When Life Doesn't Go As Planned (how God meets you there) | Season 8 Ep 2

The story of the Shunammite woman tucked away in 2 Kings 4 offers one of the most powerful examples of faith in the face of devastating loss. Her journey through hospitality, unexpected blessing, heartbreaking tragedy, and miraculous restoration speaks directly to anyone who has ever received something wonderful only to have it seemingly taken away.

Though she never asks for it, Elisha prophesies she'll have a son within a year. Her response is fascinating – rather than joy, she essentially says, "Please don't get my hopes up." Haven't we all protected ourselves this way? Guarding against disappointment in areas where we've been hurt before? Yet God speaks directly into this guarded space, and true to the prophecy, she bears a son.

What seemingly dead dreams are you holding today? The Shunammite woman's story reminds us that God sees our sacrifices, knows our unspoken needs, and can breathe life into situations that appear hopelessly lost. Take those dreams directly to where God dwells, believing that resurrection power still exists.

Ready to deepen your faith through life's unexpected interruptions? Subscribe to our podcast and join our community of believers who are learning to grab their faith and run with it, even when life doesn't go according to plan.

Transcript

Introduction to Grab the Faith

Speaker 1 0:00

Hey all, thank you for joining us here at Grab the Faith, where we try to grab the faith and run with it. Join us as we try to learn a little more, grow a little more and live a lot more. I'm your host, bobbi Gentry Goodwin. Stay tuned for this week's episode. Tonight, on this special episode, we're going to be interrupting our special scheduled programming. We've been talking about these disciples each and every episode. We finished eight disciples that you have come along and study with me.

Speaker 1 0:42

Well, tonight we are interrupting that program. You remember those commercials years ago when you was watching TV and then, all of a sudden, the TV went blank and it said we are interrupting that programming. I'm telling my age. I'm telling my age. But listen, that's exactly what we're doing tonight. Hot off the presses. We have an interruption. That's exactly what we're doing tonight. Hot off the presses, we have an interruption. Now, listen, we are interrupting this program for a special message tonight. So we ain't going to be studying these disciples tonight. We're going to be in honoring Mother's Day. And listen, if you still have your mother, if your mother is still with you, mother, if your mother is still with you, I hope that you are interrupting your regularly scheduled program to spend some time in honoring her, but tonight we are here to honor God, and that's exactly what we're going to do In tonight's study. I didn't ask for this. I did not ask for this, so we jumping right in.

Interrupting Regular Programming for Mother's Day

Speaker 1 1:47

Join me in Second Kings as we dive into this story of motherhood, mayhem and miracles. Listen, are you a mother? Do you know about motherhood? But do you also know about mayhem and the miracles that could come along your journey as a mother? That's exactly what we're going to be talking about. So park with me in 2 Kings 4 11-32. 2 Kings 4 11-32. It's a lot of text, but it's valuable text. So don't you turn that down, because the Lord has a word and I want to make sure you get it. So, starting off in verse 11, which says this one day, when Elijah came, he went up to his room and lay down there.

Speaker 1 2:38

He said to his servant, gehazi. Gehazi called the Shunammite. So he called her and she stood before him. Elijah said to him, not to her. Elijah said to him Gehazi, his servant, tell her you have gone to all this trouble for us. Now what can be done for you? Can we speak on your behalf to the king of the commander of the army. She replied I have a home amongst my people. What can be done for her? Elisha asked. Gehazi said she has no son and her husband is old. Then Elijah said call her. So he called her and she stood in the doorway About this time next year, elijah said.

Speaker 1 3:36

Elisha said you will hold a son in your arms arms. No, my Lord. She objected. Please, man of God, don't mislead your servant. But the woman became pregnant and the next year, about the same time, she gave birth to a son, just as Elisha had told her.

Speaker 1 4:03

The child grew and one day he went out to his father, who was with the reapers. He said to his father my head, my head. His father told a servant carry him to his mother. After the servant had lifted him up and carried him to his mother, the boy sat on her lap until noon and then he died. She went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, then shut the door and went out. She called her husband and said please send me one of the servants and a donkey so I can go to the man of God quickly and return. Why go to him today? He asked? It is not the new moon or the Sabbath, that's all right, she said. She saddled the donkey and said to her servant lead on, don't you slow down for me unless I tell you so.

