2 Kings 4:20

New International Version

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.

For Your Encouragement

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 all 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. You may not understand their language, but the bitterness of her 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 her limp son on her lap, is the face I see in these women (2 Kings 4:20). Her spiritual sensitivity and hospitality made Elisha a member of her family (8-10). She did not ask for a child, but the prophet blessed her with a boy according to prophecy, who completed her life (13-17). But now, with the dead body of her son in her lap, her heart bleeds (18-20). Yet amid her anguish, her unwavering faith in God’s power to restore and provide hope inspires us all today.

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 to Elisha, who could not discern the purpose of her coming. Humbled, he confessed to Gehazi, his servant:

“The Lord has hidden it from me and has not told me why” (2 Kings 4:27).

Prophets do not know it all. It is God who reveals and blesses for His purpose and glory. She would not go with Gehazi (29-30). The man of God carried the anointing that blessed her with her son. That anointing must bring him back to life.

“As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you” (30).

Now, that is the faith that receives. The Shunammite woman believed that the God who gave her son could raise him back to life (Cf. Heb. 11:19). Her faith was not in vain, for it was through this unwavering belief that she received the miraculous restoration of her son (2 Kings 4:32-37). This same faith is available to each of us in Christ Jesus, empowering us to receive from God’s hands in our own dire situations.

Your situation could be dire, and you think hope has flown away with it. But do you know there is a faith that receives from God’s hands? Abraham walked in that level of faith on Mount Moriah (Gen. 22:8; Heb. 11:19). The woman with the flow of blood did so (Matt. 9:21), as did the Centurion (Matt. 8:8), and the Syro-Phoenician woman (Mk. 7:28). Countless others have exercised this kind of faith and received from the Lord what they requested. Your situation is not beyond the possibilities in Christ Jesus if only you will believe. This is the reassurance that we can all hold on to in our time of need.

Do you have that kind of faith in Jesus?

Pray with Me

Father, I trust you, but help my unbelief in my weak moments, in Christ Jesus, amen.

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