GRACE TO TARRY

GRACE TO TARRY

It is my pleasure once again to write this piece of God’s mind to you. For those who have been following the Rabbi, let me apologise that it’s been quite a while that you have seen an article on this page. This is for two reasons; primarily because I have not had time to settle down to write because of bombarding schedules at work.

More importantly, I have felt uncomfortable writing on this topic even though the Lord had made the burden so strong upon my heart. I had this feeling because I knew it would be wrong for me to write to you to tarry when as a person I have not received the grace to tarry. I think it would bless you more if I write an epistle that is filled with the spirit.

My highest concern is that both the writer and the reader would be blessed because I do not want to be a messenger who has not profited from his own message. During the period of waiting to put this piece together, I have therefore personally requested on a number of times that the Lord would give me the grace to tarry both at the table of His word and on the knees of prayer. I asked for grace because my natural strength would fail me to combine the pressures of life with the priority of waiting. If your situation is like mine, then you probably need this message more than anyone else. 

Our focus today is rooted in the words of Jesus to His disciples about the secret to receiving God’s promise. We take our bearing from Luke 24: 13-52 but our anchor scripture is verse 49.

And behold I send the promise of the Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high (Luke 24:49).

 It seems to me that Jesus was giving the last words like a hero who is about to pass away and would like to leave a legacy for his people. In most traditions if not all across the globe, the words of a departing person whether a parent, grandparent or master, are seriously treasured.  This is usually so because people would often reserve their secrets till the end. If you want to know very important things about a man, stay around him when he is about to die.

It is true that every word of Christ carry weight but certain things He said at the close of His ministry are more critical in putting the disciples in correct perspective that will help them to be positioned in fulfilling the mandate hanging over their lives. Interestingly, the commandment to tarry that Jesus gave to the disciples came after resurrection. That calls for a more serious attention. If He had not given this instruction before His death, what could have been the reason?  The decision to give the instruction after His resurrection calls for curiosity. Imagine you had lived with your grandfather with whom you have established a good rapport, for years and perhaps he died while you were with him in the same house. Following your grandfather’s death, you saw him in a dream giving you an instruction. Although you may not believe in dreams but I am sure you will take the instruction seriously. I am strongly persuaded that the disciples felt the same way about this instruction from the Lord. Even if they had not taken His words to heart before, this time they would not dare to be sarcastic. You see after he led them to Bethany and blessed them, they departed with great excitement as if they have found a great pearl (Lk. 24: 50-52).It did not take them long thereafter to assemble at the upper room for prayers as they waited in expectation for the promise.How long did they wait? One day or two? Not so. They tarried. 

I remember the story we were told by one of our counsellors when my wife and I were still courting. We wanted to have a retreat in their house for about three days. Then I travelled to the city of Ibadan for this purpose. The retreat was considered very necessary because we had so many issues to sort out in prayers and the year was closing. On getting to the city, I discovered that there was a special programme in my church that I would love to attend, so I began to plan to reduce the number of days we would spend at the retreat. When our Counsellor got to know about the plan, he did not hesitate to puncture the idea in my heart. He told us of their experience of various times he and his wife had planned to hold retreat because they believed God for a precious blessing in their marriage but more often than not they would start and not finish the retreat. One of such experiences was when they left their home for a Christian retreat centre. They had planned to spend certain number of days but after about 2-3 days, they told each other that God had answered their prayers and that they should break their fast and go home.  Mind you, they did not hear God’s voice nor had any conviction to substantiate their faith. According to him, it was self deception. Thank God for his sincerity at this point. Beloved, we did learn from that experience as we chose to wait till the number of days was accomplished. That retreat I must confess was the turning point in our lives. Most of the issues, if not all that we planned and prayed for received answers as and when expected and we got breakthroughs on some long standing issues.