Speaker 1 5:05

She set out and came to the man of God on Mount Carmel. When he saw her in the distance, the man of God said to his servant Gehazi, look, there's the Shunammite. Run to her and ask her are you all right? Is your husband all right? Is your child all right? He was checking everything, going back to the word of God. Everything is all right, she said.

Speaker 1 5:32

When she reached the man of God at the mountain, she took hold of his feet. Gehazi came over to push her away, but the man of God said leave her alone. She's in bitter distress, but the Lord has hidden it from me and not told me. Why Did I ask you for a son, my Lord? She said, didn't I tell you? Don't raise my hopes. Elisha said to Gehazi tuck your coat into your belt, take my staff in your hand and run. Don't greet anyone you meet, and if anyone greets you, do not answer. Lay my staff on the boy's face. But the child's mother said as surely as the Lord lives, listen to her faith tonight. Listen to her faith tonight, as surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you. So he got up and followed her. Gehazi went on ahead and laid the staff on the boy's face, but there was no sound or response. So Gehazi went back to meet Elisha and told him the boy has not awakened.

Speaker 1 6:43

When Elisha reached the house there was a boy lying dead on the couch. He went in, shut the door on the two of them and prayed to the Lord. Then he got on the bed, laid on the mouth, laid on the boy, mouth to mouth, eyes to eyes. Mouth laid on the boy, mouth to mouth, eyes to eyes, hands to hands. He stretched himself out on him.

The Shunammite Woman's Story Begins

Speaker 1 7:10

Oh, this is a beautiful text. It, just, it, just. It makes my heart just leap. The boy's body grew warm. Elijah turned around and walked back and forth in the room and then got on the bed and stretched out on him once more. The voice sneezed seven times and opened his eyes, and I'm repeating verse 28. Did I ask you for a son, my Lord? She said, didn't I tell you? Don't raise my hope. I didn't ask for this, I did not ask for this Now, as we meet this mother. Well, I could shout right now because this Bible study is. The Lord just filled my heart with this Bible study tonight, as we meet this mother, the woman from Shunem, we see she has had several interruptions here. This woman is living her regular life, going about her daily tasks, doing what she does, and there was an interruption. She met this man called Elisha and the text doesn't say if she knew he was a man of God at that time. She met him and him coming to town. She said why don't you come over and eat at my house? And she prepared a meal for him and he stopped into her house time and time again, so much so that she told her husband hey, this is a man of God, let's build a room for him in our house. See, she was just going about her regular life, but the hospitality of this woman, she not only invited him to her house, but he started coming to town and coming by, so much she said husband, let's build him a room. This is a man of God, husband, let's build him a room. This is a man of God. She meets Elijah, this simple man, and as a wealthy woman, she gave provision for this man.

Speaker 1 9:13

We meet this woman from Shunem through her kindness. She don't have no kids, she just has a husband and a home. She's a woman with many things, but she don't have no trouble sharing them. She invites people. She invited him for dinner and she realizes he is a holy man. Listen, as we run into people, who are we running into? Who are we running into? Who are we running into? When we entertain people and entertain our guests, how can we bless them? That's what we're learning from this woman. No hidden agendas. She just saying hey, I see this man coming to town. He needs a place to eat and a place to lay his head. At her request alone, she goes to her husband and say we're going to build him a room.

Speaker 1 10:12

Not only do we meet this woman and inspired by this woman listen, are you listening to me, mothers? Tonight we can be inspired by this woman because not only is she kind, not only is she compassionate, not only is she hospitable, but she's powerful, she's insightful and she's willing to make a sacrifice for others. Listen, mother, have you ever had somebody come over your home and stay in your home? You know what a sacrifice that is. You got to wash towels, wash bedding, create meals you can't walk around in the comfort of your own clothing.

