THE WORD ALIVE (TWA-0076) 10 Oct 2013 CAN WE REALLY SAY ‘IT IS WELL’ WHEN ALL AROUND US CRUMBLE? The TWA devotional for last week entitled ‘HOW MANY TIMES HAVE YOU FAILED OR FALLEN?’ engendered a lot of interesting reactions from many people including others I have never met before. Most respondents told me the text touched on the very core of their nerves. However one particular response (from a married couple) that set me thinking summed up the sentiments expressed by many other readers. The couple’s response goes like this:- “Uncle Philip, my wife and I have faced several defeats and disappointments despite several attempts to start afresh - as in the case of Abraham Lincoln. Humanly speaking, can we really look successive defeats in the face and say that ‘it is well’ - when we really see everything around us crumble day after day? Is it proper for us to let God – who says we should not worry – know about our frustrations? We need some counselling” I responded to the couple saying – ‘Friends, this is a tough one for Uncle Philip – but I know the Lord will respond to your need appropriately and in good time – so take heart. The Lord is Able.’ After waiting on the Lord for an appropriate answer for the couple’s inquiry, the Lord brought to mind the story of the Shunammite woman mentioned in the Old Testament and I remembered that I had previously written two TWA devotionals on the matter. In this devotional and the next devotional, I wish to share the text of the two previous devotionals with the couple I have mentioned as well as all other TWA friends who raised similar sentiments about the real challenges we are faced with daily. Please read on. In Second Kings we are told after the Prophet Elijah had been called to glory, his mantle fell on Elisha who took up the role of prophet in Israel. Elisha faced many tests after his anointing but one of the most difficult tests was the encounter with the Shunammite woman – a willing benefactor - who had just lost the only child – a son who was born after many years of waiting. The birth of this son was prophesised by the Elisha. The ‘promised’ son of the family was ill. He was sent and placed on the lap of his mother and soon, the child was gone. Instead of throwing her arms in utter desperation like probably most would have done, the Bible says the Shunammite woman placed the child on the bed in a room specially prepared for the Prophet’s visits. She shut the door, said to her husband “IT WILL BE WELL” and went on in search of the Prophet and found him at Mount Carmel. When Elisha inquired about the wellbeing of the family and in particular the child, the mother responded ‘IT IS WELL’. However, unable to conceal her anguish and disappointment she burst out with frustration saying to the Prophet; “Did I ask for a son from the lord? Did I not say, ‘do not deceive me’?” (2 Kings 4:18-28) There was something unusual about Elisha’s response to the woman’s ‘harsh’ inquiry. He said to his servant – “Gehazi, gird up you loins and take my staff in your hand and go with her. If you meet any person, do not greet him, and if any person greets you, do not respond. When you get to child, lay my staff on the face of his face” (2 Kings 4:29). Gehazi did as directed. He went along with the woman to her home and laid Elisha’s staff on the face of the dead child but there was no sign of life so he returned to Prophet saying, “The child has not awakened” (2 Kings 4:31). Elisha then went into the room where the dead child was laid. He stretched himself on the child, breathed into the lifeless body and the child came back to life. Elisha restored the child to his mother saying: “Woman, take up your son” (2 Kings 4:32-36). Friends, these are questions I want us to consider with respect to the story:- 1. Is it proper for us to burst out our frustration when things do not seem to go right in our lives - when we are in our wit end? The prophet’s response to the woman demonstrates there is nothing wrong with us expressing our frustrations before Lord or anybody for that matter, provided we do that out of faith, reverence and an understanding that it is only Him we can cry out to for He understands our state of mind at all times. He knows what we go through at any time. He will surely listen to us when we cry unto him. He has already assured us: “Come unto Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest” (Mat 11:28). Yes!! We should not allow anything to stop us from telling God what is on our mind when we are perplexed and confused. 2. What do you do when everything you try brings no good result? Where do you turn when every effort you put forth achieves nothing? Like Gehazi (and Abraham Lincoln), we have all tried things that did not bring the desired result. Like Gehazi (and Abraham Lincoln), we should not become despondent when we fail in one mission or the other. Like Gehazi (and Abraham Lincoln), we must gird our loins once again and go back to the source of our motivation and, there we will get the desired results so long as what we seek is in line with God’s will for our lives. (1 John 5:13-15) Yesterday, Elisha was Gehazi’s source of motivation so he ran back to him. Today and forever, Jesus is and will remain our source of motivation so we have to revert to Him when things do not seem right. We must only make sure that the motives for our desires are in consonance with His will. He has promised: “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you” (Heb 13:5). Friend, you and I can be content in every situation because of this promise. There is absolutely no way Jesus will ever leave us, forsake us, or abandon us. With Him on our side, we can by faith say with the Shunammite woman – despite the obvious: “IT IS WELL” (2 Kings 4:26) Friend, there comes a time when we have no resource but Jesus alone. In this story, Elisha is a type of Christ. He went to that Shunammite woman’s family home and stretched himself over the body of the dead boy and breathed into him – and the boy was alive once more! How did this come about? Jesus Himself breathed into the situation. When we have no hope, no resources, no ability, and faced with defeats, frustrations and disappointments of all sorts; Christ breathes His supernatural life into our circumstances. Then, we are energised to press on to victory like in the case of Abraham Lincoln. Friend, in spite of the difficult situation you may find yourself in this very moment, I admonish you to take heart. Do not let your heart be troubled. Just pray now saying: “Lord Jesus, all I have is you and I need you now. If you do not breathe into my problem, I won’t make it. I can’t do it, but you can. Lord, because you are on my side, IT IS WELL!” In the next devotional, we will look at the reason why we must say ‘IT IS WELL’ irrespective of the circumstance we face.
Posted on: Thu, 10 Oct 2013 14:00:21 +0000
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