transcends them to create whatever He needs to fulfill His purposes. Elizabeth’s barrenness and her age were not obstacles to the plan of God. Even if Elizabeth had not had a womb, He would have created a womb within her to receive His servant John.
I remember when a leader in a meeting in Africa started prophesying over people and he pointed to a lady and said to her, "Next year at this time you will have a son." All the people around her were astonished. They came to him at the end of the meeting and said, "You do not know it, but last year this woman had a hysterectomy; she cannot have a baby." Do you know what he said? "God spoke. He has a place and He will create a womb inside of her, because God’s word is creative." Next year she had a baby son and the doctors, nurses and all her relatives became Christians because of this miracle of God’s creative word.
We must guard our spirits so that when we enter kairos time and we begin to see the things for which we have longed, we do not allow unbelief or natural circumstances to rob us from walking fully with the Lord in His purposes.
Obey or Watch from a Distance
Zechariah’s faith had nothing to do with whether or not the birth of John would happen. In the chronos times, our faith plays a big role in what God wants to do. According to our faith, it shall be done for us. But in kairos times, God’s sovereign desire is what governs the fulfillment of the promises. God declares it and it is established.
Allow me to paraphrase the encounter between the angel and Zechariah for the sake of illustration.
So the angel said to Zechariah, "I wish it was the chronos time. I wish you had a choice in whether John will be born or not at this time, but you have nothing to do with it. Whether you believe or not it is still going to happen. But because you did not believe, you will be silent until you see it. I will perform it despite your lack of faith, because John has to be born and Jesus has to be born and no power can change the timing of these events.
"Moreover, Zechariah, as a priest, you should have known better. God has done this miracle before. Your ancestors, Abraham and Sarah, had the same problem. They were old in age but the miracle of birth still happened. You have no excuse so I will keep you silent until you see the fulfillment of what the Lord wanted to do."
In kairos moments we don’t negotiate with God; either we obey and walk with God in fulfilling His purposes or we disobey and hesitate and watch it from a distance.
Mary’s Example
Six months after Zechariah’s encounter, an angel came to Mary. He greeted her, saying, "Hail, favored one, the Lord is with you!" We are told in Luke 1:29 that she was greatly troubled and wondered what kind of greeting this was. The angel said to her,
"Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God and behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a Son and you shall name His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever and His kingdom will have no end" (Luke 1:30-33).
Again, to paraphrase, Mary’s response to the angel went something like this, "I have never heard of such a thing ever in my life nor has it ever happened before in the Bible. How can a girl conceive without a husband?"
And the angel answered her, “Mary, the Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you and for that reason, the Holy One who is born shall be called the Son of God.”
Mary’s decision was different from Zechariah’s decision. There was a precedent in the Bible for Zechariah to believe that God could make an old man and an old woman conceive. But for Mary, no precedent existed. Mary had honestly asked about natural things and the angel answered using supernatural terminology: "The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will surround you and engulf you." Can’t we hear Mary saying to the angel, "What are you talking about? I’m asking you how I will become pregnant and you’re talking about the Holy Spirit coming upon me? What does that have to do with anything?"
And yet, despite these obstacles, Mary responded from her heart in an amazing way:
"I am His bond slave; let it be unto me according to your word" (Luke 1:38).
Bond Slave or Servant?
Mary’s statement, "I am your bond slave," is a very powerful one. Notice, she didn’t say servant. A servant can serve many, but a bond slave has only one master. I believe one of the things the Lord desires to release to us is a revelation about being His bond slave. At this level of commitment, only the Lord has the right to do whatever He wants in our lives. We don’t have the right to serve other masters and no other master has the right to ask us for anything unless he has permission from our master. In this way, we are protected. We hear Him only and we obey. The voice of a stranger, as Jesus said, we will not follow (John 10:5).
Natural and Supernatural
When the fullness of time comes, God transcends natural law - everything in creation begins to work to fulfill what God has spoken. And whether we understand it or not, our responsibility is simply to release our faith. If we get stuck in the trap of trying to figure out "how can this happen?" we can miss it. God is not looking for our understanding but only our trust and agreement. He is looking for each one of us to say, "I am Your bond slave, Lord; let it be unto me according to Your word." If Mary had not responded in obedience and faith, she would have lost the blessing of her life; Jesus would still have been born, but she would have missed the opportunity of walking with Him.
Carrying the Pain
There is one other important lesson for us to learn from Mary’s response. The angel’s announcement to her was about how joy would come to the earth; Jesus birth was an event over which all creation could rejoice. And yet, for Mary, the news also represented shame and personal sacrifice.
Mary was carrying a vision that others couldn’t see. She chose to believe what the angel told her, even though she could not understand it. Other people – Joseph, her friends, her family, and the community around her – wouldn’t understand. She would be criticized and ridiculed. She would have to carry the shame of appearing that she had done something wrong when in fact, she was simply being obedient.
When we carry a vision, we must carry the shame of the vision. In kairos moments, when we choose to carry the vision the Lord is giving to us, we will rejoice in our simple obedience to God and in the fulfillment of God’s plan. But alongside this we will also carry the pain and the shame of not always being understood.
His Joy in the Pain
What we must remember in these times is that we are not being tested in anything that the Lord Himself was not tested in. The writer of Hebrews said of Jesus, "For the joy set before Him, He endured the cross, despising the shame" (Hebrews 12:2). It was a very shameful journey and walk that Jesus walked. I believe what makes Christianity weak is that we have settled for less than the journey Jesus took.
Jesus could have spoken a word from heaven and sent down angels. But He knew that the only way He could bring us into the kingdom of God was by the shedding of blood. And He was the only sacrifice that could do that for us. And that’s why He took that whole journey, humbling Himself, despising the shame, carrying the cross. And we are admonished to follow His example.
"So let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him, endured the cross despising the shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who has endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart" (Hebrews 12:2-3).
Whatever it cost Jesus it will cost us. We will never be able to play it safer.
Embrace the Cross
I believe we’ve come to a moment in Canada where we need to count the cost; we need to embrace the cross. We have come to a point where we need to say, "Lord, for the joy set before me of seeing Your kingdom come, Your will be done, here on earth as it is in heaven, it will not take less than what You have paid."
And the Lord wants to bring us to that place of embracing the cross, embracing the death. The key for what the Lord wants to do, is not what we are able to do, the key for what the Lord wants to do is our death. Because once we die, He is able to resurrect us and release something of a fragrance and a flavour that everyone will know that it is not us, but God in us.
I believe the Lord wants us to respond to Him in a way that will touch our spirits deeply. I know in my spirit that some of you, when you begin to lay hold of God, will say, "I am Your bond slave, let it be unto me according to Your word." And I believe as you do, your destiny will collide with His timings and events in your life will suddenly escalate.
If this is what you are feeling in your spirit, please pray this prayer with me.
"Lord I will despise the shame. I want to carry my cross and I want to walk daily after You. I want to be pregnant with Your purposes and I don’t care what people will think of me. Whatever You have done, Lord, the price You have paid, I will not shrink back from it. I don’t care who will understand or not understand, because I want to be walking in the fullness of Your purposes for such a time as this."
If you feel the Holy Spirit is speaking to you right now, just begin to cry out to the Lord. Ask Him to put a seed in your heart and in your spiritual womb. Open your life and let the Holy Spirit come upon you so you can become pregnant with God’s purposes. And cry out to the Lord to deposit within you a determination that says, "Whatever it takes, I will do it, to see the glory of God come back to our nation."