Timing for the Shunammite - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in 2 Kings 8:4-6a,

"The king was talking to Gehazi, the servant of the man of God [Elisha], and had said, 'Tell me about all the great things Elisha has done.' Just as Gehazi was telling the king how Elisha had restored the dead to life, the woman whose son Elisha had brought back to life came to appeal to the king for her house and land."

We read of the Shunammite woman in chapter 4. There she is described as a woman of faith, a "well-to-do" woman who went out of her way to provide for the prophet Elisha. In the account, Elisha prophesied she would have a son (the one thing she did not have), and the following year she gave birth. The narrative goes on to say the boy died, Elisha prayed, and the boy was brought back to life in a very dramatic fashion.

Here in chapter 8 we read that Elisha had told the Shunammite to leave Shunem because the Lord had decreed a crippling seven year famine for the area. She and her family left and spent the seven years in the land of the Philistines. At the end of the seven year famine she returned and went to the king to appeal to him for her house and land.

At just this very time the king had asked Elisha's servant, Gehazi, to tell him of the amazing exploits of the prophet Elisha. As Gehazi was telling the king about Elisha bringing the dead to life, the Shunammite arrived to make her appeal! Gehazi said, "This is the woman, my lord the king, and this is her son whom Elisha restored to life." Verse 5b.

The timing of this could not have been more amazing! The king decreed that everything that belonged to her be restored, as well as the income her land had made from the day she left Shunem.

The accounts in Scripture of the Lord's dealings are simply fascinating! Here is one where the timing was of obvious divine origin, and, apparently, unbeknownst to those involved. The Lord took care of this great woman of faith (we don't read anything about her husband...) and from our vantage point in the Scriptures we learn the Lord can be and often is behind the events folks experienced.

All this causes me to think of our own lives today. What might be going on in my life, even right now, that has its origins in the things the Lord is busy doing? How about your life? Are you quite certain the Lord is not in fact behind those things you are wrestling with? It sure seems to me the Scriptures are telling us the Lord has his hands in many things, even of a personal nature, in the lives of those of faith - and we may just not be aware of it!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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