THE SHUNEMITE

 

Many years ago the Lord spoke to me and gave me a scripture in 2Kings. It was 1998. Adam was having terrible headaches, and we were just so frustrated and hoping to avoid another surgery. At this time in his life Adam had very little speech. But he felt so awful, and he would just say or scream, "My head, my head!"... and I knew he was suffering terribly. I would pray for him, give him Motrin or Tylenol, and pray some more. He got some relief, but not much. One day as I was hanging laundry on the line and Adam was sleeping, I was praying and crying out to the Lord and asking why He wasn't answering my prayers. Why was Adam suffering so much?  "I didn't ask you for a son; I didn't ask you for this child...." I was afraid he would die.....  God did not answer these prayers as I would have liked. Instead, He gave me a scripture. 1Kings 18. So I read the whole chapter. 

The funny thing is that in this story, the son of the Shunemite was having similar problems, and they were saying much the same things we were.  Her son was out in the fields with his father, and had become ill. He went to his father and said, "Oh, my head! My head!" And the father told the servants to take him to his mother. 

They did, and the child sat in her lap until noon that day, and then he died. The Shunemite took the child and laid him on the bed of the man of God, Elisha, whom she and her husband had provided an upper room for him to stay when he came through the area. She left the room and shut the door. She told her husband to send her a servant and a donkey so that she could go to Elisha quickly and then return. When he asked her about this, she replied, "All is well." Of course it wasn't according to the actual circumstances. She told the servant to push the donkey to keep going and not to stop unless she asked him to.

Elisha sent his servant out to meet them but she wanted nothing to do with him. She would only speak with Elisha. She fell to his feet upon her arrival and the servant Gehazi tried to move her away. Elisha told him to let her be, and that she was in great distress but the LORD had hidden it from him. So she said, "Did I ask you for a son? Did I not say, 'Don't deceive me?'" 

Elisha sent Gehazi ahead of them on the return trip as the woman refused to go with him.  "As the LORD lives and as you live, I won't leave you." Gehazi got to the home first, and tried to raise the child by laying the staff of Elisha on the child's face, to no avail. He went back to meet them as they travelled and told them that the child had not awakened.  

When Elisha arrived, he went upstairs to the room where the child lay and shut the door, and prayed to the LORD. Then he lay down on the child, putting his mouth on the child's mouth, his eyes on his eyes, his hands on his hands. As he did so, the child's body became warm. He got up, walked back and forth, and then laid down on the child again.The boy sneezed seven times and then opened his eyes. He sent for the woman and gave her son back to her. 

What spoke to me the first time was that the LORD knew Adam's cries of pain. He heard him. I felt somewhat comforted by this. Our trial wasn't over but I knew God was in it. 

The next time this scripture was given to me Adam was again having problems that my prayers could not defeat. But this time, I did the same thing that Elisha did; I prayed and then lay down on Adam, mouth to mouth, eyes to eyes, hands to hands. No small task with a sick child and moving target. I needed to be careful to hold my weight off him. After I got up, he sneezed six times. He got better after this, but he was not completely healed. 

This most recent time, as I returned to this scripture after a tough season over a year and a half, and 5 surgeries, I saw something different. The Shunemite. The mother. What was God saying to me about this? I had never considered this before. So I discovered as I searched that Shunem is in the area that belongs to the tribe of Issachar. This made my heart jump! I learned a long time ago that the sons of Issachar know the signs of the times AND what to do. It was about ME after all this time. It always has been about Adam, but ALSO about me. I just wasn't ready to see it. 

The Shunemite mother knew what to do for her son. She knew who could help and who couldn't. This is significant because I must also know what to do, who to go to, who can help. I often do. When I keep my peace, just as this woman did so long ago, things go much better. This past season, I lost my peace for so many reasons, and things got out of control. Fear came in for the first time in a long time. I was in a bad place. After realizing all this, I turned back to finding my place and my peace with and in God. I have always prized this place and gift above all the others in my life. It is what keeps me close to Him and in control of the situations that I need to have control of. 

The Shunemite. A daughter of Issachar. Me. Knowing the signs of the times and what to do. This awareness now is a challenge to see how else the LORD wants me to recognize who He has called me to be. I am pressing forward into more understanding and knowledge. It's a good journey. I'm in no hurry. I have all the time the LORD wants me to have to gain understanding. I know He will lead me. He will teach me. He may send others to deepen my understanding and to help me along the way. I'm looking forward to it all.

Our problems are still here. Adam is still not healed. He has new problems. I will press in to understand the time we're in and where we're going. I know God is with us. He sees what I cannot. But I will know the signs of the times. And I will know what to do. 

Peace to one and all. Thank you for reading my stories. I appreciate you. May God bless you richly.