"One day when Elisha came, he went up to his room and lay down there. 12 He said to his servant Gehazi, “Call the Shunammite.” So he called her, and she stood before him.13 Elisha said to him, “Tell her, ‘You have gone to all this trouble for us. Now what can be done for you? Can we speak on your behalf to the king or the commander of the army?’”
She replied, “I have a home among my own people.”
14 “What can be done for her?” Elisha asked.
Gehazi said, “She has no son, and her husband is old.”
15 Then Elisha said, “Call her.” So he called her, and she stood in the doorway. 16 “About this time next year,” Elisha said, “you will hold a son in your arms.”
“No, my lord!” she objected. “Please, man of God, don’t mislead your servant!”
17 But the woman became pregnant, and the next year about that same time she gave birth to a son, just as Elisha had told her.
18 The child grew, and one day he went out to his father, who was with the reapers. 19 He said to his father, “My head! My head!”
His father told a servant, “Carry him to his mother.” 20 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. 21 She went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, then shut the door and went out.
22 She called her husband and said, “Please send me one of the servants and a donkey so I can go to the man of God quickly and return.”
23 “Why go to him today?” he asked. “It’s not the New Moon or the Sabbath.”
“That’s all right,” she said.
24 She saddled the donkey and said to her servant, “Lead on; don’t slow down for me unless I tell you.” 25 So she set out and came to the man of God at Mount Carmel.
When he saw her in the distance, the man of God said to his servant Gehazi, “Look! There’s the Shunammite! 26 Run to meet her and ask her, ‘Are you all right? Is your husband all right? Is your child all right?’”
“Everything is all right,” she said.
27 When she reached the man of God at the mountain, she took hold of his feet. Gehazi came over to push her away, but the man of God said, “Leave her alone! She is in bitter distress, but the Lord has hidden it from me and has not told me why.”- 2Kings 4:11-27 NIV
Elisha really thought he solved the puzzle when he gave the woman a son. Then the son dies…
I hate it when that happens. When we are so sure of what we’re doing and that our actions are spot on for success and then, all of a sudden, our life is in shambles. It gives me flash backs to my middle school play “The Secret Garden.” I was so confident in my performance. I had studied my lines, practiced my solo a million times and looked stunning in my costume. I was born ready.
Then, opening night, as I had just finished my solo, my friend, who was humbly given the role of “tree stub,” begins to choke on one of her leaves.
What is happening?
I was prepared. I did all I needed to do and still, I have no idea what is going on at this point.
I am left in the dark.
The whole show comes to an awkward stop. We adjust my friend’s fig leaves and the show moves on at a glacial speed as most middle school plays do.
Elisha was left in the dark, and he was a PROPHET. Elisha’s whole life was dedicating to hearing from and speaking with God. And yet, God had left him in the dark. But Elisha was also only human. God will always know more than we do because He’s God.
We can have a devout faith and be as prepared as we can for what life may bring to us, but there will always be a fig leaf incident, an unexpected event that leaves us in the dark and unaware of what God is doing. It is impossible to be 100% prepared for every aspect of our lives. It is in these times of surprise and uncertainty that our faith truly flourishes.
Elisha’s story continues when he visits the son and, after countless times of breathing on him and laying on him, the boy finally comes back to life. I believe God purposely withheld information from Elisha in order for Elisha’s faith to grow. Elisha was a prophet and he was use to knowing the plan before anyone else. But even Elisha could not possibly know God’s entire plan all the time.
When you are in the dark, know God is always the light. Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we cannot see (Hebrews 11:1)
We must be certain that God can see beyond our darkness.
That is the definition of faith.
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