Lessons From Elisha, Part 8
Didn't I Tell you, "Don't Raise my Hopes"?
There are MANY lessons that we can learn from the prophet Elisha. This is
the eighth in a series focusing on the life of this great prophet.
"When Elisha reached the house, there was the boy lying dead on his couch.
He went in, shut the door on the two of them and prayed to the LORD. Then he
got on the bed and lay upon the boy, mouth to mouth, eyes to eyes, hands to
hands. As he stretched himself out upon him, the boy's body grew warm.
Elisha turned away and walked back and forth in the room and then got on the
bed and stretched out upon him once more. The boy sneezed seven times and
opened his eyes." (2 Kings 4:32-35)
So that woman of Shunem received the desire of her heart -- her longed-for
son. But something went wrong! When the boy was old enough to be working
with his father in the fields, he became suddenly and deathly ill!
Imagine the sorrow of that poor mother! She had waited years and years for a
son, and had even given up hope of ever having one. Then, when she does
finally receive her heart's desire, he is taken away from her! Her anguish
is evident in what she does next. She takes a donkey and rides immediately
for Elisha; and when she finds him, she falls at his feet and says: "Did I
ask you for a son, my lord? . . . Didn't I tell you, 'Don't raise my
hopes'?" (2 Kings 4:28)
Have you ever felt like the woman of Shunem? Have you ever felt that you
have finally received your miracle, only to have it snatched from your
hands? Maybe you've been praying for a promotion and you receive it, only to
have the company you work for close its doors weeks later. Or perhaps, after
a long-standing battle with cancer, you have been declared completely
cancer-free -- only to find a new tumor a few months later. Or your spouse
returned to you, only to leave again the next year. And like the woman of
Shunem, have you cried out bitterly to the Lord, "Didn't I tell you, 'don't
raise my hopes'?"
It would be a sad story indeed, were it to end here. But it doesn't. Elisha
returns to the woman's home. He prays to the Lord. He places himself
completely on top of the child and breaths into his mouth and nose. He
continues this until the body turns warm and the child sits up and sneezes,
alive and well!
Don't give up in the face of negative circumstances, my friends! Remember
that the God who gave you your miracle in the first place is still in
charge! He will breathe new life into your problem until, like the boy of
Shunem, it turns warm, it sits up, and comes back to life! Praise God, it
was all paid for at the cross!
See next Saturday's edition
of The Nugget for Elisha, Part 9.
Love in Christ,
Lyn
Lyn Chaffart,
Moderator, The Nugget, Scriptural Nuggets (
www.sermonillustrator.org/minisermons/ ), Answers2Prayer Ministries,
www.Answers2Prayer.org ,