Please send me one of the servants and a donkey so I can go to the man of God.
2 Kings 4:18-21, 32-37
This biblical passage tells the story of the sudden death of a Shunammite woman's son. This story teaches us about faith, and how faith works. The woman in this story was a believer, who lived her life by faith. She believed in the value of God's word.
God wants us to grow in our trust and relationship with Him. He wants us to turn our entire lives over to Him—all our fears, hopes, dreams, and problems, whatever they might be. But, so often we are happy and comfortable with the routines of our lives. The Lord, however, wants to stretch our faith and he often tests us in some area where we not only need it, but where we are the most vulnerable. And, so it was with this Shunammite woman.
She had waited a long time for this child. He was her child of promise, one given in love! But, now her faith was being tested where she was most vulnerable. Even so, she had such faith and confidence in God's great goodness that she was ready to believe that he would restore what he had now taken away!
To truly live by faith means we must learn to be vulnerable and to trust God with all our fears and unknowns and to trust Him with our whole lives. It means we must learn to step out in faith, to leave our future in the Lord's hands, trusting his ability to meet our needs, no matter what life may bring. We may not see an immediate solution to our problems, as did the Shunammite women in receiving her son back to life, but by believing in the Lord's compassion, love and eternal purposes, we can find comfort and hope knowing that the Lord will answer our needs and prayers in a better way and better time.
Linda M. Stewart
