Breakthrough to Blessing (Part 6)
It Is Well: The Blessed Family
Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a real blessing.
—Psalm 127:3 Good News Translation
Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine in the very heart of your house, your children like olive plants all around your table.
—Psalm 128:3 NKJV
Your family is your greatest blessing. God wants you to be happy in your marriage and with your children.
Satan’s attack is centered on the family. You must guard your family with faith so that the enemy cannot steal your joy.
Your family is meant to be a place of hospitality, healing, and security. In 2 Kings 4, the woman of Shunem and her family provide a perfect example of a blessed family.
1. The blessed family honors the presence of God (2 Kings 4:8–10).
This unnamed woman was a notable woman. She respected the anointing in Elisha and reached out to bring it into her home.
She and her husband were also willing to spend the time and money ($20,000 in today’s costs) to build a room for Elisha.
The woman was focused on Elisha’s needs, not her own. Our homes should be open to receive those who give and need ministry. We must be delivered from “entertaining” (impressing others) and become interested in “hosting” (ministering to others).
2. The blessed family receives the favor of God (2 Kings 4:11–17).
Elisha asked the woman what she wanted, and she graciously declined his offer of favors from high officials. She was content with what she had, not greedy for what she could get.
Elisha perceived her deepest desire was for a baby and promised her she would have one in a year. The house of Obed-Edom was blessed for housing the ark of the covenant (2 Sam. 6:11), and the Shunammite woman was blessing for housing Elisha.
Your children are your heritage. In biblical times, a son defended and cared for his widowed mother once her husband was dead. The Shunammite was blessed with something that money could not buy.
3. The blessed family experiences the peace of God (2 Kings 4:18–37).
Time passed, and the child grew up. One day he suffered something like a heat stroke and died. The woman laid him upstairs on Elisha’s bed. She left for Mount Carmel and told her husband, “It will be well” (NASB). In Hebrew, it is shalom, which means peace, quiet, tranquility, and contentment.
Good families pass through storms, trials, and difficulties with their finances, children, jobs, and illnesses. The wonderful thing to know when you are going through a trial is “It will be well!” When she reached Mount Carmel, she said, “It is well.”
Is it well with your marriage?
Is the tone of your communication tender or harsh?
Are you fascinated with your spouse like you were when you were engaged?
Do you respect and honor each other in your roles?
Would you rather spend hours together than away from each other?
Do you agree on parenting and financial decisions?
Is it well with your children?
Have they become rebellious and sullen?
Are they on fire for God or hiding their secret sins?
Are the lines of communication open?
Does your family have activities you love to do together?
Are you listening when your children talk, sensitive to their experiences with a girlfriend, a bully, a new school, or a ball game?
Is it well with your parents?
Do you fear that your parents are going to divorce?
Do your parents seem to be caught up in their own world?
Do your parents blow up every time you give your opinion?
Do they crush your dreams every time you share them?
4. The blessed family receives the restoration of God (2 Kings 8:1–6).
Elisha warned the Shunammite woman to leave the country because seven years of famine was imminent. She obeyed and was sustained. Divine direction comes to those who are blessed of the Lord.
Upon her return, she approached the king for her land and house to be restored. At that precise moment, Gehazi, Elisha’s servant, was discussing with the king the story of her son’s raising from the dead!
God gave her divine favor, and the king not only gave her the home but paid her the back wages from all that her fields had produced in her absence.
You can claim that God “will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten” (Joel 2:25 NKJV). Job received twice as much at the end of his trials as he had at the beginning. (Job 42:10). Joseph was restored to his father and all his brothers after his trials. God will restore you too!
