The Appointed Time
By Douglas B. Clark
On Friday, June 30th I drove to Battle Creek Michigan to meet some friends at Don Pablo’s for dinner at 5pm. I estimated it would take me one hour and forty-five minutes to get there. Unfortunately I left ten minutes late, plus I had to get gas, take an alternate route due to construction, and to top it off, I got behind a slow moving farm vehicle for about five miles. Driving down the road I kept picturing my friends sitting at the restaurant waiting for me. As I got closer I was surprised at the time. I realized I wouldn’t be as late as I had imagined. Reaching my destination I pulled into the parking lot and found a parking space. After putting the car in park I glanced at my watch as I turned off the ignition to see the time and it was five P.M. to the second! In a thousand attempts I could not have made that happen. There were so many variables, yet I managed to arrive at the appointed time.
This is what the Lord is doing with each of us individually. We are often filled with stress thinking we are running late, taking an alternate route, or dealing with some obstacle in our way, yet God’s plan will be accomplished right on schedule. He has taken all the variables into consideration! It is happening with all of us individually, but the sweet surprise that awaits us is that our individual experiences will supernaturally fit together in such a way that will display a corporate picture of the body of Christ for the entire world to see at God’s appointed time.
This will be in contrast to what man is doing through his hierarchical and horizontal control. No matter how hard we try, WE CAN’T MAKE GOD’S THING HAPPEN. There is a divine order that has been preordained and nothing we can do will hasten it or prevent it. God promised Abraham that his descendants would be so many in numbers that they would be uncountable, like the dust of the earth. This was a promise that Abraham could not fulfill by self-effort. The same is true for us. We must wait on God to do what He says He will do.
Isaac, the promised son, was the seed of Abraham, yet he was conceived by divine intervention. Like Abraham, this is where we get a little confused. We feel the heartbeat of the Holy Spirit and the inner knowledge that God wants to manifest Himself in and through His people in this third day. But… It is the waiting for the appointed time that challenges us, and exposes the “self” life that refuses to be still. Notice that God’s timing always happens in a way that is impossible for man to fulfill. “Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year and Sarah will have a son.” Gen 18:14 NIV Sarah didn’t conceive until it was well beyond her time to bare children. The best we can do in our attempt to help God fulfill His purposes is conceive an Ishmael.
Most of us are painfully aware of the efforts of the flesh and the many spiritual Ishmael’s that have been conceived as a result. But have you considered this? The same man who fathered Ishmael also became the father of the promised son, Isaac. Abraham’s self-effort did not thwart the plan of God. There is a truth here that should encourage the saints of God. Over the years there have been times when I have seen “self” raise his head in me and there wasn’t a thing I could do about it. No matter how I prayed I couldn’t let go of my desires. It was then that God would give me the desires of my heart until I became sick from having my way instead of His way in my life. When God gives us the desires of our heart it is not necessarily a good thing! Most of the time our desires are carnal and do not line up with His will for our lives, but we are fortunate that He took that into consideration when He made us. Receiving the desires of our heart is often the very thing that brings the corrective hand of God into our lives so that we can be purified by His fire. Be encouraged, for regardless of the obstacles you face, you will reach the destination of conformity to His image and likeness at the appointed time!
Several months ago the Lord began to speak to me about the two spiritual rivers flowing through the Earth. I was troubled at what I saw. Hovering just above the river of life I saw an identical river. The Lord told me this river represented the forces of those who were trying to fulfill God’s purposes in their own power. I was shook-up at what I saw, but the Lord comforted me and told me not to fear, FOR IT IS ALL OF HIM! That may seem like a statement of error, for many ungodly things in the world surround us today. However, there is nothing that has happened, or will happen that God has not allowed or made provision for. The Bible does not say that after Adam and Eve sinned that God decided to send His only begotten Son to be born as a man and to die in our place. No, the Bible says: “He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.” 1Peter 1:20 NIV
It is hard to imagine that God’s provision was planned before the creation of the world, but that is what the Bible says. The idea that God had already planned on His Son, Jesus Christ to be the Savior of the world indicates that He already knew every detail of our existence, including our earthly blunders. The good news is that the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the cross has accounted for all of our mistakes, and our mistakes play a role in accomplishing His purposes.
