Telling Him First

Telling Him First

The Woman From Shunem

Read: 2 Kings 4:21-28

All afternoon, I rehearsed the conversation. That morning at church, a woman had criticized the way I chaired the fellowship committee and had declined to serve with me another year. Her stinging comments had hurt, and I longed to tell my closest friend. I knew that Lisa would reassure me that I was doing a good job and denounce the woman’s remarks as unfair. But Lisa was out of town for the day. As I watched the clock, waiting for her return, I sensed God speaking to me: Why don’t you talk to me about it?

The Shunemite woman talked to the right person about her trouble. When her son died suddenly, she immediately went to see the prophet Elisha. When Elisha’s servant ran ahead to see if anything was wrong, she told him that everything was fine. The woman must have been in shock and anguish over losing her only child. She didn’t bother to stop and explain her sorrow to the servant; she rode straight to Elisha. Then she poured out her grief to the prophet, who had predicted her son’s miraculous birth. She had faith in Elisha’s ability as a man of God to restore her son’s life.

Whenever we’re hurt or troubled, our first instinct is to run to a close friend. We want someone to reassure us and make us feel better. The Bible teaches that we should share our joys and sorrows with one another and encourage one another. Too often, though, we talk to everyone except God about what concerns us. He should be the first one we go to, not the last. If we have confidence in God’s ability to comfort us and work out our problems, we’ll immediately think of him when we need someone to talk to. And he is never out of town.

O my people, trust in him at all times. Pour out your heart to him, for God is our refuge.

Psalm 62:8