Gtcotr/ss100823
This morning we are going to be in the 8th chapter of 2 Kings. While you are finding the passage, allow me to provide some background information pertinent to today’s message.
• In 2 Kings 4 we are given the account of a Shunamite woman who showed kindness to the prophet Elisha. She petitioned her older husband to provide a room for the prophet to rest in when he was in the area. In return for her kindness the prophet pronounced a blessing over the woman and told her she would have a son. Her son was born at the end of that year.
• The story: As the boy grew, he began to go out to the fields with his father. One day …
• It appears that sometime after her son was restored to life, this Shunamite woman’s husband must have died, and she was left to care for herself and the fields which her son would inherit and manage when he was older.
• 2 Kings 8 tells the continuing story of a famine which came to the land of Israel. The prophet Elisha told the woman that she must leave her comfort zone and all she knew, and go somewhere else, wherever she could find, in order to help her household survive.
• God is always goes before us and He stays ahead of our needs.
2 Kings 8 NKJV
1 ¶ Then Elisha spoke to the woman whose son he had restored to life, saying, “Arise and go, you and your household, and stay wherever you can; for the LORD has called for a famine, and furthermore, it will come upon the land for seven years.”
1. The things which impact the world around us, impact our lives as well.
a. However, as a Believer in Jesus Christ, the God of all creation walks with us into the unknown, like He did with Abraham.
b. And when we are in a difficult time, we have both the hope and the faith that it is not over yet … we are going somewhere.
c. God will not leave us on a down note or drop us along the way.
d. Paul said it this way:
2 Corinthians 4 NKJV
8 ¶ We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;
9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed —
• God is yet ahead of you, and He is prepared.
2 Kings 8:2 So the woman arose and did according to the saying of the man of God, and she went with her household and dwelt in the land of the Philistines seven years.
• I find it interesting that the prophet Elisha received a double portion of the anointing which was upon the prophet Elijah. We see Elijah performing 7 miracles while Elisha is credited with 14.
• We also see the famine in the days of Elijah lasting 3 ½ years, whereas this famine in the days of Elisha being double that amount of time.
• God is so perfect in all His ways. He never misses anything.
2. The Lord will never point to where He will not provide.
2 Kings 8:3 It came to pass, at the end of seven years, that the woman returned from the land of the Philistines; and she went to make an appeal to the king for her house and for her land.
• God has a calendar, and He sets the appointed time for everything under heaven.
• It came to pass … trouble comes to pass … not to stay!
• For the six years I served in the military, each one of my commanders had what is called an “Open Door” policy. Simply put, an open-door policy means that anyone, regardless of rank, is given the opportunity to petition or appeal directly to the commander.
o God has an open-door policy.
o We are accepted in the beloved …
o You can boldly approach the throne of grace …
o This is a picture of the fact that your appeal, your prayer, your petition can be taken directly to the King of Kings without having to go through anyone else … not a priest, not a prophet, nor any other man.
3. Every Believer has direct, personal access to God any time they choose.
2 Kings 8:4 Then the king talked with Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, saying, “Tell me, please, all the great things Elisha has done.”
• Angels on assignment …
• Someone may be speaking your name to important people behind the scenes right now.
• And most likely they don’t even know what they are doing.
• God always has someone in the right place, at the right time, with the right message.
4. God sets His children up to succeed.
2 Kings 8:5 Now it happened, as he was telling the king how he had restored the dead to life, that there was the woman whose son he had restored to life, appealing to the king for her house and for her land. And Gehazi said, “My lord, O king, this is the woman, and this is her son whom Elisha restored to life.”
• Now it happened … nothing just happens.
• When you walk with Jesus, there are no coincidences.
• There is a perfect time for everything under heaven.
• God works all things together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His will.
• We might forget or make a mistake … God never forgets and never makes a mistake.
5. God is seldom early, and He is never late.
2 Kings 8:6 And when the king asked the woman, she told him. So the king appointed a certain officer for her, saying, “Restore all that was hers, and all the proceeds of the field from the day that she left the land until now.”
• The Bible only tells one story. It is the story of redemption.
• Every account in the Bible is designed to add a facet to this one-story God is telling.
• The Shunamite woman was evidently told by herrelatives, who most likely took possession of herland, that she could not have it back. She had been gone for 7 years and it was theirs until the year of Jubilee.
• The law even supported their claim … but the King did not.
• She could have stopped there but she didn’t.
• Listen to the longing of your heart and don’t give up.
• Every year is the year of Jubilee for the Believer in Jesus Christ.
6. Don’t treat it like it’s over.
• It’s not over until God says it’s over.
• If it is bad, God is not finished yet.
• Jesus said: “How much more shall God avenge His elect who cry unto Him both day and night.”
7. When we follow the will of God for our lives, we never lose.
What seems like a surprise to us is a plan to God. Don’t worry, just follow and trust the Lord. He will never leave you or forsake you and He knows how to make itall work out in time.
God is ahead of you!
• He was God before you were born, and He will be God after you are dead.
• Doing His will is the best your life will ever be.
• Your part is to trust and obey.
• His part is to cause all things to work together for the best.
