When you are down to nothing, God is up to something! - Barbara Franklin(1)
Have you ever been assigned a task from the Lord, or been asked by Him to do something specific? Perhaps you’ve been called to pastor a church, become a missionary, attend seminary, or even start a new outreach in the church. Maybe God’s placed something else on your heart altogether.
Do you have a deep passion to see that vision fulfilled; however, you haven’t heard from the Lord in a while concerning that particular calling? Do you sometimes wonder if God’s ever going to bring it to pass, and do you feel like you just keep waiting with no response from Him?
When the Lord provides a vision and we don’t see His calling fulfilled immediately, we can easily become discouraged and question Him. What I want to emphasize in our message this evening is how those silent times can often be ordained by God. I wish to share about God-appointed down-times, as we look at how the apostle Paul had to undergo both a three-year and a fourteen-year down-time consecutively.
Down-Time in Arabia (Galatians 1:15-17)
In Galatians 1:15-17, Paul began sharing about his two interim periods, and he mentioned how his first one came immediately after he had received Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Savior:
But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went to Arabia, and returned again to Damascus (Galatians 1:15-17).
In the event which Paul described, he was formerly called by the name Saul. When Paul spoke of God revealing His Son in him, he was referring to his Damascus road experience with Jesus, where Christ appeared to Saul asking why he was persecuting Him (Acts 9:4).
Saul said, “Who are You, Lord?” and He replied, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” The passage continues to tell us, “So he, trembling and astonished, said, ‘Lord, what do You want me to do?’ Then the Lord said to him, ‘Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do’” (Acts 9:5-6).
When Saul opened his eyes he was blind. The Bible says that a disciple named Ananias was commanded by the Lord to lay hands on him and pray for his sight to return. Saul was then filled with the Holy Spirit and the Lord revealed his ministry (Acts 9:10-18). He was informed that he was a chosen vessel to bear the name of the Lord to the Gentiles, to kings and to all the children of Israel (9:15).
The Lord gave Paul an amazing revelation of a world-impacting ministry, and Paul said that he “did not immediately confer with flesh and blood” (Gal 1:16), meaning that He did not immediately begin his ministry! So, what did he do instead? He stated, “I went down to Arabia, and returned again to Damascus” (1:17). Paul spent three years in Arabia, for he continued to say in verse 18, “Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and remained with him fifteen days.”
How could someone who had been shown that he was to have such a world-changing ministry retreat from the scene for three years, and why? What did Paul do for those three years? Warren Wiersbe says, “God sent Paul to Arabia for a time of meditation and investigation,”(2) similar to what occurred with Jesus when the Bible shares how, “Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness” (Lk 4:1-2); and we can conclude that Paul went to Arabia at the prompting of the Holy Spirit. M. G. Easton states,
Immediately after his conversion he retired into the solitudes of Arabia, perhaps of “Sinai in Arabia,” for the purpose, probably, of devout study and meditation . . . It is a mysterious pause, a moment of suspense, in the apostle’s history . . . which ushers in the tumultuous storm of his active missionary life. Coming back, after three years . . . he began to preach the gospel ‘boldly in the name of Jesus’ (Acts 9:27).(3)
A down-time is often called a wilderness experience. Many great prophets and godly men had to undergo a time in the wilderness before they were allowed to enter the plan that God had for them. The wilderness can be a time of silence from the Lord, and it can be a time of testing or trials (Ps 95:8) that can be likened to a refiner’s fire. In Isaiah, the Lord declared, “Behold, I have refined you . . . I have tested you in the furnace of affliction” (48:10).
This testing is meant to mold us and make us into the image of Christ, and its end result works for our good and the benefit of the kingdom. In Psalm we read, “For You, O God, have tested us; You have refined us as silver is refined . . . We went through fire and through water; but You brought us out to rich fulfillment” (66:10-12). When we go through the fire, or through a spiritual wilderness, the Lord will bring us out to rich fulfillment too!
The Lord is able to lead us to fulfillment, because our time in the wilderness makes us more useful to Him. We’re more dependent on Him, because during that period we had to rely completely on God for everything; and that’s what He wants - people who are wholly dependent on Him. The Lord doesn’t want self-sufficient people, but our sufficiency is supposed to come from Christ alone (2 Cor 3:4), in order that God may receive all the glory (1 Cor 2:4-5).
