Heroes of Hope: Monday

Monday February 22, 2021

Created by Hannah Tonn

2 Kings 4:22–37 (NIV)

22 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.”

23 “Why go to him today?” he asked. “It’s not the New Moon or the Sabbath.”

“That’s all right,” she said.

24 She saddled the donkey and said to her servant, “Lead on; don’t slow down for me unless I tell you.” 25 So she set out and came to the man of God at Mount Carmel.

When he saw her in the distance, the man of God said to his servant Gehazi, “Look! There’s the Shunammite! 26 Run to meet her and ask her, ‘Are you all right? Is your husband all right? Is your child all right?’”

“Everything is all right,” she said.

27 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 is in bitter distress, but the Lord has hidden it from me and has not told me why.”

28 “Did I ask you for a son, my lord?” she said. “Didn’t I tell you, ‘Don’t raise my hopes’?”

29 Elisha said to Gehazi, “Tuck your cloak 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.”

30 But the child’s mother said, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So he got up and followed her.

31 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.”

32 When Elisha reached the house, there was the boy lying dead on his couch. 33 He went in, shut the door on the two of them and prayed to the Lord. 34 Then he got on the bed and lay on the boy, mouth to mouth, eyes to eyes, hands to hands. As he stretched himself out on him, the boy’s body grew warm. 35 Elisha turned away and walked back and forth in the room and then got on the bed and stretched out on him once more. The boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes.

36 Elisha summoned Gehazi and said, “Call the Shunammite.” And he did. When she came, he said, “Take your son.” 37 She came in, fell at his feet and bowed to the ground. Then she took her son and went out.

Devotion

In the story of the “Woman from Shunem,” it begins with a woman feeling a calling from God to provide for the prophet Elisha whenever she crosses paths with him. Elisha understood that a hope of the woman was to have a son. Though she had given up hope, Elisha promised the time would come. The woman eventually had a son who then passed away in his mother’s arms. Now, before I continue, this story is not to talk about how hope has bad endings, but to emphasize that it shows up differently in every person’s story. The woman then races to find Elisha and falls to his feet with feelings of frustration and disappointment. In this moment, many can relate to having given up hope in a moment of loss, but God saw her heartache and passion. With that, God grants Elisha to bring her son back to life and the story ends with the woman filled with gratitude for the Lord. This reading provides insight to the wonderful creations of hope and the varieties it shows up in. Hope takes a moment of patience.

Close your eyes and take time to reflect on a hope of yours that you had feared or still fear. How is this reflection better strengthening your relationship with God? Where has God shown up?

Prayer

Good and gracious God, help us to find hope in this weary season. Amen.