After the servant had lifted him up and carried him to his mother, the boy sat on her lap until noon, and then he died.

2 Kings 4:20

For Meditation

I can see her through the faces of thousands of women in war-torn cities, drought-stricken countries, and refugee camps. Anguished souls, with faces, drained of every hope, yet, expecting a miracle – somebody to help make sense of the whirlwind of catastrophic events that have shattered their world. In a typical scene, a woman holds the lifeless body of her child in her open hands, sobbing uncontrollably. You may not understand their language, but the bitterness of the soul has its unique expression, with a message that can shatter your tranquil disposition and drain your eyes of tears. “Why?”

The Shunammite woman with the limp body of her son on her lap is the face I see in these women. Her spiritual sensitivity and hospitality virtually made Elisha a member of her family (2 Kings 4:1-10). She did not ask for a child, but the prophet appreciated her with a boy who completed her life (13-17). But now the dead body of her son in her lap breaks her heart (18-20).

When will fathers discern a little about events in their homes? The father was so busy with his harvest that he could not feel the urgency of his son’s headache, but to send him to his mother. Likewise, he had no idea of the death in his home when his wife sent for the donkey for her trip to fetch the prophet (22-23). O, that the concern of fathers for their families will be weightier than their jobs!

Thank God for faith. The mother was deliberate in her response to her tragedy. With the calmness that faith brings, she laid the body of her son on the bed of the prophet. Then she went for him. She had not come for Gehazi, Elisha’s servant. The man of God carried the anointing that blessed her with her son. That same servant of God must bring him back to life.

But do not miss the humility of Elisha in his confession to Gehazi. “The Lord has hidden it from me and has not told me why” (27). Prophets do not know it all. It is God who reveals for His purpose and glory.

Elisha went back with the mother, and God graciously raised the boy from the dead (32-37). That miracle strengthened the faith of the Shunammite woman in the Eternal God of Israel, of whom, “Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead” (Heb. 11:19).

Now, that was the faith of the Shunammite woman when she said to Elisha, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.”.

Do you have that kind of faith in Jesus?