SANDS OF TIME - HELD BACK NO LONGER

3 visions & 1 dream

8/25/99

Hi Loved Ones,

Recently an intercessor friend had a vision of a huge wall of sand moving down in a funnel like shape. He said it was almost like a dam of sand beginning to move. When I heard the Word, the Lord imparted to me that it was His hour glass of time. I had remembered a previous Word about His sands of time in an hour glass and I understood that He had been holding back time, in a divine delay. Now He was holding back no longer. The impact of this Word touched me in places that I am still pondering. His time table just moved forward!

In the early 80’s the Lord gave me an intercessory assignment that He called, "Waiting for the brethren." I was so innocent back then, I had little idea of what that meant. As His Words and revelation began to puzzle together, I understood that it was an intercessory place of "waiting." Like a scribe, I recorded His Words, stood in the gap, and waited for what He had said to come to pass. There were other important aspects to the assignment, but they are not relevant to this posting. The point is that I was in a time of waiting.

In 1996 I had a dream where I traveled to the upper part of a river and saw it was being held back behind a restraining wall. The wall was bulging and leaking and damp. As I touched the wall, I could feel the power of the water surging, like a vibration. I looked down on the other side of the wall and there was a deep, deep gorge where the water was supposed to flow, but it was like a small creek. I knew it was only a matter of time when that dam would break and I felt uncomfortable being right there.

In the next scene, I was further down stream and I saw the river flowing extremely fast and powerful. The water was also quite deep and wide. The dam must have let go as the current was very strong. I saw an unusual sight on the bank above me. Many drift boats were in the water, being held back with taut ropes. The men were waiting at the oars, inside the boats, and the women were holding the lines on the bank. The current was so strong, it was all the women could do to hold onto those ropes. Their bodies were leaning far backwards against the tug of the ropes. As I looked at this strange sight, it was as though the only way to get the boats into the river was this method, as the current was too strong any other way. (I have had several years of river running experience and I have never seen the current so powerful.) Suddenly the women let go of the ropes, and jumped into the current to swim and catch the boats.

The powerful current reminded me of a friend’s vision in the early 1980's when he saw an almond branch cut off of a tree, then placed beside a river to dry out. The branch dried for a very long time, and in the vision at the same time, he literally felt all his cells become dry and weak. He felt as though he had no water left in him. Then when it was time, he was pushed into the river. The river started small, but soon became a huge torrential current that was much too strong and too fast for him to do anything but just ride through the water.

In 1997 I saw a vision where I saw water pouring over a giant dam. Then I was suddenly in the water above the dam and felt the current take me. I was floating safely with my head above water but the pull was very strong like a forceful magnet. The Lord opened my ears and I heard the roar of a huge falls like Niagara Falls. The sound and the pull of the water was extremely powerful.

I heard the Lord ask, "Can you afford it? Can you afford not to?" Then I heard Him say that it was only a matter of time and when it came, to let go and be carried along by the gravitational pull of His powerful flowing Presence.

The sands of time are moving and He is holding back no longer! We are in a time and place whereby promises of yesterday are going to quickly come to pass. The power of His Presence is a mighty force and will become so strong that to jump in will take us swiftly to radical places. The time is soon coming for courageous decisions to jump into what God is doing. He is asking us the questions whether or not we want to jump in as well as consider the consequences if we don’t! Jumping in takes courage, and may come at a cost. However, the cost will be greater for those who do not take the leap.

OVERCOMING HOPELESSNESS

For many, one of the acts of courage in taking the plunge will be to overcome hopelessness. For years, they have been held back in the collecting sands of time. In the process, they suffered losses in the pain of waiting upon God to answer prayers and fulfill His promises. I am reminded of the men who were so weary that they could not go with David into battle, so they stayed behind at the brook Besor to watch over the stuff. It is interesting that Besor in the Hebrew means cheerful and comes from a root word basar meaning "to be fresh, i.e. full (rosy, (figuratively) cheerful); to announce (glad news): -messenger, preach, publish, shew forth, (bear, bring, carry, preach, good, tell good) tidings." These people were exhausted and waited for the announcement of good news! When David came back with the spoils of the enemy, he proclaimed, "But as his part is who goes down to the battle, so shall his part be who stays by the supplies; they shall share alike." So it was, from that day forward; he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel to this day." (1 Sam 30:24-25 NKJV) Those who stayed behind received equal pay!

The same is true in the parable of the vineyard workers who did not join the other workers until the 11th hour. (Matthew 20) They received the same pay as those who had born the heat of the day. What is even more encouraging is that when payday came, Jesus said, "So when evening had come, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, Call the laborers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first." (Matt 20:8 NKJV) Those who were sitting along the sides because no one hired them, not only were put to use, but were the first to be paid - equal wages.

