The Woman of Shunem

In my devotions this morning, I was studying this passage from 2 Kings, chapter 4:

Elisha and the Woman from Shunem
8 One day Elisha went to the town of Shunem. A wealthy woman lived there, and she urged him to come to her home for a meal. After that, whenever he passed that way, he would stop there for something to eat.
9 She said to her husband, “I am sure this man who stops in from time to time is a holy man of God. 10 Let’s build a small room for him on the roof and furnish it with a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp. Then he will have a place to stay whenever he comes by.”
11 One day Elisha returned to Shunem, and he went up to this upper room to rest. 12 He said to his servant Gehazi, “Tell the woman from Shunem I want to speak to her.” When she appeared, 13 Elisha said to Gehazi, “Tell her, ‘We appreciate the kind concern you have shown us. What can we do for you? Can we put in a good word for you to the king or to the commander of the army?’”
“No,” she replied, “my family takes good care of me.”
14 Later Elisha asked Gehazi, “What can we do for her?”
Gehazi replied, “She doesn’t have a son, and her husband is an old man.”
15 “Call her back again,” Elisha told him. When the woman returned, Elisha said to her as she stood in the doorway, 16 “Next year at this time you will be holding a son in your arms!”
“No, my lord!” she cried. “O man of God, don’t deceive me and get my hopes up like that.”
17 But sure enough, the woman soon became pregnant. And at that time the following year she had a son, just as Elisha had said.
18 One day when her child was older, he went out to help his father, who was working with the harvesters. 19 Suddenly he cried out, “My head hurts! My head hurts!”
His father said to one of the servants, “Carry him home to his mother.”
20 So the servant took him home, and his mother held him on her lap. But around noontime he died. 21 She carried him up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, then shut the door and left him there. 22 She sent a message to her husband: “Send one of the servants and a donkey so that I can hurry to the man of God and come right back.”
23 “Why go today?” he asked. “It is neither a new moon festival nor a Sabbath.”
But she said, “It will be all right.”
24 So she saddled the donkey and said to the servant, “Hurry! Don’t slow down unless I tell you to.”
25 As she approached the man of God at Mount Carmel, Elisha saw her in the distance. He said to Gehazi, “Look, the woman from Shunem is coming. 26 Run out to meet her and ask her, ‘Is everything all right with you, your husband, and your child?’”
“Yes,” the woman told Gehazi, “everything is fine.”
27 But when she came to the man of God at the mountain, she fell to the ground before him and caught hold of his feet. Gehazi began to push her away, but the man of God said, “Leave her alone. She is deeply troubled, but the Lord has not told me what it is.”
28 Then she said, “Did I ask you for a son, my lord? And didn’t I say, ‘Don’t deceive me and get my hopes up’?”
29 Then Elisha said to Gehazi, “Get ready to travel[a]; take my staff and go! Don’t talk to anyone along the way. Go quickly and lay the staff on the child’s face.”
30 But the boy’s mother said, “As surely as the Lord lives and you yourself live, I won’t go home unless you go with me.” So Elisha returned with her.
31 Gehazi hurried on ahead and laid the staff on the child’s face, but nothing happened. There was no sign of life. He returned to meet Elisha and told him, “The child is still dead.”
32 When Elisha arrived, the child was indeed dead, lying there on the prophet’s bed. 33 He went in alone and shut the door behind him and prayed to the Lord. 34 Then he lay down on the child’s body, placing his mouth on the child’s mouth, his eyes on the child’s eyes, and his hands on the child’s hands. And as he stretched out on him, the child’s body began to grow warm again! 35 Elisha got up, walked back and forth across the room once, and then stretched himself out again on the child. This time the boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes!
36 Then Elisha summoned Gehazi. “Call the child’s mother!” he said. And when she came in, Elisha said, “Here, take your son!” 37 She fell at his feet and bowed before him, overwhelmed with gratitude. Then she took her son in her arms and carried him downstairs.

I can relate to this story on so many levels! First of all, I am a lot like the Shunamite woman. I feel so much like her when I don't ask God for the desires of my heart because I don't want to be disappointed. I have so often held back, because I know that when I ask God for a certain blessing, He can certainly say, "No." I almost said, "he is very likely to say no." This is how I often feel. But the truth is, He is just as likely to say "yes". So, when Jesus says, "You do not have because you do not ask," this is true of me. I hold back due to fear of being disappointed when I don't get what I ask for. Then I still don't get it, because I didn't ask! How disappointing!

Also, I am like the woman in this story in that I hold back from others. This woman was not a widow. She had a hard-working, involved husband. When He asked his wife what was happening, she told him, essentially, "everything is fine, dear, just go back to work." She told Elisha's servant the same thing, "everything is fine." Only when she got to Elisha, who in this case represented God in her life, did she tell the truth about what was really on her heart. How often I have done the same thing! I am always fine, even when my heart is breaking. Very often, I hold back from my friends, and even my family. Sometimes even God.

Finally, I identify with Elisha in this story. I have had so many times when I felt God's work in my life, when I knew that God was doing great things for me and for others through me, but when it came time to make a bold move, God seemed quiet. When Elisha saw the woman coming, he knew something was wrong, but "the Lord has not told me what it is." I hate the silence of God! I want to know what his plans are. I want to know "why" things are happening, and "what" he wants me to do. But most of the time his answer to me is the same as to Elisha, "Be patient. Pay attention. You'll see in a minute." UGH, Patience. That is a hard one. That means we have to rely on trusting God when we don't know the outcome. That will take a lifetime.

I am thankful for God's word, which teaches us that in the end, it will all come together, and even a stubborn, impatient, control-freak such as myself will one day "get it", and God will teach even me what it means to trust in the Lord.