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Colin Smith: If you give yourself to trusting God, to obeying God, to serving God, and to walking with God, if you give yourself to that kind of life, what can you expect?

Steve Hiller: Welcome to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith. I'm Steve Hiller, glad you're listening today. And Colin, I feel like we've got to answer that question that you just gave. If we fully devote ourselves to following Jesus, what kind of life should we expect?

Colin Smith: Well, if we devote ourselves to following Jesus, we should expect a life that reflects the pattern of his. And that is one that will be greatly blessed, but it is also one that will involve great sorrow, great loss, great times of testing and times of trial.

It strikes me this is a really important question, Steve. I saw a survey not so long ago of folks who had been in pastoral ministry and had left, and the number one reason that was given was "It wasn't what I expected." You read that and you say, well, now what did a person expect, and on what basis was that expectation formed? If you look at the New Testament, you look at the life of Jesus, you look at the experience of the Apostles, you look at any of the stories of the Bible—the story we're looking at today—you see that those who are God's children are greatly blessed, and that those who are God's children experience real trial, real sorrow, and sometimes great loss.

So, it's really important to take that in, so that our expectations of a life of following Christ are actually shaped by the Bible and not by some naive kind of hope that has simply come from our own minds and from our imagination. Today's story, I think, is a wonderful encouragement, and for anyone who experiences loss, it's a story that gives us great, great hope.

Steve Hiller: Well, let's look at that story together. We're in 2 Kings, chapter 4, as we begin a message called "God Will Comfort Us." Here is Pastor Colin.

Colin Smith: The story that we're looking at today, which is about the son of this Shunammite woman, is rather like the story of the son of the widow of Zarephath, again back in the time of Elijah, that story being told to us in 1 Kings and chapter 17. And of course, critics seize on this and say, well, these stories are duplicates, and some editor has become confused about when and to whom these things happened.

But we believe that the Bible is the word of God. And the Bible tells us that God moved in miraculous power at different times, in different places, and on behalf of different people. And the point here is surely this: that the same God who worked through Elijah also worked through Elisha. And so the point of these stories surely is to remind us that God's work continues even though his servants change.

Now, we're looking in this series at six stories from the life of Elisha, and each of these stories involves a miracle. But none is more remarkable than the story we are looking at today. We're introduced then in this story to a godly woman who is a marvelous example to us of a life of faith, of service, and of obedience. We're not told this lady's name. We only know that she lived in Shunem, and that is why she has come to be known as the Shunammite woman.

This lady is a marvelous model of serving God, and this story therefore speaks very directly to all who would live a devoted life of service to God. Here's the question: if you give yourself to trusting God, to obeying God, to serving God, and to walking with God, if you give yourself to that kind of life, what can you expect? I want to point out four realities from this story today. If you devote yourself to serving the Lord Jesus Christ, these four things will be true of you.

The first is that God's servants are greatly blessed. We begin at verse 8: "One day Elisha went on to Shunem, where a wealthy woman lived." So the first thing that we're told about this woman is that she was blessed financially. Now, last week you remember, we were looking at a story of a widow who was very poor. Today we're looking at the story of a woman with great wealth.

And this is surely a reminder—the fact that these stories come together back-to-back in the book of Kings—they're surely reminding us that God works in the lives of all kinds of people, and that there are faithful, godly people among the rich as well as among the poor. God had blessed this lady richly, and she wanted to be a blessing to others. And one way in which she was able to do this was to open her home and to give hospitality to the prophet Elisha.

Verse 8: "One day Elisha went on to Shunem, where a wealthy woman lived, who urged him to eat some food. So whenever he passed that way, he would turn in there to eat food." So this lady then gave Elisha a meal, and clearly the warmth of her hospitality was such that whenever Elisha was in the area, it was just natural for him to stop at this woman's house. He always knew that there would be kind hospitality and a warm welcome for him there.

Then we read in verse 9 that she said to her husband, "Behold now, I know that this is a holy man of God who is continually passing our way." Elisha is described as a man of God no less than nine times in this one story. You'll find that in verse 9, verse 14, verse 16, verse 21, verse 22, twice in verse 25, and twice in verse 27—a man of God, a man of God, the man of God.

How wonderful to be known as a person who walks with God. And this woman discerned that Elisha really was someone who truly walked with God. And so she says to her husband, "I know that this is a holy man of God." Now here's something very important for us to remember. The woman loved God, and because she loved God, she was drawn to Elisha because he walked with God.

