Holding to the Promises

2 Kings 4:8-16

And it fell on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was a great woman; and she constrained him to eat bread. And so it was, that as oft as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread. And she said unto her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is an holy man of God, which passeth by us continually. Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick: and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither. And it fell on a day, that he came thither, and he turned into the chamber, and lay there. And he said to Gehazi his servant, Call this Shunammite. And when he had called her, she stood before him. And he said unto him, Say now unto her, Behold, thou hast been careful for us with all this care; what is to be done for thee? wouldest thou be spoken for to the king, or to the captain of the host? And she answered, I dwell among mine own people. And he said, What then is to be done for her? And Gehazi answered, Verily she hath no child, and her husband is old. And he said, Call her. And when he had called her, she stood in the door. And he said, About this season, according to the time of life, thou shalt embrace a son. And she said, Nay, my lord, thou man of God, do not lie unto thine handmaid.

We all know the story of the woman from Shunem...how that she saw that Elisha was a man of God, and how she wanted to do something for him...as a result of her servant's heart, the Lord blessed her with a son, even in spite of her lack of faith (isn't that amazing? that even when there are times that our faith is so small, our God still works His wonders in our life!). As time went on, the boy, like all little boys, went out to help his father in the field or maybe just to play, suddenly became sick. He was rushed to the house to his mother where he died in her arms...

She then immediately laid him on the preacher's bed, called her husband for one of the young men to take her to the preacher. Her husband even asked her was everything well, and she answered that all was well...(I think sometimes the Lord gives us those things in our lack of faith to build our faith in Him so that next time we know exactly where to run...directly to HIM!) She told the young man to not spare any speed! She meant business! She knew what the Lord had promised her, and she was going to hold Him to that! After this, we all know if we have been in Sunday school or church long enough, that her prayers were indeed answered on that day! Elisha came into the room, laid on him, prayed over him, and he awoke sneezing! The Lord truly kept His promise to her!

But...did you know that the story doesn't end there? I didn't until last year, we heard a preacher preack a sermon on remembering the promises the Lord has given you...over in 2 Kings 8...

2 Kings 8:1-6

Then spake Elisha unto the woman, whose son he had restored to life, saying, Arise, and go thou and thine household, and sojourn wheresoever thou canst sojourn: for the LORD hath called for a famine; and it shall also come upon the land seven years. And the woman arose, and did after the saying of the man of God: and she went with her household, and sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven years. And it came to pass at the seven years' end, that the woman returned out of the land of the Philistines: and she went forth to cry unto the king for her house and for her land. And the king talked with Gehazi the servant of the man of God, saying, Tell me, I pray thee, all the great things that Elisha hath done. And it came to pass, as he was telling the king how he had restored a dead body to life, that, behold, the woman, whose son he had restored to life, cried to the king for her house and for her land. And Gehazi said, My lord, O king, this is the woman, and this is her son, whom Elisha restored to life. And when the king asked the woman, she told him. So the king appointed unto her a certain officer, saying, Restore all that was hers, and all the fruits of the field since the day that she left the land, even until now.

Here we are again, apparently her husband had died, and it was just her and her son...there was a famine coming into the land...the preacher told her what God was going to do and that she needed to get out of town...(I wonder what would have happened if she hadn't listened to what the Lord was telling her through the man of God the first time?) The preacher that preached this, he said to think about how they probably felt after the first few years of the famine...the son would probably ask his mama when was it going to be over...will it ever end? when can we go back home? But in what she had learned of the Lord, she kept holding onto the promise...the famine would be over in seven years, the Lord would protect her and her son...at the end of the seven years...she knew it was over! The Lord had done what He said...

I love how the story progresses here...she came home to see that maybe someone had taken over her land and home (that would make any woman lose hope!), but she knew that the Lord had taken care of her this far, He definitely wasn't about to drop the ball! She decided she was going to take this to the king! This is so exciting!!!!! As she was headed to talk to the king, he was already in conference with someone else! Gehazi!!! Elisha's servant! The king had been hearing all these things the Lord had done through Elisha, he wanted to hear from someone first hand...and as Gehazi was talking about this woman...in she walks! I can here Gehazi now...the exclamation in his voice, like he couldn't believe that here was the same woman! Almost like he was saying, "Oh my goodness, King, this is the very same woman!!!" and then in walks the son.... "Oh my goodness, here is her son!!!! The one the Lord brought back to life through Elisha!!!" ...

As a result of following the Lord, listening to his promises, the Lord richly blessed her with even more than she had before! He gave her the increase from the crops of the seven years of famine that she missed, everything was restored...all because she held onto the promise...the promise from the Word of God!

We need to learn something from this great woman of Shunem! When she hit her lowest points in life, she didn't give up hope. She didn't forget all that the Lord had promised or done...she held onto what the Lord had promised her!

When her son died......she kept trusting that the Lord would indeed bring him back to life! (2 Kings 4:22-37)

When the man of God told her to get out of town for 7 years.......she never doubted what he said. She immediately trusted that God was right and He would take care of her! (2 Kings 8:1-2)

When everything she had worked for was taken away.......she didn't lose hope! She believed the Lord would keep his promise to look after her! ALL was restored! (2 Kings 8:3-6)

I have to admit, I don't think that I would have kept holding onto the promise that the Lord had given me...I fail to even do that in my everyday life, but I'm going to strive with the Lord's help to be like this great woman! To keep holding onto the promises the Lord has given me in His Word, will you?