Elisha And The Shunammite Woman Series

Over the past few weeks I have been sharing w/ you some insights from my reading in 1 & 2 Kings. And I would like to take 2 more weeks because there is a theme being presented & expanded on in these 3 chapters of 2 Kings. The backdrop is the ministry of Elisha but the real story is the truth presented about God & His involvement in the lives of His children.

Let’s do a quick review:

• 2 Kings 2:19-22 – The Power of God to Change the Unchangeable.

The people of Jericho faced an impossible situation. The spring produced polluted water thereby making it undrinkable & the land unfruitful. And to make matters worse, there was nothing that could be done to remedy the situation. It was an unchangeable situation.

Yet, some men of the city recognized the authenticity of Elisha as a prophet of God & thereby God’s representative. And so they went to Elisha. In response to their humble req

uest & expectant faith God performed a miracle & changed the unchangeable.

The challenge to us was - are there unchangeable situations, be it a person, situation or whatever – are there any unchangeable situations you are facing? Maybe it has gone on for years & you have resigned yourself to the fact that it or they will never change. If so, I send you to the God who has the power to change the unchangeable.

• 2 Kings 3 – (v.18) “It is an easy thing in the eyes of the Lord”

In this 2nd story we have the kings of Israel, Judah & Edom going to war against the king of Moab. They thought they had come up w/ a good military strategy but it turned into a disaster. They found themselves in the middle of the desert w/o any water & facing imminent death. King Jehoshaphat, being the follower of God in the group, asked if they might call for a prophet & so enter the scene Elisha.

Elisha announces that God will do a miracle. He will provide abundant water out in the middle of the desert. They were instructed to dig trenches & in the morning they were filled w/ water. Through Elisha, God also stated he would deliver the Moabites into their hands & then stated that both of these actions were an easy thing in the eyes of the Lord to acc

omplish.

How encouraging that was. The armies were facing an impossible situation. There was nothing they could do to fix it, solve it or change it. They were going to die, but that which was impossible for them to do anything about was an easy thing in the eyes of the Lord to do.

And as we brought out in that message, the miraculous is a very little thing w/ God. We think just the opposite - that it is a very big thing - but the miraculous requires no effort on God’s part. He does not have to go & rest afterwards because He is drained from the effort. It requires no effort. It is an easy thing for Him to do & therefore it is an easy thing for Him to care for you, provide for you, enable you. And whatever situation you are facing today, that is on your heart today – it is an easy thing for the Lord to deal with. He is not baffled, stumped or frustrated. It requires no emergency meeting of the Godhead. He is the God who has the power to change the unchangeable. There is NO situation which requires more effort than any other situation.

But there was a caution in this particular story. As the armies went forth to battle they did not achieve ultimate victory because they diverted their eyes off the Lord & unto a seemingly powerful display by the enemy.

And we can do the same thing. We see the chains that bind a loved one & think their changing is hopeless which leads us to get our eyes off the Lord & his power to change the unchangeable. We see the sickness that doesn’t respond to treatment or worse, completely baffles the doctor and we conclude it is hopeless.

The enemy wants to deceive you into thinking it is hopeless for he knows if he can accomplish that you will get your eyes off the Lord & thus stop believing that this is an easy thing in the eyes of the Lord to handle. So let us keep focused on the Lord asking Him to display His mighty power once again in that situation on our hearts showing declaring again that He is the God who can change the unchangeable.

• 2 Kings 4:1-7 – The Great & Faithful Provider

The 3rd story involved a widow w/ 2 sons who was facing her own impossible, unchangeable situation. She had no money, no way to raise any money & yet she owed a debt & therefore her sons were to be taken as slaves to the creditor. Now, granted this was not on the same scale as a massive army facing death out in the desert, but in her mind it was the same. What we learned in this story was that we have an all powerful God, who changes unchangeable situations but not just for kings & governments & important people but also for the “little man”, the insignificant, the ones no one knows about. God delights in showing Himself as the Great & Faithful Provider – yes, for kings but also for nondescript widows. So God took her hopeless & unchangeable situation & performed a miracle by filling all the jars she could collect w/ oil which could then be sold. It was something that was easy in His eyes to