One day Elisha went on to Shunem, where a wealthy woman lived, who urged him to eat some food. So whenever he passed that way, he would turn in there to eat food. And she said to her husband, "Behold now, I know that this is a holy man of God who is continually passing our way. Let us make a small room on the roof with walls and put there for him a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp, so that whenever he comes to us, he can go in there."
One day he came there, and he turned into the chamber and rested there. And he said to Gehazi his servant, "Call this Shunammite." When he had called her, she stood before him. And he said to him, "Say now to her, 'See you have taken all this trouble for us; what is to be done for you? Would you have a word spoken on your behalf to the king or to the commander of the army?'"
She answered, "I dwell among my own people." And he said, "What then is to be done for her?" Gehazi answered, "Well, she has no son, and her husband is old." He said, "Call her." And when he had called her, she stood in the doorway. And he said, "At this season, about this time next year, you shall embrace a son." And she said, "No, my lord, man of God; do not lie to your servant." But the woman conceived, and she bore a son about that time the following spring, as Elisha had said to her.
2 Kings 4:8-17 ESV
Her heart was postured in humility before the Lord. She was seeking to serve, not be served. The beauty in her preparing a place for the man of God to rest spoke deeply to my spirit. The Lord has been teaching His Beloved Bride the art of allowing Him to rest in and upon them. I see many preparing rooms in their hearts and homes to host His presence well in the quiet of their prayer closets and the times set aside in their hearts and minds.
As He has rested within and upon these surrendered beloveds, He has spoken unbelievable dreams into their hearts. He has given them a glimpse of their futures and the opportunity to partner with His words over their lives. As these words have been partnered with to the best of their abilities, they have seen some birthing and breakthroughs. I've heard them saying, "Don't lie to me, Lord! It seems too good to be true!"
When the child had grown, he went out one day to his father among the reapers. And he said to his father, "Oh, my head, my head!" The father said to his servant, "Carry him to his mother." And when he had lifted him and brought him to his mother, the child sat on her lap till noon, and then he died. And she went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God and shut the door behind him and went out. Then she called to her husband and said, "Send me one of the servants and one of the donkeys, that I may quickly go to the man of God and come back again." And he said, "Why will you go ot him today? It is neither new moon nor Sabbath."
She said, "All is well."
Then she saddled the donkey, and she said to her servant, "Urge the animal on; do not slacken the pace for me unless I tell you." So she set out and came to the man of God at Mount Carmel. When the man of God saw her coming, he said to Gehazi his servant, "Look, there is the Shunammite. Run at once to meet her and say to her, 'Is all well with you? Is all well with your husband? Is all well with your child?"
And she answered, "All is well."
And then she came to the mountain to the man of God, she caught hold of his feet. And Gehazi came to push her away. But the man of God said, "Leave her alone, for she is in bitter distress, and the Lord has hidden it from me and has not told me." Then she said, "Did I ask my lord for a son? Did I not say, 'Do not deceive me?" He said to Gehazi, "Tie up your garment and take my staff in your hand and go. If you meet anyone, do not greet him, and if anyone greets you, do not reply. And lay my staff on the face of the child." Then the mother of the child said, "As the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you." So he arose and followed her.
2 Kings 4:18-30 ESV
As they have seen some words come to pass over their lives and had some promises fulfilled, it suddenly seemed as though the breakthrough had disappeared. It seemed as though the promise was dead, and their hearts were battling the heaviness of hope deferred.
They, like the Shunammite, were faithfully stewarding their words, their visions, their dreams, and their promises. They were declaring the deeper spiritual truth of "All is well," while the natural looked like the complete opposite. They were committed to protecting their atmosphere, to guarding their words as to leave no room for the enemy to advance, and still things looked like death.
These beloveds sought the Lord on their faces as they watched their promises die and then refused to leave until He blessed them with His presence again. Like Jacob, they wrestled, and now though they may walk with a limp, their wrestle propelled them into who they were really called to be. They stepped into their new name. Even in the midst of hte loss, the grief, the confusion, they were assured that His Presence was with them and that He is good and faithful to them.
I strongly sense that there are many that are still in this season, walking around limping, but assured of His Presence. I believe there are many that are waiting for the breath of the Lord to come upon their promises. Waiting for His hand to move mightily and with great swiftness. I believe as these surrendered ones cling to Him like the Shunammite clung to Elisha, they will ride on the winds of change that He is bringing into their circumstances. Elisha went with her, and the Lord goes with you!
