2Kings 4:8-37
How Ordinary People Get God’s Attention
Shunem was a Jewish town, located in the tribe of Issachar. No doubt, as Elisha
passed through the Galilean area to minister to the twelve tribes, he past through
that area and thus met this woman and her husband.
We get no sense that there was anything exceptional about this family. It is
obvious that they had some wealth by the fact that they had servants, but that
may not have been unusual. God had promised Israel prosperity. At one time, all
Jewish families had land. It was a land flowing with milk and honey so every
family had an equal opportunity to work the land and make something substantial
out of their inheritance.
The point is, this family was like normal. Spiritually, they worshipped God but
that should have been the rule for Israeli families, not the exception. But even
as this family was normal, they received several miracles from God.
1. The first miracle was to receive a son at all. The woman was barren,
childless. There were no fertility clinics in that day. No doctors
delved into that field of study. Yet, Elisha prayed and asked God to
give her a child, and God did. That is my definition of a miracle.
2. Then God raised that child from the dead. He got sick, perhaps an
aneurism, perhaps a stroke, regardless, he died. Elisha prayed over
him—after he had been dead for several hours at least—and God returned
the breathe of life to him. Again that is a miracle.
I have seen God do some things in my life, but these kinds of miracles are rare.
Yet, this family received two of them. Why? How? What made this family—and
most of it seems to be centered upon this woman—so special?
How did she get God’s attention? Let’s see a few thoughts this afternoon.
I. \\#14\\ She got God’s attention by not being bitter.
A. Here was a Jewish woman who had no child.
1. While some today might think it of little consequence not to have
children, those of the Bible would have looked at it like a curse
from God.
2. Yet, this woman showed no bitterness toward God.
B. Life certainly has its challenges. Each challenge offers another
opportunity for bitterness to do its work.
1. You can get bitter at God as the Sovereign who arranged the
challenge.
a. No knowledgeable Christian can deny God’s sovereignty.
b. The Scripture teaches it.
Psalms 135:6 Whatsoever the LORD pleased, that did he in heaven, and in
earth, in the seas, and all deep places.
Isaiah 45:9 Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! …Shall the clay
say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou?
Romans 9:20 Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall
the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?
21 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one
vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?
c. That means that regardless of whether you have wealth or
poverty, health or sickness, sunshine or clouds, joy or
sorrow, feast or famine, life or death—-it is God who gives
it.
d. I am sure that Shunamite woman considered that.
(1) \\#14\\ It was God who never gave her a child.
(2) \\#17\\ It was God who gave her a child.
(3) \\#20\\ It was God who took her child.
(4) \\#34-35\\ It was God who gave her a child back.
e. Yet, she did not get bitter at God.
2. Instead of getting bitter at God, you could get bitter at other
things.
a. You could get bitter at life for dealing you such a hand.
b. You could get bitter at circumstances because you don’t like
them.
c. You could get bitter with yourself and figure somehow you are
to blame.
3. But no matter what you direct your bitterness toward, it is still
bitterness to God.
a. Sooner or later, every thinking Christian will realize life,
circumstances, even our own will to one extend or the other,
are all tools in God’s hand.
b. This woman had no bitterness.
4. We need to learn an important lesson: Bitterness will suck the life
out of you like a sponge.
a. It will rob you of your joy.
b. It will rob you of your energy.
c. It will rob you of your health.
d. It will rob you of your relationships. Nobody wants to be
around a bitter person.
e. Most importantly, it will rob you of your walk with God.
II. \\#8-11\\ She got God’s attention by respecting the things of God.
A. This woman built a room onto her house! She provided a permanent
place for the man of God to abide.
B. I don’t suppose this was a great financial challenge to them as they
seemed to have an adequate income supply, but this kind of an act
is only described once in all the Bible!
1. It was an act of help.
a. There were probably no hotels or lodges nearby.
b. If there were, the man of God probably had little money to stay
there.
c. Now the man of God had a place to eat a hot meal, a comfortable
place to rest on his journey, and a bed to lay his head down
in.
d. I am not certain how old Elisha was at this time, but I am
certain it was a great aid to a weary body.
2. What an act of kindness.
a. Sometimes people make offers and you are not certain they mean
what they offer.
b. This woman proved she wanted the man of God to drop by for a
meal and much more!
c. The couple made the man of God welcomed!
3. What an act of trust.
a. By building onto their house, this couple was saying that you
are a part of our household.
b. Those with good sense do not open their home to people that
they do not trust.
C. Now, why would this family do this? What would their motive be?
1. They never asked Elisha for anything.
a. Not for blessings, not for payment, not for favor from God.
b. The motive does not seem to be greed or selfishness.
2. It was not they who sought a miracle from God.
a. \\#16\\ In fact, when Elisha brought it up, the woman was
obviously surprised beyond comprehension.
b. I would say that this was dream she had long since given up.
