What's New With You?

Second Kings 4:18-37 gives us the account of the demise and revival of the Shunammite’s son. In her moment of greatest crisis, the Shunammite’s response was to appeal to the man who had given her an accurate prophetic word in prior years. 

How do we react when our God-given dreams die? We can take a few pointers from the Shunammite woman:

• Don’t bury the dream just yet. What looks dead may only be asleep, waiting to be revived.
• Say what God sees. The Shunammite had a wonderful phrase: “All is well.” Even though nothing about her crisis seemed good, she spoke a positive word.
• Stay close to God’s representatives. The Shunammite did not discuss any details with her friends, servants, nor even her husband. She limited her communication-in-crisis to the ones who had been a part of God’s program from the beginning.

It’s pretty easy for us to read (or listen to) the Shunammite woman’s story. Perhaps it’s not as easy for us to live her story.

Let’s be real. There are some things, and some people, that we have completely given up on. There are some dreams that have faded into virtual nothingness. There are some options that we have dropped, because we are tired and we don’t want to waste time or energy on such things anymore. In that light, the word from the Lord through Pastor Richie is an extremely challenging one… but that is the word God gave, and we have to deal with it.

God is the Giver of new life, new hope, and new victories. He holds “the new” in heaven’s storehouses, and we are now in a season where “the new” will become our lived experience—on earth as it is in heaven. God has spoken: it will come to pass.

I pray that the promise of the new will encourage and sustain you.