The Hope That Free's Us

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: