“And she went up, and laid him on the bed of the man of God, and shut [the door] upon him, and went out. And she called unto her husband, and said, Send me, I pray thee, one of the young men, and one of the asses, that I may run to the man of God, and come again.” (2Ki 4:21-22 AV)
This lady showed hope and faith, which should be greatly admired. This amazing lady was devout in her care for the man of God. She asked nothing in return. She fed him. She prepared a room for him. When he was in town, there was nothing he lacked. The time came for the LORD to reward her for her faithful service and sacrifice. The LORD blessed her with her first and only child – a son. One might call her a modern day Sarah. Well past her child-bearing years, the LORD gave her a son. Now, he lay dead on his bed from a head injury. Her reaction to the apparent loss of her only son was nothing short of astounding. It is important to note when the prophet informed her of her pending child, she reacted in unbelief. Yet, there he was. Nine months later, she treasured the result of her humble service. Rather than react at the death of her child in unrelenting mourning, she immediately called for a mule to be saddled and that her servant would go before her to the man of God. She would not accept that her only child was dead. She reacted in the great faith she had to believe in something that had no precedent. This woman’s son is the first person recorded in scripture to be raised from the dead.
There are people revealed in the word of God that have an amazing depth of faith. How we react to a situation reveals just how deep our faith is. When hard times come, how we respond tells much. I wish I could share an event in my own personal life, but as many of us do, I failed to react equal to the majesty of God. Our recent battle with cancer is a good example. I am from a generation that had no hope when a diagnosis of cancer came from the doctor’s lips. My generation would begin the process for an eventuality coming sooner than later. When someone uses that word, at least in my generation, we never spoke of a cure or manageability. It was automatically assumed death was right around the corner. When the doctor tells you there are new options for longer life and life of quality and usefulness, we don’t believe it. That is what happened to us. We heard the word ‘cancer’ and we immediately went into panic mode. We never heard words of hope. We never heard our doctor repeatedly tell us that Lisa’s type of cancer was chronic, but manageable. It took support groups that encouraged us. We met many people who had been living with this cancer for decades. It took education and options to realize the situation was not nearly as dire as our minds were making it out to be.
Life is full of hardships. Death is a guarantee. No one lives forever. Rain storms come. Flooding happens. Snow storms will bury us. We will be laid off, fired, or replaced. Serious illness will come. Family issues will arise. In short, life will bring us curve balls we cannot handle. How we respond means the world. The Shunemite woman had a positive attitude regarding a tragedy. She showed optimism and hope. This caused her to chase down the man of God for a miracle she knew only he could provide. The text suggests her reaction was immediate. It suggests this reaction was immediate. She never told her husband she was leaving. She never informed her husband of their son’s death. Rather, she called for a saddled ass and rode. She rode as quickly as she could. Her hope may have been mixed with tears. After all, there was no guarantee. She may have ridden in desperate hope rather than confident hope. But hope it was. So, the next time we get bad news, maybe rather than going down a spiral of anxiety, we should rest in the power of God.
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