Speaker 1 10:53

This woman shows us something not even a mother yet, but we can see her compassion, her nurturing spirit, her caring spirit. So much so that Elijah wants to bless her for all that she's done for him. He wants to honor her for who she is. So he asked his servant not even him himself, that's something we can learn from he asked his servant to go and ask her what does she want? Can they talk to the king for her? Can they do anything for this woman who was blessed to be a blessing? What does she need? What does she want? What can we do Now? Listen, elisha is not no sugar man. He ain't no Captain Saver, you fill in the blank. He's just a man of God seeing her sacrifice.

Blessings for a Satisfied Woman

Speaker 1 11:52

And listen, mother, I think we can take comfort in that tonight, on this Mother's Day weekend, please know. We can take comfort in that tonight, on this Mother's Day weekend, please know your efforts are not in vain. Please note that God sees you. He sees your hospitality, he sees your caring spirit, he sees the way you love on other people. He sees what you are doing. If the man of God sees, as we learn in this text. Don't you know our father in heaven also sees. See, we can infer that from the text that the man of God can see this lady's sacrifice, her hospitality, her kindness, her love for others. Don't you know that the father sees what you're doing? Man might not see what you're doing, man don't know what's going on in your house, but God knows what's going on in your house when you nurture kids that are not your own, when you show compassion to those that are homeless, those that are hurting, those that are incarcerated. When you are blessed and not only do you hold your blessing you open those, those hands and become a blessing to others. God sees every sacrifice, he sees your heart, he sees the work of your hands. We can be encouraged by that. If you don't get one rose on Mother's Day, if you don't get one card, one acknowledgement, if you're not a mother out of body but a mother to community, god sees you.

Speaker 1 13:29

And listen this woman. Elijah looks. He tells his servant and this servant looks her in the face. And guess what this woman says I don't need nothing, I'm satisfied. My people take care of me, my family got my back. I don't need nothing.

Speaker 1 13:53

And listen, that's point number two in this Bible study tonight. Everything might not be perfect, but you can still be satisfied. Listen, I'm a hallelujah myself on that. Everything may not be perfect, but you can still sit in satisfaction. She didn't have everything in her heart desired, but she was still satisfied. I got my little house, I got my husband, I got my land. I'm still satisfied. I extend my heart and my hand to others and yet I'm satisfied. Listen, in this world where everything is glorified, from your job, your career to your car, even the lips on some of us, our faces, and we're striving for the more and the more and the more, we learn from this woman. Sometimes we just got to sit back and be satisfied. Sometimes we got to look around what the Lord has already blessed us with and be thankful and to have a grateful heart. This woman told the man of God I'm satisfied. No, everything's not perfect. I don't have everything I want, but I'm satisfied. Praise God, I got everything I need. And listen, god can bless you in your space of satisfaction, but as we learn from this text, he can bless you all the more. See, you might be satisfied, but God still has some gifts in the pot for you. See, we learn from this text?

Speaker 1 15:30

Elijah sent his servant to say what do you need? And I think of sometimes us in ministry. We're the servants. Right? God tells us to do something for somebody, god tells us to see a need, god tells us to bless somebody. But God is behind the scenes orchestrating all this stuff. See, gehazi asked her and she said I'm satisfied. But the man of God said something important to that. He said go get her again. What does she need? What does she need? What does this woman want? What does she need? God's man says to her still in all, still that she's satisfied. We still can do something for her. Listen, that's a glorified message for us tonight, because still, when we're sitting in our place of satisfaction, god can still be asking what can I do for you? What can I do? I see the work of your hands. There's still something more for you. See, gehazi, his servant, noted something she lacked. I think of ours as a servant. When you look around you, do you see lack? Do you see people out in need that would never voice it? Do you see people that are hurting in their heart but they wear a perfect mask? But something quickens in your spirit to say there's something more. See, gehazi noticed something more. He says she don't have a son. She don't have a son and her husband is old.