Throughout the Bible we see a picture of duality. There was Cain who slew his righteous brother, Able. There was Isaac, the son of promise and Ishmael, the son of the bondwoman. There was Jacob who received the inheritance and Esau who sold his birthright to satisfy the hunger of the natural man. There was Pharaoh who held Israel in bondage and there was Moses who cried, “Let my people go!” There was David who was a man after God’s own heart and there was Saul who presumed sacrifice could usurp obedience. There was Saul who persecuted Christians and there was Paul who forged the way with great revelation concerning the ecclesia. There was the first Adam who had an earthly mind and the last Adam, Jesus Christ who introduced the incarnate life of the Father to the human race. There is the wheat and there are the tares growing together until the time of separation. There are the sheep that hear the master’s voice and there are the goats that do not hear. Throughout history God has raised up vessels of honor and dishonor, each playing a role in accomplishing the divine purpose. (Rom 9:21)
The Holy Spirit has shown me that many who are now involved in their own kingdom building will one day turn to God in humility and brokenness. After they have exhausted every effort of the flesh at trying to usher in the kingdom of God in their own power, the Holy Spirit will reveal the error of their ways as His light shines brightly upon those who have been obedient and called apart unto Him. What the Holy Spirit is doing in the earth will shine very brightly in contrast to the dark river of self-effort. God is revealing Himself in a people, and as His plan continues to unfold it will happen in such a way that He will be magnificently glorified. It will be a demonstration of His life for all to see. This revealing is what will bring the corrective hand of God upon those who have gone ahead on their own. The will be cast into the fire and all their wood, hay and stubble will be consumed.
There is a new paradigm in the third day. Pentecost is no longer at the forefront of the moving of the Holy Spirit. There is something more God has called us too that does not resemble Pentecost at all.. What many do not see is that the corporate manifestation that is coming will happen in those who have been separated unto God and have fellowshipped with Him in their little booth. These are those who have walked the wilderness trail and have been stripped of all self-rule and have died to their own kingdom building ambitions, and now as they recall God’s faithfulness in the wilderness, they are rejoicing in the Feast of Tabernacles.
Can you sense what is in the air? God is going to reveal Himself in His people, but we can miss it just like Cain, Ishmael, Esau, Pharaoh and Saul missed it. The message of the hour is to wait for the appointed time! God is going to do what only He can do in a way that will glorify Him. If we refuse to wait upon Him His truth will be revealed in the fire.
“For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.” 1 Cor 3:11-15
Two opposing moves are unfolding in the earth today, and yet each of these manifestations will fulfill His purposes. One will reveal the futility of man’s efforts as it seeks to tighten its grip upon God’s people, refusing to let God’s people go! The other move will manifest the nature and life of God in His people independently, completely orchestrated by the Holy Spirit as the kingdom spreads person-to-person and neighbor-to-neighbor. The move of futility that even now is revealing itself is very much like what happen to Saul. He was told to wait in Gigal seven days until the appointed time when Samuel would join him. He did wait the seven days, but just when he was so close to being obedient he rushed ahead, deciding to offer up a burnt offering to God. Then just as he finishes Samuel shows up. He was so close but he failed to wait for the appointed time. (1 Sam 13:8-10) The appointed time is not just about the appointed day, but the appointed moment! You won’t find a clearer picture of what is happening today then Saul’s example. Just when we are so close to experiencing a great manifestation of the kingdom of God in the earth many have surmised the situation and have decided they can no longer wait for there must be something we can do to prepare the way. There are some today who see great truth and revelation, they have come so close to seeing God fulfill His promise, but in the last hour they have gazed at the situation and have decided it is up to us to make things ready.
Orchestrated and Synchronized.
Two words that continually go through my mind these days are: orchestrated and synchronized. An orchestra is made up of various sections, each having a part to play. When each one plays his/her individual part, following the tempo set by the conductor, the melodies and harmonies weave in and out of each other in the most beautiful way. If you take away the timing it would sound like Helter Skelter – a bunch of orchestral noise. The music God is playing in our hearts is a beautiful arrangement melody and harmony and when the sound of each part is heard in the appointed time all will hear the most wondrous song that has ever been played.
Man is attempting to synchronize his efforts as various independent streams flow toward one another. It is easy to mistake this flow for the true move of the Spirit since it follows the same pattern. But God is synchronizing something else that is going to be quite phenomenal. It’s all about timing. When God manifests His handiwork it will be synchronized in such a way that it will cause many things in this world to implode and cease to exist. Be prepared for drama and fireworks, but know in your heart that it is all good, for in the end God will be glorified in His people.
The Lord spoke to me several months ago and said this outpouring and movement of His Spirit that is now taking place is not upon the corporate, but upon the individual. It’s not the mighty rushing wind, but the gentle breath upon the dry bones. If someone tells you that you must be part of this or that group, or that you must submit to this or that person, do not believe him or her. Instead wait for His appointed time for even NOW it is unfolding within us.
Douglas B. Clark
info@theinwardjourney.net