God will allow us to go through the wilderness to build our character and to prepare us for what lies ahead; and we’ll eventually come to succeed in ministry for the very reason that we will be prepared to face what life throws our way!
Preaching in Damascus and Jerusalem (Galatians 1:18-24)
Paul alluded to the purpose of his initial three-year down-time as being a time of preparation. Whatever the Lord did within his heart during that time period served to prepare him for his first attempt in the ministry of the gospel. Paul said:
Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and remained with him fifteen days. But I saw none of the other apostles except James, the Lord’s brother. (Now concerning the things which I write to you, indeed, before God, I do not lie).
Afterward I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. And I was unknown by face to the churches of Judea which were in Christ. But they were hearing only, “He who formerly persecuted us now preaches the faith which he once tried to destroy.” And they glorified God in me (Galatians 1:18-24).
We read here how after Paul’s three-year period of silence that he went up to Jerusalem, and that he also went into Syria and Cilicia (Gal 1:15, 21). What did he do in these places? We’re told that he preached “the faith which he once tried to destroy” (1:23). Paul began what he was called to do, and the Lord was glorified through him! Listen closely as I share some related commentary found in Acts 9:26-28:
And when Saul had come to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, and did not believe that he was a disciple. But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. And he declared to them how he had seen the Lord on the road, and that He had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus. So he was with them at Jerusalem, coming in and going out.
So, how did Paul’s first attempt at preaching go? We read that God was glorified through him (Gal 1:24); however, he wasn’t fully trusted by some of the other disciples (Acts 9:26). His first attempt bore fruit, but it wasn’t quite as effective as he would have liked. He had a calling on his life, but the timing wasn’t right for some reason or another.
It wasn’t that Paul didn’t have a good résumé. He had the upbringing, being “circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin” and being “a Hebrew of the Hebrews,” and he had the education, being a teacher of the law (Phil 3:5). He also held a track record of faithfulness (or zeal) within his own “denomination” (so to speak), and “concerning the righteousness which is in the law” he was considered “blameless” (3:6).
Paul was moving from a “life in the law” to a “life in the Spirit.” He was learning to live by grace instead of works, and he was learning to extend grace instead of holding people captive to legalism. Paul no doubt made some major progress in his three-year stay in Arabia, and he may have felt ready; however, some of the disciples saw him only for his past.
Paul wasn’t held back because of a lack of passion for preaching the gospel, he was held back because some of God’s people didn’t know him well enough to fully trust him. He lacked the support of the body of Christ. He had the backing of the Holy Spirit, but the people had to open their hearts to the working of the Spirit before Paul could ever be allowed to minister. No doubt, this had to be a frustrating time for him!
Down-Time in Tarsus (Galatians 2:1)
Paul’s first attempt at sharing the gospel was amazing by today’s standards; however, the Lord would later use him to have an even greater impact; but before a more effective ministry would arrive, Paul was again forced to drop out of the scene. His next down-time was lengthier than a mere three years. Paul stated:
Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and also took Titus with me (Galatians 2:1).
Something happened to Paul when he preached in Jerusalem. In Acts, we read, “And he spoke boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus and disputed against the Hellenists, but they attempted to kill him. When the brethren found out, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him out to Tarsus” (9:29-30). Paul was sent away to his hometown of Tarsus for his own protection, and we read that he didn’t go back to Jerusalem again until fourteen years had elapsed (Gal 2:1)!
The New Bible Dictionary states, “His ministry in Jerusalem lasted scarcely two weeks, for again certain Hellenistic Jews sought to kill him. To avoid them, Paul returned to the city of his birth, spending there a ‘silent period’ . . . No doubt it is silent only to us.”(4) Sir William Ramsay commented on this time, saying this:
We conclude that Paul was still not fully conscious of the full meaning of his mission; he was still bound in the fetters of Judai[sm] . . . and acted as if the door of the synagogue was the portal through which the Nations must find their way into the Church. He had not yet learned, or at least he had not yet so fully shaken himself free from the prejudices of education and tradition.(5)
Apparently Paul had some more growing to do. His time in Tarsus was no doubt another God-appointed down-time. He had already spent three years in waiting, and now he had to endure another fourteen years in delay of his calling! How much growing does a person have to do, and how long does one have to wait? It could be a matter of spiritual growth, and it could be a simple matter of timing.