Speaker 1 17:08

Now, if you know the Bible and if you've been studying it for a little bit, you'll know that having children in those days was very important. You'll know that having children in those days was very important. Having children in those days was extremely important because if you were a widow with no heir, you had no rights. See, and to have a child was also considered a gift from God. Barrenness was seen as not a blessing from God, it was a necessary gift. Children that continued the family line, the inheritance, the legacy.

Speaker 1 17:40

Remember Hannah, samuel's mother, who was married to Elkanah, and his wife, his other wife, his other wife, his other wife, penina, would tease her because she didn't have no children and it made her depressed, so much so that she went to the temple and was crying out so earnestly that the priest thought she was drunk. She wanted children, just that bad. Remember Naomi, who was the mother-in-law of Ruth, who lost her children, lost her husband, and she went back to her old town and said I'm bitter now I'm bitter, I don't have no husband and no children. See, children was a gift from God. And listen, that's exactly what Gehazi in tuned in on. She don't have no kids.

The Gift of a Son

Speaker 1 18:27

So Elisha spoke to her directly that time. He spoke to that go get her. And he spoke to that go get her. And he spoke to that woman directly and declared something over her life. He declared a gift from God she was to become a mother. Mother, do you know that? You are a gift. See, children are not only a gift, we're a gift to them. See, elijah blessed her with something she didn't even want to give her hopes up. She didn't even ask for it, but he blessed her anyway. He spoke that prophecy directly to her. This satisfied woman pushed back said don't give my hopes up. I don't even want this. I didn't ask for this. I don't want this. That's how important it was to her. We got a whole space for that tonight.

Speaker 1 20:05

Is there places and spaces in your life that you hold it so close that you won't even tell God about it? You don't even want to hope for it, no more. You don't even want to hope for your healing. You don't even want to hope for it, no more. You don't even want to hope for your healing. You don't even want to hope for the salvation of your children. You don't even want to hope for that job or that new opportunity. You just can't even get your hopes up anymore. You are so afraid that if this door opens, that it won't be sustained. Is there places and spaces in your life that you hold in so close that you won't even tell God about it because it's just too risky? Listen, mother, you are a blessing and God still wants to bless you. Just because you're satisfied, god still may have something in store. Don't ever count him out.

Speaker 1 21:05

See, gehazi saw something, but the man of God declared something. See, we can see the need of people and we can try to work on that. But listen, when the man of God, when God himself declared something, declared something for you, ain't nothing could hold it back? This mother had a son a year later. Just like Elisha said, you still have things that need to be birthed out of you. I don't care what age you are, I don't care what you've been through, I don't care what you are afraid to acknowledge. God still has something that he still can birth out of you. Mother, you can hope again. Mother, you can dream again. Mother, you can make room for more. We see that right in the text. She made a room for the man of God, but the man of God opened a door for her. She built Elisha a room and God built her a nursery.

Speaker 1 22:12

This was an unexpected interruption, a welcome interruption. Hear me clearly tonight, mother. All interruptions are not welcomed, but yet, and still, they still can be a blessing. See, we read this text. We know what happened to her son. It was an interruption that she didn't exactly want, she didn't see coming, she didn't even ask for it, but it came. But it came.

Speaker 1 22:44

But it came with some things. See, on this journey of motherhood, you may have prayed for that child, you may have prayed for that business, you may have prayed for that job, and the Lord delivered it unto you. But it still sometimes comes with some interruptions. It still comes with things that we won't expect. Whether we're birthing children, ministries, careers, communities, dreams, there's still a journey that we have to walk upon. We're going to have some interruptions that we just don't expect. She didn't expect a child, but she didn't expect him to die either. Some interruption we just might not like.

Speaker 1 23:37

Lord, you gave me this house. Why is it being repossessed? Lord, you gave me this child. Why is he so wayward? Lord, you gave me this job, but why is it stressing me? So there's going to be some interruptions that come with blessings.

Tragedy Strikes: Her Son Dies

Speaker 1 23:55

Sometimes Jesus himself was a blessing. Jesus himself was a blessing, but he still had to be crucified. And listen, sometimes our blessings can come, but we can't just kick our feet back. The faith don't just stop there. The faith has to carry us on to the next day. See this woman. Fate has to carry us on to the next day. See this woman. She got a blessing anyway, but that second interruption of mayhem was unwelcome and unexpected. Her son died right in her lap. He no longer had life, his breath was gone.