Now you see the application of that to us: if God is not much to you, then fellowship with his people won't be much to you either. Any company will do. But if you really love God, you will find that you are drawn towards other people who really love God too. And that was true of this woman. She had already shown great kindness to Elisha, but now she wanted to take her kindness a step further.

And so we read in verse 9 that she said to her husband, "Behold, I know that this is a holy man of God who is continually passing our way. Let us make a small room on the roof with walls and put there for him a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp, so that whenever he comes to us, he can go in there." Now you see, she's saying, "Well, God has given us this home. How can we use it in a way that honors God? How can we use it in a way that brings blessing to others?"

And evidently, it had become a pattern for Elisha to come and to eat in this home, and presumably he stayed there also. They would have made him as comfortable as they could within the existing frame of the house. But now, after a time, she's saying to her husband, "You know, why don't we build an extension? Why don't we have a guest room that's just dedicated for Elisha's use? He comes here often, and let's put in everything that a prophet could ever need. Let's give him a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp. That's all that the man of God is really going to need, and let us make that guest room available to him."

This woman was blessed and she wanted to be a blessing to others. She's a marvelous example to us. And then I want you to see here too that she was content in the blessing that she had received. Elisha wanted to do something for the woman because of all the kindness that she had shown to him, so he told his servant Gehazi to go and ask if there was something that Elisha could do for her. And I love her answer in verse 13. She answered, "I dwell among my own people."

Now, that is a wonderful expression of contentment. You see what she's saying: "I have my home and I live among my own people. What else in the world could I possibly want?" And you see, that is a very striking answer because of course, although she was a wealthy woman, she certainly did not have everything. She had a husband, but she did not have a child. And I expect that that had been, at least at one point in her life, a great disappointment to her. There may have been a time when she really wrestled with this.

But it's clear that she had come to a point where she had accepted it. God has not given me all that I would have wanted in life. There are some gifts that other people enjoy and that I don't. But God has blessed me, and I am content. And so this woman had no request, but Gehazi had a suggestion. He says to Elisha, "This woman," verse 14, "has a husband, but she has no son." And so Elisha told Gehazi to call the woman and then said to her, verse 16, "At this season, about this time next year, you shall embrace a son."

The prophet was telling her, by the direct inspiration of God, that God would give her an extraordinary gift, as he had given an extraordinary gift to Sarah and to Rebekah and to Rachel and to Hannah. And notice that the woman's reaction was one of great caution. Verse 16, she said, "No, my lord, oh man of God, do not lie to your servant."

You see what she's saying: "Oh, I've been through all that, and I've come to terms with this. So please don't give me hope that's only going to lead to disappointment. Don't make me a promise that is only going to lead to pain." But God was true to his word, and sure enough, verse 17, "The woman conceived and she bore a son about that time the following spring, as Elisha had said to her." So that's really the first scene of the story. And I want us to take this in and to take it to heart: that God's servants are greatly blessed.

Steve Hiller: Well, that's an encouraging place for us to pause, but as we get back to the message in just a moment, we're going to see if it continues to feel so hopeful. You're listening to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith, and we're in the middle of a series called In God We Trust. It's a look at the life of Elisha.

And if you ever miss a broadcast in our series, you can listen online. Come to openthebible.org. You can stream the program or download an MP3 for free. Again, that's at openthebible.org. You can also listen through the Open the Bible app, which you'll find for free at your app store. And that's a great way to listen to Pastor Colin's teaching on demand. Let's get back to the message. Again, here's Pastor Colin.

Colin Smith: God's servants are greatly blessed. And if you are in Christ today, you are greatly blessed. Whatever hardship you may be facing today, whatever disappointments you may have had in your life, whatever loss you may have experienced, if you are in Jesus Christ, you are greatly blessed.

Think about this: God has set his love upon you. God sent his son into the world for you. God's Holy Spirit lives within you, and he is always working for your ultimate good. And in Christ, you have the most glorious future ahead of you. Ahead of you is a never-ending life of unclouded joy in the presence of God and in the company of all of his redeemed people. All this is yours. God's servants are greatly blessed. Never forget it. Never forget it.

Second, God's servants endure great sorrow. The story continues, verse 18: "When the child had grown, he went out one day to his father among the reapers. And he said to his father, 'Oh, my head, my head!'" And the father said to his servant, "Carry him to his mother." And when they had lifted him and brought him to his mother, the child sat on her lap till noon, and then he died. Suddenly, without any warning at all, this godly woman who had been so greatly blessed was afflicted by this terrible, terrible loss.