Our God is a just God. He knows the pain of years of waiting, the suffering in being placed on the shelf, the agony of holding on for any morsel of good news - He sees the hearts who have faithfully trusted in Him, no matter what the odds and He understands that the wages for this kind of suffering is worthy of equal pay with those who have been in a different kind of battle.

I share this Word for all; those who are already in the river, and those who are still waiting for the river to come. Prepare your hearts, for the day is fast coming when His rush of water will reach you, and you will need to make the decision of a lifetime whether to "go for it" - no matter what the cost.

If you are one who dried - then died, waiting by the river, then perhaps the following Word to Ponder will encourage you. My heart and prayers are with all who have borne the battle of waiting, as well as all who have worked in the heat of the day.

Lovingly,

Sandy

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DELAY

[Taken from Words to Ponder, volume 1 by Sandy Warner]

You have suffered the pain of delay. You have wept and I have wept. I cried at Lazarus’ tomb. I cry at yours. Like Mary and Martha, you turned to Me - your only trust, your only hope, your only God. I wasn’t just your God Who delivers, you trusted Me as your Friend. Is it any wonder I cry at your tomb?

I have suffered every ache in your heart as you have died the slow death of disappointment. I have grieved over the death of My Beloved.

I was so proud of you. You, who knew no thought of war, of evil confrontation. I taught you to stand, and you stood valiantly. My Beloved, My courageous one. You believed Me. You trusted Me explicitly. You followed Me wholeheartedly through the battlefield. I was so proud of you. How can I reach you, when you lie in the tomb of disappointment? I weep for you.

I will defend My Beloved. The enemy has no victory. I allowed the delay. Did I not say if you would believe, you would see the glory of God? Is anything too hard for your God? Would you trust Me to be your Friend, though you lie in the coldness of the tomb? Listen for My voice. I will call and there shall be a mighty resurrection.

All that was taken shall be restored unto you. There will be nothing lost. And you shall live to see the glory of God. You will not only see My glory, you will live in it. Weep no more My Beloved. For soon I am coming with vengeance upon the enemy tactics. You shall enjoy the spoils of war. Your reward is coming.

Think not that I am a God of disappointment. I am coming with healing in My wings. When My voice calls, I will raise you up.

"Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth." (Hosea 6:1 KJV)

GREAT HOUR GLASS OF TIME

3/3/03

It is I Who holds the times and seasons in the palm of My hand. In a time of great delay, the sands of time were held back, then released once again to flow, one grain at a time. My people have suffered a great delay in answered prayers and promises. Yet, with each grain of passing, I distributed My Word like falling manna upon the earth. The gathering and keeping of My Word has been like a giant dam, storing up a large volume of promises and power, coupled with prayer and faith. And now, the last grain of sand has passed through to the other side. All heaven holds their breath as I, the Lord of Heaven, declare what is to come.

My hand is even now upon the hour glass of time; I AM the Just One, I will overturn. Where injustice was on top, now justice will reign. Where enslavement towered, liberty will ensue. What was once the tail, now will be the head. Watch now as I begin a new work and turn the tables and the tide.

Yes, the world is shaking, trembling and even perishing, but that is part of this powerful turn over. As I topple those powers who were unjustly on top, I will take them to the bottom of the pile. Make sure that your treasures are not My enemies, for My enemies are destined to be under foot.

Watch the new flow begin. Watch the enormous collected wealth of generations of promises begin to flow with fulfillment and purpose. Watch with anticipation as the harvest of all things falls into place!

Even as the birth canal stretches and opens to allow the baby to pass through, so has My hour glass enlarged its passage. Therefore, as I overturn this great hour glass of time, one grain of sand will still fall one at a time, but the flow will hasten. Eventually as the weight of the collected grains begins to dawn upon the hearts of My people, active faith will reunite with yesterday’s hope. One person at a time will leave the mind sets of yesterday and suddenly realize the tables HAVE turned. My people will come alive and KNOW I AM the Just One. I have heard their prayers; I have grieved with them and the shouts and groans of their most silent tears have kindled My heart like no other. They shall know Me, even as I know them. They shall know the Just One, Who is their Abba Daddy.

Deut 28:12-14 NKJV

The LORD will open to you His good treasure, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand. You shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. And the LORD will make you the head and not the tail; you shall be above only, and not be beneath, if you heed the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you today, and are careful to observe them.

1 Cor 15:24-28 NLT

After that the end will come, when he will turn the Kingdom over to God the Father, having put down all enemies of every kind. For Christ must reign until he humbles all his enemies beneath his feet. And the last enemy to be destroyed is death. For the Scriptures say, "God has given him authority over all things." (Of course, when it says "authority over all things," it does not include God himself, who gave Christ his authority.) Then, when he has conquered all things, the Son will present himself to God, so that God, who gave his Son authority over all things, will be utterly supreme over everything everywhere.