Timing was the issue with Joseph in the Old Testament. Joseph had been given a vision from the Lord which showed his family bowing down before him (Gn 37:5-10); however, before that vision was ever fulfilled, Joseph was thrown into a pit and sold into slavery (37:18-28); exalted in Potiphar’s household (39:4); then thrown into prison (39:20); and finally made second in command of all Egypt (41:39-45), where his brothers came and bowed themselves before him to ask for some grain in a time of famine (42:1-6), where his dream was fulfilled.
Joseph’s vision could not have been realized until the time of the famine, and he could not have risen in power to second in command of Egypt had he not endured his pit experiences! It was a matter of timing, and not necessarily growth! From our own perspective we can’t see the end result, and it’s hard to understand why we must go through some of the things we do. It’s also difficult to go through a time of waiting, or a wilderness experience, when we know that we have a distinct calling on our life.
We must be patient and wait on God’s timing, and when the call or vision finally comes to fruition, then we will know as Esther that we have been called out “for such a time as this” (Est 4:14).
Recognition by the Apostles (Galatians 2:7-9)
Paul had to wait for the timing to be right before he could attain optimal effectiveness in the gospel ministry. He had to wait for recognition in the eyes of the apostles and the church, which is what he emphasized in the following verses:
But on the contrary, when they saw that the gospel for the uncircumcised had been committed to me, as the gospel for the circumcised was to Peter (for He who worked effectively in Peter for the apostleship to the circumcised also worked effectively in me toward the Gentiles), and when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that had been given to me, they gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised (Galatians 2:7-9).
The church had to recognize that the gospel for the Gentiles had been committed unto Paul (Gal 2:7), and they also had to recognize the grace and anointing that had been poured out on him (2:9). It took fourteen years for this to occur, but it finally happened! In Acts 11:25-26, we read this:
Then Barnabas departed for Tarsus to seek Saul. And when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. So it was that for a whole year they assembled with the church and taught a great many people. And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.
Paul was sent for, and we read that he taught in the church for an entire year! After teaching for a year, Paul and Barnabas were commissioned to the Gentiles (Gal 2:9). This commissioning can be observed in Acts, and we read that as they ministered in the church at Antioch that “the Holy Spirit said, ‘Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’ Then, having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away” (13:2-3).
We can begin to see how God was in charge all along. The apostles may not have recognized Paul earlier, but they certainly did when the Holy Spirit wanted them to! The down-times that he experienced were appointed by the Lord!
Time of Reflection
Every believer goes through a down-time where they are not doing what the Lord has asked, and where God doesn’t seem to be saying much. Sometimes we might not be pursuing our calling because we’re living in sin and disobedience and running from the Lord, and the same reason can explain why we’re not hearing from Him.
At other times, though, we’re not doing what God’s placed on our heart because He won’t allow it to happen yet. The Lord wants to mold us and make us in the fiery trials of the wilderness; and in His perfect timing, use us to bring glory to His name.
If you’ve continued in faithfulness to the Lord, and yet you’re not seeing your calling fulfilled, then try to relax, for God has not abandoned you. It’s probably a matter of spiritual growth and the right timing. Will you wait on the Lord’s timing, and faithfully worship Him and serve Him to the best of your ability where you are? Keep in mind that you must, if you want to enter the calling He’s placed on your life.
NOTES
(1) Barbara Washington Franklin, When You’re Down to Nothing, God is Up to Something (Longwood, FL: Xulon Press, 2008); quote taken from book title.
(2) Warren W. Wiersbe, Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines on the New Testament, in Logos CD-ROM, version 2.1E (Wheaton, Illinois: Victor Books, 1992).
(3) M. G. Easton, “Paul,” Easton’s Bible Dictionary, in Logos CD-ROM, version 2.1E.
(4) “Paul,” The New Bible Dictionary, in Logos CD-ROM, version 2.1E (Wheaton, Illinois: Tyndale House, 1962).
(5) Sir William Ramsay, St. Paul the Traveler and the Roman Citizen, in Logos CD-ROM, version 2.1E (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1908).