3. I can only see reason this family did what they did.
4. They respected the things of God in general and the man of God
specifically.
D. I believe that God takes note when somebody has respect for God, God’s
people, and God’s things.
1. I believe this is what the Lord mean when He gave Israel this
command.
De 6:13 Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his
name.
De 6:24 And the LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our
God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as it is at this day.
De 10:12 And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear
the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD
thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul,
2. Respect God. Honor Him. Acknowledge Him.
3. This was a common practice across this land but in recent
generations, reverence for God and the things of God have
disappeared.
a. Few respect the house of God anymore.
(1) Even few Christians do.
(2) Irreverent dress, food and drink being had in the
sanctuary, music more fit for a bar than a worship
service.
(3) There is a great effort even within the church to make
God one of the boys today, but He is not just one of the
boys!
b. Few respect the Bible anymore.
(1) There is a guaranteed right in this country to read
anything you want, anywhere you want, for any purpose
that you want—except the Bible.
(2) You may take radical Islamic books to school, read them,
distribute them, promote them—but not the Bible.
(3) You may take Marxists’ literature, Nazi literature,
anarchists’ literature—all of it is protected by free
speech and freedom of the press.
(4) That material will be distributed, read, discussed, even
blandished on bulletin boards.
(5) It will be called history, philosophy, fodder for mental
stimulus, but the Bible—the most historical Book in
history, the most influential Book in history, and the
only Book that God gave us—is banned.
(6) I find it interesting that the Biblical, Christian, world-
view is the viewed as the only pure "religion" in the
world.
c. Few respect the men of God anymore.
(1) While it may sound gratuitous to say so, I can see the
shift from respect for God’s preachers in my lifetime.
(2) Some would say "They have brought it upon themselves," and
I would agree with that statement to some extend.
(3) However, some of it is that people in general just don’t
know the Bible well enough anymore to distinguish between
a man of God and wolf in sheep’s clothing.
III. She got God’s attention by settling for nothing less.
A. A large portion of this account demonstrates this woman’s determination
to get as close to God as she could.
1. \\#20-21\\ Her son dies.
a. She could have, and probably had and did, seek the Lord’s help
through prayer.
b. But she could get closer to God, and she knew it.
c. She laid her son’s body on the man of God’s bed and went out.
2. \\#22-23\\ Her husband inquired if she had a need.
a. God has ordained the home and the husband is the head of the
home.
b. Even though the Biblical account attributes most of the godly
actions of this family to the wife, the husband was likely a
devout and godly man as well.
c. Seeking the prayers and comfort of her husband would have drawn
her closer to God’s power, but she could get closer to God
and she knew it.
3. \\#24-27\\ The woman rides like a maniac cross Israel.
a. Elisha who lived on a mountain, saw her coming up the road and
sent Gehazi down the mountain side in a more direct route to
meet her.
b. Gahazi was been with Eliasha as he has performed many miracles.
c. It was Gahazi that pointed out to Elisha that this couple had
no child.
d. Gahazi was the man of God’s servant. It stands to reason that
he had some closeness to the things of God, to the power of
God.
e. But this woman could get closer to God and she knew it.
4. \\#27-28\\ This woman did not slack up until she came to Elisha.
a. This man talked to God and things happened.
b. This man desired of God and God responded.
c. Once in his presence, she would not leave.
d. She was going to get Elisha to talk to God for her no matter
what.
B. The point here is not to build up the man of God, but to demonstrate
this woman’s determination to get as close to God as possible and to
stay in God’s presence until God answered her.
1. This woman was dependent upon God.
2. Her spirit was both passionate and zealous.
3. It was uncompromising, unrelenting, and tenacious.
4. God might turn her down, but she would not quit pounding upon the
door of heaven until she knew He had.
C. Such a faith is hard for God to ignore.
Mt 7:7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it
shall be opened unto you:
Lu 18:1 And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to
pray, and not to faint;
D. I do not say that we shall receive all that we ask for but I do say
we stop too far short of seeking as this woman sought.
1. God says to seek and to not quit.
2. God says have faith and you shall receive.
3. God says He will answer our prayers.
4. With these kinds of promises, it should take more than a small note
of rejection to get us to stop.
E. This woman would settle for nothing less than God and she got what
she sought!
1. Not just her son back—which did receive.
2. But she got God—in all of His power and glory.
The God that we serve is not just God. He is the God who cares about us.
Sometimes we forget that, but I tell you, if God does not care about us, He is not
a God worthy of our worship and devotion. This woman believed that. In her case,
she had no choice. I say again, would our God not be pleased if we chose to be
so devoted to Him, so dependent upon Him, that we could not endure without Him.
Having that kind of faith is how ordinary people get God’s attention!
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