And who in the world could have imagined, when the sun came up that morning, that this lady's son would be dead by noon? We don't know how old the boy was when he died. He's referred to as a child who had grown in verse 18, but he was young enough still to sit on his mother's lap. And here we have every mother's nightmare, a nightmare that some among us have known—the unimaginable sorrow of the death of a child.

Now, you would think that the first thing the mother would do would be go and tell her husband. She didn't do that. She laid the boy on the bed in Elisha's room, and she told her husband that she was going to go and see the man of God. And then she said to her husband, "All is well." She then rode on her donkey as fast as she could from Shunem to Mount Carmel, where Elisha was. It was probably around a 20-mile journey altogether.

And when Elisha saw her in the distance, he sensed immediately that something was wrong. Verse 25: "When the man of God saw her coming, he said to Gehazi his servant, 'Look, there is the Shunammite. Run at once to meet her and say to her: Is all well with you? Is all well with your husband? Is all well with the child?'" Well, Gehazi went out to meet the woman.

She clearly brushed Gehazi off with the same answer that she gave to her husband: "All is well." And when she saw Elisha, she let him have it. Verse 28: "Did I ask my lord for a son? Did I not say: Do not deceive me?" You see what she's saying: "This is exactly what I was afraid of—that my heart would be filled with joy and then that it would be broken."

God's servants are greatly blessed, and God's servants endure great sorrows. Now, this is a pattern in the Christian life. This godly woman received an unexpected gift, and she endured an unexpected sorrow. And you can't read this story surely about a godly woman who received the gift of a promised son who then died without thinking about another woman in the Bible whose son was promised and then died.

You remember the words of the angel to Mary? "And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus." And then do you remember the words of Simeon, that old prophet who came to the temple when Mary and Joseph brought the infant Jesus there? And he took the infant Jesus in his arms and blessed him, then he spoke words of blessing over Mary and Joseph, and then he said to Mary: "And a sword will pierce through your soul also."

And a sword did pierce through Mary's soul. Who can imagine the pain that she felt as she watched from the foot of the cross as her son hung there and suffered and died? You know, when sorrow comes, and some of you know this from your own experience, when sorrow comes, there can be a condemning voice that sounds off in your head, and it says, "I must have done something wrong for this to happen."

But what I want you to notice here is that this is a story about the most godly of women, and it points clearly to the story of Mary, the mother of our Lord. Why do the godly suffer? God's providence is a mystery. All that we know is that the godly do suffer. That this, too, is within the purpose of God, and that one day God will wipe away all tears from our eyes.

You cannot serve Christ without, in a profound way, bearing the cross. You want to live a life of service and obedience to Christ? What should you expect? Well, you should know that God's servants are greatly blessed, and you should know that God's servants endure great sorrow.

Steve Hiller: Well, those are two things to expect if we're going to be followers of Christ, but there's a third and a very hopeful fourth thing that God's servants are to expect as well, and we're going to continue to look at that on our next broadcast. If you ever miss a program, you can always come and listen online. Our website is openthebible.org, or you can listen through the Open the Bible app, which you'll find for free at your app store.

Well, Open the Bible depends on your generosity to bring you Pastor Colin's teaching each day. And as you give a gift of any amount this month, we want to say thank you by sending you a copy of Lincoln's Daily Devotional. And Colin, who is this book for?

Colin Smith: Well, I think it's for anyone who really loves the Word of God, but especially, I think for anyone who's looking for something fresh or anyone who's looking for something really short. This little devotional, that was actually used by Abraham Lincoln himself, simply offers a verse of scripture for every day. They're organized by themes, a different theme each month. They go through the experience of a Christian believer in the various parts of life that we go through.

And it gives to us just a verse that you can meditate on. So if you're looking for something really short just to pop a verse of scripture into your mind each day, then this book does it very simply, very wonderfully. It does it from the old King James Version, of course, which so beautifully expresses the English language.

And I think too, for someone who feels, "I just want to do something fresh and different," you know, I find it helpful to change up what I'm doing in my own devotional life, to move from one thing to another, one part of scripture to another, to use different books and devotionals and aids at different times. And here's something that might just be fresh for someone today. A verse of scripture each day from Abraham Lincoln's devotional that will help you to meditate on the Word of God, take in its truth, and live in its beauty and in its power.

Steve Hiller: Well, we want to send you a copy of Lincoln's Daily Devotional as our way of saying thank you for your financial support this month. You can give online at openthebible.org, or when you call 1-877-OPEN-365. That's 1-877-673-6365. Or again, the website is openthebible.org. For Pastor Colin Smith, I'm Steve Hiller. Thanks for listening, and I hope you'll join us next time.

This program is a listener-supported production of Open the Bible.

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