The Hope That Frees Us
2 Kings 4:8-11
8And it fell on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was a great woman; and she constrained him to eat bread. And so it was, that as oft as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread.
9And she said unto her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is an holy man of God, which passeth by us continually. 10Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick: and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither. 11And it fell on a day, that he came thither, and he turned into the chamber, and lay there.
First I want to call your attention to who this shunanite was, she is only called a shunanite because that is where she was from and where she lived, you know like elktonites.
But scripture does state that she was a great woman, another form of that translation means wealthy.
She wasn’t in any great need for materialistic things, this is also evidenced through her actions when she asks her husband to build an addition for the man of God when he passes through the area.
And she is a believer, she knew who Elisha was and blessed his ministry through her wealth.
2 Kings 4:12-17
12And he said to Gehazi his servant, Call this Shunammite. And when he had called her, she stood before him. 13And he said unto him, Say now unto her, Behold, thou hast been careful for us with all this care; what is to be done for thee? wouldest thou be spoken for to the king, or to the captain of the host? And she answered, I dwell among mine own people. 14And he said, What then is to be done for her? And Gehazi answered, Verily she hath no child, and her husband is old. 15And he said, Call her. And when he had called her, she stood in the door. 16And he said, About this season, according to the time of life, thou shalt embrace a son. And she said, Nay, my lord, thou man of God, do not lie unto thine handmaid. 17And the woman conceived, and bare a son at that season that Elisha had said unto her, according to the time of life.
The shunamite woman was brought before the prophet of God and asked what do you want for the kindness and care you have offered the ministry.
She said I’m good, her response was simple, she lived among her people, she was surrounded by family, she did not need materialistic things. She was content.
Living in contention can sometimes limit what God wants to do for us.
Scripture echoes the idea that if we have needs and even some of our wants all we have to do is ask.
Yet she did not ask for anything.
When they brought her back Elisha and his servant had formulated a plan, to ask God to provide a child for her.
Her response, no Lord don’t give me hope for this.
I believe she was not able to conceive, her husband was older, she had no children, maybe they tried but they were unable to have a child.
She settled into that idea, she didn’t give up on life but became content without the thing that she wanted.
Maybe she hoped for it for so many years that she simply gave up on the idea and moved on with her life.
Romans 12:12
King James Version
12 Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;
I think we as Christians can find ourselves in the place of contention.
We may still be involved, supporting the ministry of God.
But do we stand in faith believing God can do for us?
I believe this limits God from doing the miraculous in our life.
We become satisfied where we are that we stop asking God for the impossible.
God desires to bless us, to bless our faithfulness.
In our comfortable state we miss the opportunity to invite his blessings into our lives.
This isn’t a message about prosperity it’s a message about hope.
Young or old church we can’t let hope die in our lives.
If we do, we risk losing hope in other people’s lives as well.
We will face death, sickness, hurt, loss, pain, and abandonment, life deals a lot of different blows.
But we serve a good God, a good father and sometimes he just wants us to ask.
Matthew 7
7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
9 Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?
10 Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?
11 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?
But if we lose hope we stop asking, and God’s gifts to us is not just our blessing but the testimony to others of how God takes care of his children.
Pray for the impossible, and believe God can do it.
If he doesn’t, don’t stop hoping for the next miracle, we have to believe in all his wisdom that he knows what he’s doing.
We can’t give up hope.
It’s the hope that drives us, keeps us, and encourages us.
Without hope our faith could die.
We stop asking God for things in our lives, we stop believing he’ll do things in other people's lives.
We give up believing in what He can do.
Yet we can still come to church, tithe, smile, and pray for others but are we believing that he’ll do it?
Without hope church, we give up on what he can do.
I can’t give up hope church, I can’t stop believing he will do it.
He’s done too much in my life for that to happen but I am at risk like anyone else to come to a place of contention in my life because he hasn’t answered all my prayers.
We need to have patience with our hope.
2 Kings 4:14
18And when the child was grown, it fell on a day, that he went out to his father to the reapers. 19And he said unto his father, My head, my head. And he said to a lad, Carry him to his mother. 20And when he had taken him, and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees till noon, and then died. 21And she went up, and laid him on the bed of the man of God, and shut the door upon him, and went out. 22And 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. 23And he said, Wherefore wilt thou go to him to day? it is neither new moon, nor sabbath. And she said, It shall be well. 24Then she saddled an ass, and said to her servant, Drive, and go forward; slack not thy riding for me, except I bid thee. 25So she went and came unto the man of God to mount Carmel.
27And when she came to the man of God to the hill, she caught him by the feet: but Gehazi came near to thrust her away. And the man of God said, Let her alone; for her soul is vexed within her: and the LORD hath hid it from me, and hath not told me. 28Then she said, Did I desire a son of my lord? did I not say, Do not deceive me?
To me this response lets us see a little something within this woman.
Maybe it was murphys law, maybe she had been with child before but lost them or she had a child pass away.
Whatever the situation she calls on the man of God and challenges him, she says "I didn’t ask because I was afraid to hope for this thing that I wanted."
But it was her hope that drove her to his feet, her faith that pushed her to find him.
First Elisha was just going to send his servant with his rod, but she told him, that’s fine but I’m not moving without you.
So Elisha went with her, when he entered the room the boy was dead.
2 Kings 4:32
32And when Elisha was come into the house, behold, the child was dead, and laid upon his bed. 33He went in therefore, and shut the door upon them twain, and prayed unto the LORD. 34And he went up, and lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands: and he stretched himself upon the child; and the flesh of the child waxed warm. 35Then he returned, and walked in the house to and fro; and went up, and stretched himself upon him: and the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes. 36And he called Gehazi, and said, Call this Shunammite. So he called her. And when she was come in unto him, he said, Take up thy son. 37Then she went in, and fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground, and took up her son, and went out.
God gives and God takes away but we still need to have hope in our lives church.
God is a God that breaks laws, he does the impossible so if your life has been dealing with murphys law, that’s ok we can break that one too.
The Word has more to say about Hope as well:
Romans 15:13
King James Version
13 Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.
Jeremiah 29:11
King James Version
11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
Hebrews 11:1
King James Version
11 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Romans 15:4
King James Version
4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.
Psalm 39:7
King James Version
7 And now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in thee.
Don’t give up hope church.
Even if you're in a good place in life the lack of hope can keep you from the promises of God.
Others can see your life as well, let hope shine so that your faith in God can still impact someone else's life.
