Your Promise Is Not Dead
|Crash And Burn|
God is a God of promises. The Bible is filled with them, and God also makes personal promises in our lives. Maybe it's just me, but sometimes it can seem like the promises of God don't pan out like we envision. Sometimes the promise will start off strong then suddenly crumble before our eyes. Sometimes, the circumstances can sometimes appear so bleak that we end up writing it off completely. Your promise may be for a job, a spouse, a healing, a ministry, or the salvation of a wayward family member. The possibilities are endless. When the circumstances don't play out as expected, it's very easy to look at the conditions and give a death certificate to our promise. It can appear as though all hope is lost, and it leave us with questions. Did I do something wrong? Was I hearing God clearly? Did God renege on His word?
Our promises may differ, but one constant is that waiting on the promise requires patience and faith. It's impossible to please God without faith (Hebrews 11:6). In fact, here's a little inside info that will help you get through. Circumstances are sometimes designed specifically for you to demonstrate your faith towards God. We learn this from James 1:2-3 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. I invite you to take a look at a woman who received a promise from the Lord, which literally appeared to be dead, then examine what was done to bring life and restoration.
|The Headache|
In 2 Kings Chapter 4, the bible records a wealthy Shunnamite woman who would see the prophet Elisha travelling through Shunem. She perceived that he was a man of God, so she decided to make a room, in her home, for him to lodge when he was in town. Elisha insisted on repaying her for her hospitality and asked what he could do for her. She didn't ask for anything, but Elisha's assistant pointed out that her husband was old and she did not have any children. During this time, it was viewed negatively when a wife did not have children. So Elisha made her a promise that by this time next year, she would be nursing a son. When you invite the presence of God into your home, you can reap the benefits of God's promises.
Right on schedule, the woman's promise came to fruition. She birthed a son and began raising him accordingly. Everything was going fine until one day, the son went out in the field and complained to his dad about a headache. The dad had the son carried to his mother and the boy died in her lap. Imagine the heartbreak this woman felt when this woman's promise literally died in her arms, right before her eyes.
The woman becomes distraught and she goes to find Elisha. He realizes that she is upset and finds out that her son is dead. Like many of us, she begins to question: 2 Kings 4:8 Then she said, Did I desire a son of my lord? did I not say, Do not deceive me? All hope appears to be lost. However, Elisha knows too much about God to count it as a lost and he does something very interesting.
|The Revival|
Elisha sends his assistant, Gehazi, to try and revive the boy with his staff. The woman commits to not leaving their side: 2 Kings 4:30 And the mother of the child said, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And he arose, and followed her. Gehazi is unsuccessful, so Elisha has to attack this himself. He gets alone with the boy and closes the door. Elisha begins praying to God and proceeds to do something very interesting:
2 Kings 4:34-35 And he went up, and lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands: and stretched himself upon the child; and the flesh of the child waxed warm. Then he returned, and walked in the house to and fro; and went up, and stretched himself upon him: and the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes.
What is God saying here? Elisha putting his mouth upon the boy's mouth is God is saying that we must speak about our promise the way God speaks about it. Death and life is in the power of the tongue. When we begin to speak life into our circumstance and say what God says about our situation, instead of leaning to our own understanding, that's when the promise will be revived.
Elisha lining his eyes up with the boy's eyes is God saying that we must begin to see our promise the way God sees it. Walking by sight means that we are meditating on how our circumstance appears. Walking by faith means that we are standing on the word of God, despite how things look. God is bigger than our circumstance. God is saying when you begin to see things from a Godly perspective and walk by faith and not by sight, that's when your promise will begin to manifest.
Elisha lining his hands up with the boys hands is God saying that the work of our hands must line up with the promise. Faith is great, but faith without works is dead. We can talk about a promise until we are blue in the face, but it's not until we put our hand to the blow that things begin to move.
Then, Elisha stretches himself over the boy and he got warm. He walked around the house and stretched on him again and he opened his eyes. God is saying that we must stretch Him completely over our situation and let him cover our atmosphere. Sometimes we try to do things in our own strength. We figure that we can handle the minor details and leave the hard stuff for God. We can believe God for the promise and the spiritual things, but we don't allow him into every part of our lives. God is saying that He needs to be completely and totally immersed in our situation and in our lives, so he can bring it life and open our eyes to how God He is.
Suffice it to say that God is faithful. God is not a man that he should lie and he does not slack concerning His promises. He's given us the strategies to walk in the fullness of what he has for us. When we exercise patience and faith, and line up our agenda with God's agenda, that's we we can manifest a glorious life in Christ. Your promise is not dead.
