II Kings 4:8-10
And it fell on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was a great woman; and she constrained him to eat bread. And so it was, that as oft as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread.
And she said unto her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is an holy man of God, which passeth by us continually.
Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick: and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither.
The Shunammite woman was called a "great" woman, this doesn't refer to her stature, but to her standing in the community and her wealth. She was a woman who recognized Elisha as a man of GOD and as such, offered him nourishment when he passed by. She recognized the anointing of GOD on Elisha. This is important in this lesson. I like to think of Elisha as representing the anointing of GOD in this account.
She went to her husband and told him they needed to build a special room for him to rest in when he passed through. We all need to have a special place in our lives and in our homes for the anointing to rest when HE passes by.
In this room, she placed four items: a bed, a table, a stool and a candlestick. She recognized the need for there to be a special place for the anointing to rest and the need to keep that place simple and uncluttered. Only the basic necessities were placed there. A bed to rest in, a table to eat at, a stool to sit on and a light to see by. There were no extras to distract the man of GOD from his task. We can learn much from this simple lesson. We may build a room for the anointing in our lives, but we usually proceed to clutter it up with many things, we have to have our phones, televisions, computers, etc.
Ouch! We are all guilty!
The Shunammite and her husband were childless and to honor her unselfishness in helping Elisha, GOD blessed them with a child, a boy. In time the child grew and one day while out in the field with his father, he grew ill. They brought him to his mother, where he died.
This is where this story gets so deep and awesome to me.
She didn't panic, she didn't run screaming through the house, she simply took the boy to the place she had set aside for the man of GOD, that place she had set aside for the anointing to dwell in, that place that she knew the anointing would come back to if she could just get to him.
II Kings 4:21 And she went up, and laid him on the bed of the man of GOD, and shut the door upon him, and went out.
She didn't even tell her husband that the boy had died, because when he asked her why she was going to the man of GOD, her answer was, "it shall be well."
II Kings 4:23 And he said, Wherefore wilt thou go to him to day? it is neither new moon, nor sabbath. And she said, It shall be well.
Then she went after the man of GOD, after the anointing. She knew if she could just find the anointing and bring it back to the place where her dead son lay, it would be well. She didn't say, "it is well", she said, "it shall be well." She had to find that anointing!
II Kings 4:25-26 So she went and came unto the man of God to mount Carmel. And it came to pass, when the man of God saw her afar off, that he said to Gehazi his servant, Behold, yonder is that Shunammite:
Run now, I pray thee, to meet her, and say unto her, Is it well with thee? is it well with thy husband? is it well with the child? And she answered, It is well.
As soon as she reached the man of GOD, that anointing if you will, as soon as she had that anointing in sight, she changed her answer from "it shall be well to it is well." Finding the anointing makes all the difference in any situation. We can do nothing without HIM and HIS power and strength.
This story has a happy ending. The man of GOD came back with the Shunammite woman to the place she had laid the dead child and GOD raised the child up.
If we will make a place, a chamber for the anointing to rest when HE passes by...and HE will pass by...then we will have a place to lay our sorrows, our heartaches, our distress, our sick, our financial problems, etc. All we have to do is take them to the place where the anointing will rest, but we have to have set aside a special place. Sometimes HE is nearby, but sometimes we have to go search for HIM, we have to bring HIM to an uncluttered place that is a special place, but HE can be found and HE can be touched.
Make a little chamber somewhere for the anointing of the LORD to rest in your life and your home and then you can say like the Shunammite woman.....
It Is Well!
The Isaacs "It Is Well" (Elisha's Song)
