Walk It Out Wednesday: Don’t Bury Your Dream!

This summary, based on Bishop T.D. Jakes’ teaching from 2 Kings 4, emphasizes the necessity of cultivating inner toughness and relentless faith to achieve the destiny God has planned, even when life’s circumstances contradict His promises. The story of the Shunammite woman serves as a powerful blueprint for understanding divine favor, the principle of reciprocity, and the commitment required to see a buried dream resurrected.

1. The Core Mandate: Keep Your Dream Alive

It is easy to let bad circumstances, disappointment, and disbelief cause a person to “bury their dream” and settle for a life that is less than what God intended. To achieve what God has planned, one must possess toughness.

Toughness vs. Meanness

Toughness is often confused with meanness, but they are distinct. Toughness is an internal quality that fortifies and sustains an individual, keeping them going, even when mean people are not tough. This inner resilience is crucial for spiritual endurance.

The Power of Confession

The way an individual talks to themselves significantly impacts their peace and contentment. Instead of confessing fear, sickness, or generational curses, believers must confess faith. The spirit needs to hear the mouth declare, “I’m coming into my season,” even if circumstances look dire. This constant confession helps shift mood and attitude.

2. Unlocking Favor: Reciprocity and Overflow

The Shunammite woman, referred to as a “great woman” (meaning well off), exemplifies the principles of liberal giving and reciprocity that lead to divine favor and overflow.

The Ministry of Giving and Helps

The Shunammite woman had a giving spirit and was creatively a giver; she didn’t need to be asked to provide. Her generosity was expressed by constantly feeding the prophet Elisha as he passed by.

• Liberal Soul: God promises that the “liberal soul shall be made fat”.
• Overflow: “Fat” represents overflow—receiving “more than enough”. When a gas tank is full and spilling out, that is fat. God gives this overflow because He knows the generous person will continue giving, sewing, and planting.
• God’s Guarantee: God will always find a way to get a blessing back to a giver, even if the original source fails (e.g., a bounced check) or if He has to use the giver’s enemy.

The Principle of Reciprocity

Reciprocity is essential in every relationship. The Shunammite woman’s continual care for Elisha prompted him to ask, “What is to be done for thee?”.

• Spiritual Exchange: Paul taught that if he gave spiritual things, others should give back carnal things.
• Conviction: Individuals should be convicted if someone keeps being nice to them and they fail to reciprocate (e.g., cooking dinner, washing dishes). Reciprocity is a consistent law of the universe, like seed time and harvest, day and night, and winter and summer, operating whether one is saved or unsaved.

Making Room for the Divine

The Shunammite woman went beyond providing meals; she designed and built a dedicated chamber on the wall for Elisha, intending to make it comfortable for him to come more often. This commitment is a metaphor for preparing space in one’s life for Christ:

• Believers must intentionally make a room for Jesus, asking: “Wonder if you’ve made a room for him, wonder if there’s space in your life to have a devotional and have a relationship with Christ”.
• The Holy Spirit is a gentleman who will not break in; He must be invited.
• One cannot be evil and genuinely worship at the same time; worship washes away anger and attitudes.

3. The Test of Favor: Suffering and Loss

The Shunammite woman received her miracle—a promised son—but the child grew up and suddenly died. This loss exposes a common misunderstanding of favor.

Favor is Not the Absence of Pain

Many people associate favor only with success, wealth, or good times. However, the woman was still favored even when her grown child died on her lap.

• Life Happens: Favor does not exempt a person from life’s realities; people will still die, get sick, leave, and break hearts, regardless of their favor.
• Jesus’s Example: Jesus increased in favor with God and man, yet He was still crucified. He bled out on the cross, despising the shame, but looked beyond the present suffering to the joy that would result—our redemption.
• Bleeding Out: Sometimes, a person has so much favor that God puts them in a situation where they have to bleed out—a painful but necessary process for redemption and deliverance.

Judging Favor by Position, Not Condition

The devil attempts to convince believers they are cursed or have lost favor by making them judge favor by their condition (e.g., a leaking roof, a repossessed car).

• Position is Secure: The position in Christ remains secure, regardless of temporary hardship. The Prodigal Son, even in the hog pen, knew he was still his father’s son and had enough favor to return home.
• Endurance: The righteous person may fall seven times, but they keep getting up. Favor is on the soul account, not the bank account.