It is well!

    Some of us may well be familiar with the story of the Shunammite woman in 2 Kings 4. Because the prophet Elisha was in the habit of relying on the woman’s hospitality whenever he came to her town, she built a room for him where he could rest. Elisha found out that she had no children so, to repay her for her kindness, he promised that a year later she would have a son. His prophecy came to pass.
    One day, her son became ill and died. She told no one of his death, not even his father. Instead, she determined to go to the man of God, Elisha, in hopes of having her son’s life restored. The only thing she replied when asked, was, “It is well” (vv.23b,26b). 
    What I notice here is her determination. She knew what God had done for her and expected that the only one to make it right would be God through His servant. It’s like having a dream and watching it become a reality, then, somewhere along the line watching it die. I think some of us have experienced that. God promised something, He gave us a dream and we watched Him bring it to pass in our lives. But, what happens when along the way, that dream dies? The reality is, many of us would give up. We might even say that it wasn’t God after all or that we made a mistake. 
    What if it wasn’t a mistake? What if it was God all along birthing that dream, that hope, that vision? The woman had to hold on to what the man of God had told her. He had given her a word that she would have a child and it had come to pass. If the word that he had given her came to pass, then God was responsible for giving life to His word once again. She couldn’t do it; her husband couldn’t do it; the man of God couldn’t do it without God. God would have to sustain the word He had given her. 
    She was right, I believe, to say “It is well.” It was well not because of man’s ability to reverse a negative situation but because of God’s ability to do it. Her focus was on the man of God, who could connect with the God of the impossible. She went right back to the one who had given her the word and expected him to do something. Sometimes, we just have to take our eyes off of the situation, that dead dream, that dead hope and keep our eyes fixed on the God who gave us the promise in the first place. God is not going to promise us something and not bring it to pass; He won’t promise something and not sustain His promise.
    She was right to keep her focus and her pursuit fixed on the man of God. We need to do the same. There have been times recently when I would hear God tell me to fix my eyes on Him. He did not want me to focus on the negative situation. That would only serve to discourage me and cause my faith to waver. He wanted me to look to Him, the One who was and is able to reverse, to transform, to fix any situation that comes my way. I have had to learn to trust my Source, and my Source is God, not man, not my ability. 
    I don’t know what dream or hope may have died in your life. You may have given up because the reality of what you see is so powerful and so real. Yet, I encourage you to fix your eyes on the One who is able to reverse, to transform, to fix whatever comes your way. That woman spoke, to everyone who asked, what she expected the man of God to do for her son. By saying “It is well,” she was simply choosing to give them the end of the story, not the place she was in at that moment. And sometimes we just have to look in faith at what we know God has already done instead of the negative state we are in at the moment. That’s called faith.
    If you have not accepted Jesus Christ into your life as your personal Lord and Saviour, I encourage you to do so today. God is the answer to every problem we may face. Once God gives you a promise He will not only keep it but sustain it. No matter what happens to kill that dream, God is quite able to revive it, to give life once more to the word He has promised. Be encouraged!

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