Encouragement from Stories of Old

Sometimes we just need encouragement and I am not talking about from each other.  I mean encouragement from the Lord Himself.  Just a word that tells us to hang in there, trust Him, He has it all worked out.  Have you ever been in that moment?  Sometimes that encouragement comes in the way of a reminder of all that He has done in the past and what He promises to do in the future.  I have been in that place numerous times in my life, especially in the past decade.  Today He sent me a wonderful reminder of His faithfulness and His desire to bless us.  This reminder came in an Old Testament story, one that is not frequently taught or the subject of sermons from the pulpit.  Perhaps that is what made it so special to me today.

For those of you who have not extensively studied the Old Testament, this may be a new story for you.  However I have no question in my spirit that what God is speaking to us through it will resonate with your spirit as much as it did with mine.  I need to build the foundation for you because this story actually stretches between two chapters in 2 Kings.  Our story begins in the 4th chapter and tells us about a wealthy woman who lived in Shunem.  This woman chose to honor the prophet Elisha and created a room of rest for him at her home with her husband's agreement.  Elisha would visit whenever he was in the area.  He wanted to bless her for her kindness and told her that her barrenness would end and this time next year, she would be holding a child.  Please take a few moments and read 2 Kings 4:8-37.  It is a beautiful story of God's faithfulness.  Note how Elisha raised this precious son from the dead after he became ill and died.  Pay particular attention to the woman's trust in Elisha and no one else.  Remember this as we move into the verses in Chapter 8.

2 Kings 8:1-6  Elisha had told the woman whose son he had brought back to life, "Take your family and move to some other place, for the LORD has called for a famine on Israel that will last for seven years." 2 So the woman did as the man of God instructed. She took her family and lived in the land of the Philistines for seven years. 3 After the famine ended she returned to the land of Israel, and she went to see the king about getting back her house and land. 4 As she came in, the king was talking with Gehazi, the servant of the man of God. The king had just said, "Tell me some stories about the great things Elisha has done." 5 And Gehazi was telling the king about the time Elisha had brought a boy back to life. At that very moment, the mother of the boy walked in to make her appeal to the king."Look, my lord!" Gehazi exclaimed. "Here is the woman now, and this is her son -- the very one Elisha brought back to life!" 6 "Is this true?" the king asked her. And she told him that it was. So he directed one of his officials to see to it that everything she had lost was restored to her, including the value of any crops that had been harvested during her absence. 

Has God ever instructed you to make a move that would change your life dramatically?  Was there hesitation on your part to make such a radical change because it would take you away from everything and everyone that you know and love?  This woman was told by Elisha to leave the country of her heritage and stay away for 7 years.  The Lord knew exactly what was coming to the land and wanted her spared.  What about you?  I know when God told me to make such a move, he also explained to me that it was necessary if I was to survive and thrive.  Leaving children, parents, friends behind is never easy, but if God tells you to go, then you know that He is traveling with you.  We have no information about what this woman and her family did during the 7 year period, but we do know they survived the famine and returned to their home at the end of this time ( 7 - completion - totally cool!)  Did you get the perfect timing?  She walks into the king's court just as Elisha's servant is recounting the story.  The king restores to her everything that she had to leave behind including the income from the harvest.  Full restoration plus a bonus of income from crops harvested.  

How about you? Has God ever given you those uncomfortable instructions to pick up and leave?  Maybe it was geographic, maybe it was changing jobs, or even churches.  Perhaps you are in the beginning of this very season.  God is trying to get you to change something and it is so much easier to just stay put in your comfort zone, even if that comfort zone is miserable.  Maybe you are currently in "the land of Philistines" and wondering how you will ever be able to survive for the entire season.  Wherever you are, I want to assure you, encourage you, that God has not forgotten where you are.  He has wonderful plans for you when this season is over.  He knows exactly what is happening and His timing is perfect, whether it is 7 years, 3 years, or some other time frame.  Believe and trust that He has this all worked out.  

I can testify to the power of His steadfastness and His promises.  Next month will be the completion of 7 years in Atlanta for me.  When God instructed me to leave my home, my sons, my parents and my friends and relocate to Atlanta to start over, I had no clue what He had in store for me.  I just knew that I had to be obedient and go wherever He told me to go.  The life that He has given to me here and now is so far beyond anything I would have ever imagined for myself.  Yet He had planned this for me from the foundations of time.  Just as the woman from Shunem honored and trusted Elisha, the man of God, we are called to honor and trust our Lord with our lives.  Surrender them to Him completely and let Him work in us and through us.  Our patience and our trust are required to walk out your circumstances with Him.  Believe just as this woman did, that God does not desire to take from you, but rather to bless you.  Sometimes, we do not understand His timing or His instructions, but if we will be patient and trust Him, He will blow you away!