This brings me to what it means to tarry. It means a focused, intense and passionate time of waiting patiently on the Lord until your expectation is granted. It is holding on till God’s promise is delivered to you. To tarry is to pray until something happens. It is a refusal to quit God’s presence until you see a sign of the abundance of rain that He has promised. To tarry is to seek God until He rains righteousness upon you. It means to sustain your hope, conviction and confession until the vision God has shown you come to pass. I think what most people lack, like our counsellor and his wife was the ability to tarry. However, in the Kingdom, almost nothing happens instantly. Anything that happens at an instant must have long been waited for. If therefore we must enjoy God’s best, then  tarrying must be our way of life. Ask the men who are carriers of His presence, such that seem to enjoy the miraculous in their lives and ministry as if it were normal, they are usually men who can tarry with Him. What made tarrying easy for such men then? GRACE!

And God is able to make all grace abound toward you: that ye always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work I Cor. 9:8

Almost everything in the kingdom is done by grace. Paul testified of the giving grace that was bestowed upon the Macedonian Church – I Cor. 8:1, such that they were willing to give beyond what they could afford and how the grace of God made him all that he was- I Cor. 15: 10. What makes people that matter in God’s agenda is grace. Grace is God’s supernatural ability that makes a man to do beyond his natural ability. When grace is injected into a man, he functions as if he is under an influence beyond him. You wonder, why he is not tired. There is something at work in him that would not make him to be tired. Grace is what makes a person to live as if he had no weakness. Simply put, it is God’s compensation for your deficiencies. Oh I pray that the Lord would infuse into me the grace to tarry. Then when I am weak, His strength will carry me on.

What then do we need to tarry for?

On the question of what to tarry for, I would say anything worthwhile. Whatsoever you desire and God has promised you, wait for it. However, it may be helpful to mention a few things here for which we need to tarry.

1.      
The Vision:

I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved

And the Lord answered me and said, write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.

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 2:1-3

A vision is the unfolding of God’s mind to you. It is the revelation of God’s agenda planted in your heart. It is master plan containing a specified purpose and the sequence of milestones that leads to that purpose. Sometimes God speaks things to you or plants great thing your heart and you are excited as if it would happen in the next moment. God said when you receive such vision, what to do is to write it clearly. It may not happen as and when you think but it will surely happen.  What do you do when you receive a vision? Tarry for it. So if God’s promise has not come to pass in your life, don’t be weary but tarry. I think for every man that has received a great vision form God, we need to keep a prayer on our lips; Lord help me to tarry as long as your promise tarries until the appointed time.

2.      Rain:  

Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord till he come and rain righteousness upon you (Hosea 10:12).

Rain in the scriptures symbolises of God’s input of confirmation to strengthen His people. It represents God’s demonstration of His favourable disposition to His People. Rain is the token of God’s witness to His covenant people by which He demonstrates His benevolence to them and responds to their desires as expressed in prayers.

Thou, O God didst send a plentiful rain, whereby thou didst confirm thine inheritance, when it was weary (Psalm 68:9)

Most often in the Old Testament, rain refers to the blessing of God. Anytime, God is angry with His people, he shuts the heaven so that there is no rain.  Whenever God withholds rain, the people suffer drought. Nothing happens. Everywhere goes dry and the only way to get Him to rain upon them is to seek Him in prayer (II chronicles 7: 13-14).

In the days of Elijah, Ahab had led the people into idolatory and God was angry with them. By the ministry of Elijah, the heaven was declared shut (I Kings 17:1).

In the New Testament, the rain is often used as a symbol of the anointing. It implies the baptism of power. May I ask you some questions at this point? Can a man really achieve anything for God without power?  Is it possible for a Christian to succeed in this world of wickedness and oppression without power? The answer is a bold NO. Jesus insisted that what will help the disciples to be effective witness in every place and at all times is power. He cautioned that if they do not get it, they should not make a single attempt. This means that an attempt to live for God in this world without power is a suicide mission. What Jesus meant was that power is not one of the ingredients, it is the main ingredient. If your faith cannot produce power, it is useless. If your prayer whether in tongues or in understanding is devoid of power, it is tantamount to a fruitless repetition of words. Therefore, it is necessary to seek for power.

As we draw the curtain, I hope you are stirred up to believe God for grace to tarry. The sign that you have received this grace is the urge to seek Him. You will a strong burden in your heart to enter your closet and hold God by His word. This time, you would not want to let go even though the answer seems delayed. May the Lord send upon you and I fresh grace from above so that we may both pray and wait until something happens.