Gehazi went on ahead and laid the staff on the face of the child, but there was no sound or sign of life. Therefore he returned to meet him and told him, "The child has not awakened." When Elisha came into the house, he saw the child lying dead on his bed. So he went in and shut the door behind the two of them and prayed to the Lord. Then he went up and lay on the child, putting his mouth on his mouth, his eyes on his eyes, his hands on his hands. And as he stretched himself upon him, the flesh of the child became warm. Then he got up again and walked once back and forth in the house, and went up and stretched himself upon him. The child sneezed seven times and the child opened his eyes. Then he summoned Gehazi and said, "Call this Shunammite." So he called her. And when she came to him, he said, "Pick up your son." She came and fell at his feet, bowing to the ground. Then she picked up her son and went out.
2 Kings 4:31-37 ESV
The enemy has tried to kill, steal, and destroy, but the Spirit of God is blowing. The winds of change are coming, and He is expelling the enemy from the room with a gust of deliverance! Seven is the number of perfection and completion. As I read this, I heard loudly in my spirit, "They will deal with this demonic delay and interference no more! No more going through the same things over and over! I am expelling the enemy forcefully! This is the hour of the seventh sneeze!"
When the Lord breathes back into your promise, your vision, your dream, GO FORTH! Pick it up and go with it! I see many the Lord has breathed life back into still stuck in that room on the rooftop afraid to move for fear that the other shoe will drop, but it's not going to! Run with your promise, beloved! Run with purpose toward your destiny! Tell the nations what He has done!
Now Elisha had said to the woman whose son he had restored to life, "Arise, and depart with your household and sojourn wherever you can, for the Lord has called for a famine, and it will come upon the land for seven years." So the woman arose and did according to the word of the man of God. She went with her household and sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven years. At the end of the seven years, when the woman returned from the land of the Philistines, she went to appeal to the king for her house and her land.
2 Kings 8:1-3 ESV
I believe there is going to be a famine in the land in the next few years. I don't know when, but I know it's coming. I'm not the only one sounding this warning. The time that is coming will hold great sorrow-it's already begun with the war in Israel-but the fruit it will produce will be plentiful for harvest! The pangs have started and while it's sorrowful, what joy for those whose hope is in the Lord! After the sorrow shall come a Great Restoration!
Now the king was talking with Gehazi the servant of the man of God, saying, "Tell me all the great things that Elisha has done." And while he was telling the king how Elisha had restored the dead to life, behold, the woman whose son he had restored to life appealed to the king for her house and her land. And Gehazi said, "My lord, O king, here is the woman, and here is her son whom Elisha restored to life." And when the king asked the woman, she told him. So the king appointed an official for her, saying, "Restore all that was hers together with all the produce of the fields from the day that she left the land until now."
2 Kings 8:4-6 ESV
All the times the enemy stole and killed, all the times the Bride wrestled with hope deferred and the chaos of warfare will be restored in an instant! Watch, over the next few months as the Lord brings recompense with a vengeance! There will be a recompense, not just of promise, but of EVERY SINGLE THING the enemy even tried to touch in your life. Areas you have forgotten were affected will be restored to you a hundred-fold!
Pay attention to the kairos moments (the appointed times in the purpose of God), the meetings that are no coincidence, but divine appointments set up before the foundations of the earth to restore to you ALL that is yours and then some! Like the Shunammite, your testimony before the kings of the earth will give you supernatural favor! The Lord is appointing "Officials" to His remnant, Angels of Abundant Harvest, to restore to His Bride that which was taken. Angels that will harvest, not just resources, but also the souls of the lost! ALL will be redeemed in this time!
Beloved Bride, as you wait, wait expectantly. Wait with all the hope of heaven, because the battles you have faced, the hope deferred, the disappointment, the contending, the weeping, the wrestling...it's not just things you went through for you. You have been carrying the breakthrough for the generations! You have been carrying the hammer and beating through the mountain in front of you for those who will come along behind. It's been worth every blow, every strike! Glory in the hour of the seventh sneeze, because as it leaves, nothing will ever be the same again!
The tides are turning. The winds are changing.
The nations are crying out in the Spirit and the Lord is answering.
Vengeance is coming. Recompense is here.
His remnant is rising so He can return.
-Excerpted from Surrendered For Such a Time as This, Jenny Johnson
Click to purchase on Amazon:
Comentarios