Speaker 1 24:36

This strong woman, this mother, she had a gain and a loss in the same area, but this is the crux of our Bible study tonight. Listen, I'm trying to hold my seat. This is the crux of the Bible study tonight, because she didn't expect a blessing and also hardship to sometimes come from the same experience. She didn't expect that this Mother's Day weekend, but she did something that I think and this is where we're couching and we're going to leave it here this is something where she did something that I did not expect at all did not expect at all. Here's her dead son sitting on her lap, this mother who got a blessing that she didn't even pray for. He's in her arms and she's holding him and he dies right there. Have you ever had a dream die in your lap? A ministry die in your lap, a business die in your lap? Right there, a dream a family die right in front of you?

Running Back to the Man of God

Speaker 1 25:49

This woman did something that I didn't expect. She didn't panic. She didn't pick up her boy and run and take him to his room. She didn't pick up her boy and go run and take him to his room. She didn't pick up her boy and go run and take him to his father. She didn't pick up his her boy and run and take him to her room. She didn't even sit there and hold him tight and hold him in her arms. She didn't even do that. This woman did something that I didn't entirely expect at all, because I'm a mother and if something happened to my oh my God I could just imagine wanting to just hold him close, shake him, try to bring the light back. This woman took him to the room of the man of God, to the room of the man of God. What does that tell us? Tonight, this woman holding her dead child took him to the room that she created for the man of God, the place where the man of God dwelled. She didn't take him to his room, she didn't take him to her room. She took him to the space where she knew the presence of God dwelled.

Speaker 1 27:06

Listen, they're shouting me because sometimes, as a mother, I know I can't fix it. Sometimes, as a mother, I know I did all I could. Sometimes, as a mother, I know my husband can't fix it and I can't run to him to fix it. Sometimes I know my child can't fix it or no one around me can fix it. My job can't fix it, my finances can't fix it. When it's dead, it looks dead.

Speaker 1 27:39

But she grabbed onto her faith. She took her son to the place where God dwelt. She knew she couldn't do anything in her own power, but she took her son to the place where, where all power had a place. Sometimes the Lord himself just has to fix it. Sometimes we just got to let it go. Oh, my God, that hurts tonight, but sometimes we just got to let it go and let God do what he's going to do. That's an incredible mark of faith.

Grabbing Faith in Crisis

Speaker 1 28:22

That woman took her son to his room and she said I'm going right to where the promise was given. I'm going right to the one who prophesied over my life. I'm going right to the one who spoke a blessing over me. She left her son there. She had to let it go, but she didn't let that go. She let her son go, the situation go and she grabbed her faith. She grabbed her faith. Listen, clearly, sometimes there are situations in our lives where we don't have nothing left. Our tanks is empty. But listen clearly, we do not have to give up. Those are the times that we dig in deep and grab our faith.

Speaker 1 29:21

She got on that donkey and traveled and what I love about this story as we wrap into the end, she told her husband all is well. She told Gehazi, the servant all is well, sometimes as we work and with people, sometimes as we minister to people as well, sometimes as we work and with people, sometimes as we minister to people, they'll tell you all as well. That's okay, get them to God, get them to the man of God, get him who, in my mind, this is a representation of God in this story Get them to God. She didn't stop for anybody except Elisha. But she didn't even stop at a negative mindset. All is well, she'd bear down in her spirit. All is well. I'm grabbing faith and I'm moving on. I'm moving on to God, listen.

Speaker 1 30:15

That concludes our lesson tonight. So many interruptions on our journey, so many things that we don't expect, so many things that we don't hope for no more. So many things that look dead in our lap. But if you take one thing from this lesson tonight be encouraged that God sees you, be encouraged that hope lies in him. You can hope again. Be encouraged that even when there's interruptions that are welcome and sometimes they're hard God is still in the midst. But never forget to grab your faith. The you, thank you.