Elisha and the Shunammite Woman

 2 Kings 4:8-17

 August 26, 202

Elisha and the Shunammite Woman

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.” ¹⁵ He said, “Call her.” And when he had called her, she stood in the doorway. ¹⁶ And he said, “At this season, about this time next year, you shall embrace a son.” And she said, “No, my lord, O man of God; do not lie to your servant.” ¹⁷ But the woman conceived, and she bore a son about that time the following spring, as Elisha had said to her.

 

Hope beyond hope, a private dream, a desire so big you cannot allow it to be voiced by your mouth; if you have been there you understand where the Shunammite woman is with her emotions.  Without having a son, the husband has no heir, and the wife has no one to look to in her old age, but it was great than that, even with her wealth, she was looked down on as one who God had not allowed having a son.  She carried a stigma of humiliation in the community, but more so in her heart and mind.  When Elisha told her she was going to have a son, you recall her husband was past the age of baby-making, and for some time she had to die to this hope.  She was sure that Elisha was a holy man, but she could not allow her heart to believe that God would do such a thing for her after all these years.

 

If you have been there, or maybe that is where you find yourself at this moment, my prayer is you will find peace in God's promises to you, and never doubt that you are the object of God’s love, and if your faith is small, ask the Father to increase your faith so that you can put your hope and dream on Jesus and seek His will for your life.

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice