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Anyone who has ever attempted to live by faith has experienced delays. I can honestly say, not everything has happened in the time frame I wanted it to or exactly the way I thought it should happen.

But I also can say this - God has never disappointed me. There is a due season for everything, and when you understand that, it eliminates the frustration.

There may have been things you were believing for: finances, restoration, job promotion, a godly mate, and it seemed like they would never come to pass, so you finally just gave up. Well, I want to encourage you today to recapture your vision and wait for it until it comes to pass. You may have given up, but God is still interested in seeing His plan come to pass in your life.

When Paul wrote, "Having done all, to stand. Stand," he indicated that not everything would happen immediately. You must develop "the art of waiting," and I can assure you, I am an expert on this subject.

Satan is behind many of our delays, but let's not blame him for everything. In most cases, we need to re-evaluate our lives to see what we've done to create a delay.
- Jerry Savelle
We generally don't like the scripture that says, "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord." We want it to say, "The strides," or "the leaps." Steps are slow, but they are the sure way to go. If you'll determine to obey each step that God gives you, then you will reach the destination that you desire. Let's look at three scriptural reasons for delays:

1. God
It could be that God has orchestrated a delay in your life because He is arranging a divine appointment up ahead. It is not the norm in most Christians' lives as to why delays happen, but it can happen. God can have another plan up ahead. The timing may not be right, and you may have a divine appointment awaiting you.

2. Satan
Delays can be caused because you were hindered by Satan. "But we, brethren, being taken from you for a short time in presence, not in heart, endeavored the more abundantly to see your face with great desire. Wherefore we would have come unto you, even I Paul, once and again; but Satan hindered us" (1 Thess. 2:17-18).

Now I can promise you, when you find the word hindered, the source for this delay is not God but Satan. Satan is the one who hinders. It could be that Satan has hindered some things in your life and it's time for you to get "fed up" with it and fight back with an aggressive stand on the Word of God.

3. You
You could be the cause of delays for various reasons. Now obviously, when you create the delay, Satan is behind it, but let's not blame him for everything. In most cases, we need to re-evaluate our lives to see what we've done to create a delay.

Your adversary, the devil, will launch attacks against you, and if that doesn't discourage you, then he'll use messengers to mock you for living by faith. And sometimes they are relatives - people you know, respect and love.

Avoid Losing Focus
If you receive enough mocking and enough attacks, you could lose your focus. Your vision could become blurred, and you could eventually give up before the manifestation comes. There are three things that cause us to lose our focus:

1) Disinterest. You become disinterested in what God said, and of the vision He gave you. Then apathy sets in. You become passive. You yield to the mockery. When you're not interested in what God is saying and doing, then you begin to pursue your own desires and dreams and become self-centered. When that happens, your life becomes unfruitful.

2) Discouragement. You can get to the point where it looks like what God told you is never going to happen. It becomes too impossible looking. If you look at the ashes of your life too long, Satan will convince you that you cannot build it back. You could become so discouraged that you eventually give up, and again, your life becomes non-productive.

3) Dissatisfaction. When you become dissatisfied while waiting for your due season, you desperately need a word from God. Haggai means "festive spirit." God sent the prophet, Haggai, to bring joy back to the people so they could build the temple. If there is anything you need when you are disinterested, discouraged, and dissatisfied, it's a word from God. Surround yourself with the Word.

A lot of people don't know how to wait. Society has an impatient, "do-it-quick, high tech, computerized, push button" mentality. We try to bring all that over into Christianity, but there are times when you have to be willing to wait.

This is how to wait properly: Make sure you've done what the Word requires.

Remember what Paul said, "Having done all to stand, stand!" Make a check list and be sure you've done all to stand. If you don't understand what all is, go read the entire book of Ephesians again. You'll find that avoiding strife is involved in doing all to stand, forgiving people is part of doing all to stand, and giving is part of doing all to stand.

If you are believing for a financial miracle and you haven't planted any seed, then you haven't done all to stand yet. There is no such thing as increase without planting. You may not have any money, but you have prayer time, or you can encourage someone. Seed isn't always money. You can mow someone's lawn and tell them, "That's my seed." Remember: You are never without seed!

When you've done what the Word requires and done all to stand, then you can be confident that God will bring the manifestation. When you know that you know that you are in right standing with God, then your attitude becomes, "Why wouldn't God answer my prayer? He promised that no weapon formed against the righteous shall prosper."

Expectant is a key word in developing the art of waiting. Live each day expecting your due season to come. If it doesn't come today, wake up the next morning expecting it. Don't ever give up - continue to stand and keep on standing until it arrives. You've got to learn how to scripturally stand, and then whatever it is that you're believing God for will come to pass. Don't give up. Don't become disinterested, discouraged, or dissatisfied. Wait earnestly for your due season. It will come!

What's the bottom line for Satan stealing from you? To get you offended at God. Do you want back what's been stolen, or not? Then don't get offended at God when the devil's stealing from you. Most people either get mad at God, the message, or the person that preached it. And what you ought to be doing is getting mad at the devil; he's the thief - not God.

The worst thing you can do when Satan is stealing from you is less praying, less giving, less fellowshipping with God. And isn't that what usually happens? Satan steals from you, and the first thing you want to do is quit going to church, quit giving, quit praying. No, God says when you're in captivity, that's when you turn the intensity up. That's when you turn the volume up on your seeking Him.

So, let me just encourage you and challenge you today. Whatever has been stolen from you, you can get it back - and then some. Don't get offended at God. It will delay your restoration. Release all offenses and start seeking God with your whole heart. Your due season, your miracle, and your breakthrough will come.

Source: From Devastation to Restoration by Jerry Savelle
Excerpt permission granted by Jerry Savelle Publications

Author Biography

Jerry Savelle
Web site: Jerry Savelle Ministries International
 
Dr. Jerry Savelle was an average, blue-collar man who was struggling and needed God's help. While he considered himself a "nobody," when he became a believer God told him not to worry about it because He was a master at making champions out of nobodies. God has since taken Dr. Savelle from being a constant quitter to a man who knows how to stand on the Word of God until victory is experienced. Because of the life-changing combination of God's faithfulness and Dr. Savelle's "no quit" attitude, his life is totally different than it was thirty-eight years ago.
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