Day 11 – Knowing Him
Friday August 3
by David Demian

Yesterday we looked at the importance of discerning the seasons and timings of God and knowing the difference between chronos and kairos time. We saw the example of Zechariah, who when the kairos moment came did not respond in faith but with unbelief.

Today we want to look at a different response. Six months after Zechariah’s encounter, an angel appeared to Mary.

"Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you." Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."

"How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?" Luke 1:28-34

Mary’s situation was different from Zechariah’s because there was no precedence for a virgin conceiving. So Mary asked a very reasonable question – how is this going to happen? And got a very “unreasonable” answer.

"The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Luke 1:35

At this point, Mary had a decision to make. If she tried to process what God was saying through the grid of her natural mind, of what was reasonable, there was no way to accept what she had been told. But amazingly, Mary chose instead a very different response.

"I am His bond slave; let it be unto me according to your word" Luke 1:38.

Mary’s response speaks to the deep trust she had in the God she was following. Trust comes from knowing the character and nature of the one that we trust. Her trust allowed her to accept God’s word to her, even when it made no sense and even when it was clear it was going to completely alter the course of her life as she had known it. She was a virgin about to be married and now she was going to be seen as a woman, pregnant out-of-wedlock. Yet she was so sure of the nature and character of God that she was able to release herself fully to Him to simply obey His word and trust Him to take care of the consequences.

One of the major areas I feel the Lord is targeting during this consecration call is the purification and restoration of our faith. In the previous seasons of battle, our shield of faith that helps us to withstand and deflect the fiery darts of the enemy may have become a bit dented; it may even have a few holes in it. That’s why it’s important for us to understand the seasons and timings of God – like the time of this consecration call – where God is giving us a respite from the day-to- day battles that we might draw more deeply into His presence. This time of circumcision, of rolling away the reproach (shame) of the past season and of healing is just as much a kairos time as the seasons when the Lord calls us to the front lines.

I believe God wants to take us deeper and deeper during this time on the journey of knowing Him. He wants to reveal Himself to us through His word and through the still small voice with which He speaks into our hearts. I believe the Lord is taking us through this process as a preparation for what lies ahead. Like Mary, I believe in the days that are coming the Lord is going to speak to many of us things that are completely beyond any natural understanding that we have. We are going to walk in the supernatural like no generation before us. But to have the faith to receive what the Lord will speak to us will not come from striving or hyping ourselves up. It’s going to come simply from knowing Him deeper.

If your heart is stirred to know God in a deeper way, pray this prayer with me: My heart God is to seek after you more and to come to a greater revelation of who You are and Your unfailing love for me. Thank you that faith isn’t something I have to strive for, or work myself up for, or perform to receive – it’s something that will increase naturally as I know you more. God I ask you to open the eyes of my heart today and through all the days of this consecration call to see You for who You really are. God I want to be one like Mary who can say with full assurance: I trust you. Be it unto me according to Your word. In Jesus’ name. Amen!

David Demian is a man of singular passion: to be a friend of God. This passion has led him on an amazing journey in life and ministry.  David is a spiritual son to the founder of Watchmen for the Nations, Pastor Bob Birch, who passed the mantle of leadership of the ministry to David in 1998.  David lives in Vancouver, BC, Canada with his wife Ruth and seven children. 

David can be reached by email at director@watchmen.org.