The Promises of God

15 Then Elisha said, “Call her.” So he called her, and she stood in the doorway. 16 “About this time next year,” Elisha said, “you will hold a son in your arms.” “No, my lord,” she objected. “Don’t mislead your servant, O man of God!” 17 But the woman became pregnant, and the next year about that same time she gave birth to a son, just as Elisha had told her.
20 After the servant had lifted him up and carried him to his mother, the boy sat on her lap until noon, and then he died. 21 She went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, then shut the door and went out.
27 When she reached the man of God at the mountain, she took hold of his feet. Gehazi came over to push her away, but the man of God said, “Leave her alone! She is in bitter distress, but the LORD has hidden it from me and has not told me why.” 28 “Did I ask you for a son, my lord?” she said. “Didn’t I tell you ‘Don’t raise my hopes’?” 29 Elisha said to Gehazi, “Tuck your cloak into your belt, take my staff in your hand and run. If you meet anyone, do not greet him, and if anyone greets you, do not answer. Lay my staff on the boy’s face.” 30 But the child’s mother said, “As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So he got up and followed her.
32 When Elisha reached the house, there was the boy lying dead on his couch. 33 He went in, shut the door on the two of them and prayed to the LORD. 34 Then he got on the bed and lay upon the boy, mouth to mouth, eyes to eyes, hands to hands. As he stretched himself out upon him, the boy’s body grew warm. 35 Elisha turned away and walked back and forth in the room and then got on the bed and stretched out upon him once more. The boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes.

Read II Kings 4:8-36

The Shunammite woman in this story was wealthy. She wasn’t in need of anything. But, she saw a need in the life of the prophet of God and she decided to fill his void by giving him someplace to stay when he was in that part of the country.

In return for her kindness he, the prophet Elisha, made her a promise, “About this time next year,” Elisha said, “you will hold a son in your arms.” His prophecy came to pass and the woman had her hearts desire.

Several years later her happiness turned to great sorrow when her son died while sitting on her lap. The Bible does not speak of her being in mourning. The Bible does not suggest that she was faint of heart. On the contrary, the Bible says that she mounted a donkey and went to find the Man of God that had made her the promise, even though she was in “bitter distress.”

On her way to the prophet, she didn’t talk to anyone. She didn’t loose her mind. She didn’t allow her “bitter distress” to stop her from moving forward. She didn’t allow her state of mind to stop her from getting the broken promise back to the one person who could fix the brokenness.

For those of us who feel the promises that God have made to us are unfulfilled. For those in the body of Christ who think that His word has not been fully manifested in our lives or if we find ourselves in a place of “bitter distress”; The Shunammite woman teaches a lesson that needs to be learned by every one of us: Take the promise back to the person who made the promise in order for the promised to be fixed.

Take your broken promises back to God. He is the only one who can fix the promises or fix you so you can see that the promise isn’t broken at all.

Take the promises God gave you about a spouse, a business, a new job, your child or whatever it may be, back to the one who made the promise to you and allow him to breathe new life into the promise.

“For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.” 2 Corinthians 1:20