Then she called to her husband, and said, “Please send me one of the young men and one of the donkeys, that I may run to the man of God and come back.” So he said, “Why are you going to him today? It is neither the New Moon nor the Sabbath.” And she said, “It is well.” Then she saddled a donkey and said to her servant, “Drive, and go forward; do not slacken the pace for me unless I tell you.” And so she departed, and went to the man of God at Mount Carmel. So it was, when the man of God saw her afar off, that he said to his servant Gehazi, “Look the Shunammite woman!” Please run now to meet her and say to her, “Is it well with you? Is it well with your husband? Is it well with the child?” And she answered, “It is well.” Now when she came to the man of God at the hill, she caught him by the feet, but Gehazi came near to push her away. But the man of God said, let her alone, for her soul is in deep distress…” 2 Kings 4: 22-27, NKJV.
Blessed LORD, here we are again in eager expectation to hear Your voice speaking to our hearts as we study Your Word. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Today we want to look at the aspect of proper timing as it applies to this story. For this we will go to the book of Ecclesiastes 3: 1, “To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under the sun.” So far the Shunammite woman has shown very good judgment in her timing. At the beginning of this story we discovered that it was a “time of famine” in the land. The woman fed the prophet, and suggested to her husband, that they provide a dwelling for the man of God, that whenever he was in the area, he could stop in and rest (2 Kings 4: 8, 10). It was the perfect time for such kindness. I truly believe that her kindness was prompted by her knowledge of God (9).
As a consequence of her kindness, the man of God announces that by this time next year, she will “embrace a son” (15). Perhaps she was aware that under normal circumstances this was not a possibility, because “the time” of her, and her husband’s, ability to pro-create had past. Gehazi referred to her husband as, “old” (14). Whatever the reason, the possibility seemed too good to be true. Listen to her reaction: “No my lord. Man of God, do not lie to your maidservant” (15).
She had not asked for a son. As a matter of fact, she obviously expected nothing in exchange for her kindness to the man of God. She appears to be “well taken care of,” according to her response to Elijah when he asks her what he could do for her in return for her kindness, “I dwell among my own people” (13). But even though she did not ask for this child, and may have thought that the time to have a child was past; she obviously knew that this was not his “time to die” (Ecclesiastes 3: 2b).
When her son became sick, she realized that, “time [was] of the essence.” In sickness, time can represent a matter of life or death. She must make the best use of her time. She did not sit down and wait for the man of God to come by. She went and found him. She lost no time telling anyone what she planned to do; she just did what she had to do, and the results speak for themselves – her son was resurrected from the dead!
The reason, “only a word from God will do,” is because He is the answer to all of our questions, and all the dilemmas we face in life. It is because only He knows when the time is right for every action! The Word of God assures us that, “for everything there is a time…” What it does not say, is that we will always do things at the right time. Many of us, no doubt, have lost our perfect timing because we do not have a knowledge of God. The Shunammite woman knew God. Therefore, she knew the man of God when she saw him (9); she knew when certain seasons in life had past, and when others had not arrived. She knew that there was a time to be born and a time to die; a time to “stand still and see the salvation of the Lord” (Exodus 14: 13); and a time to “go forward” (15).
May God help us to know when the time is right, by knowing Him, and listening for a Word from Him, at all times!