When Life Doesn’t Make Sense
“Did I ask you for a son, my Lord?” she said. “Didn’t I tell you, ‘Don’t raise my hopes’?” 2 Kings 4:28
Sometimes God blesses us with gifts we didn’t ask for—maybe didn’t even dare dream of. That’s what happened for the Shunamite woman who extended hospitality to the prophet Elisha (2 Kings 4:1–17). For a number of years, she relished the joy of motherhood. How gracious God had been!
Then one day her son fell ill and died. The Bible says she was in “bitter distress” (2 Kings 4:17). Why would God give her a child, then snatch him away? It made no sense. Still, she didn’t abandon hope. She took her grief, confusion, and anger to Elisha (2 Kings 4:22–28).
Elisha didn’t preach a sermon on suffering or try to minimize her pain in any way. At her insistence, he returned home with her. There, God answered the prophet’s prayer and resurrected the boy. His mother was overcome with gratitude (2 Kings 4:37).
We may wonder why God gave, took, then restored this woman’s son. Why put her through such heartache? God may never provide a satisfactory answer this side of heaven to that question or any of our confusion about grief, suffering, or tragedy.
But this woman gives us some navigation tools to use when adversity sucks the joy from our life. She sought support and understanding. She turned to God’s prophet, somehow sensing he was the only one who could help her regain hope and strength.
God doesn’t promise that he will respond to every heartache with a miracle, but he does promise to provide comfort and healing, peace, and hope. Psalm 34:18 says, “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” Isaiah 26:3 assures us, “You [God] will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.”
No matter what has happened or is happening, we can ask God to supply what he has promised. When I don’t have the strength to even voice my need or process my emotional turmoil, I use passages like the two quoted above and pray them back to God. He loves for his children to use his words to communicate with him.
We can also follow Elisha’s example when people in pain seek us out. We can point them to God, and we can intercede for them—asking God to provide comfort, healing, peace, and hope in ways they do not expect. Do you, like the Shunamite woman, turn to a trusted person for support when adversity strikes? And, like Elisha, are you ready to provide helpful assistance for someone in crisis?
Dig Deeper
For one more chapter in this woman’s story, read 2 Kings 8:1–6. What does this incident teach us about how God brings blessings out of suffering?
What does 2 Corinthians 1:3–7 say about supporting and comforting one another?
Read Psalm 34. What does David say about trials and suffering in this psalm? Why do you think he is so confident that God will support and sustain him (and us) in troubling times?
You may also want to read the first part of this woman’s story in The Invitation.
Denise K. Loock
This devotion is part of our series on Elijah and Elisha.