Word of Encouragement (06/27/2024)
When Elisha came into the house, he saw the child lying dead on his bed. 33 So he went in and shut the door behind the two of them and prayed to the Lord. 34 Then he went up and lay on the child, putting his mouth on his mouth, his eyes on his eyes, and his hands on his hands. And as he stretched himself upon him, the flesh of the child became warm. 35 Then he got up again and walked once back and forth in the house, and went up and stretched himself upon him. The child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes. (2 Kings 4:32-35)
Here, we don’t have what Elisha prayed; we simply know that he prayed. But we can easily guess what he prayed for from the story: he prayed that the LORD would raise the boy from death. This boy was a miraculous gift given to the Shunamite woman, who had shown kindness to Elisha and his servant. For her kindness to His servant, God granted her a child because she was barren. One day, this child came down with a terrible headache and died. The mother went to Elisha to notify him of his death, not without expressing her resentment—why would God give her a son only to take him away when he was so young? We can view her words to Elisha as a prayer of lament to God.
We can understand the Shunammite woman. There are times when we don’t understand what God is doing in our lives. We are ecstatic when God blesses us with a surprise gift. But when it is taken away, all the warmth of thanksgiving and praise to God quickly turns icy cold in our resentment. What is underneath such a quick change? I would say that it is our distrust of God at a deep level. It is not that we don’t trust God at all; rather, it is that we are so obsessed with our idea of security and well-being that, when it is threatened, we fight against it and challenge even by God. It is pretty hard to fight God if we don’t believe in Him in some way.
This is why it is so hard to say what Job said when everything was taken away from him: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21). But is it not true? If we believe in God’s sovereignty, we must acknowledge that everything we have is a gift from God: He has the right to give, and He has the right to take away. But why? Is He just playing around with us and our emotions? No! Do we not believe that God, who is sovereign, is also good? Why would He bless us with so much if He is not good? If He has given us so much out of His goodness, can we not trust that His goodness is behind His decision to take away, too?
Of course, sinners can turn God’s blessings into curses. Instead of seeing their blessings as God’s gifts from God, they attribute them to false gods, good luck, or their abilities. In doing so, they drift away from God more and more. God’s blessings become a stumbling block to them. How tragic! But this is not exclusively for unbelievers, is it? Christians also get obsessed with God’s material blessings and cling to them as their source of security and happiness rather than to God. One of the reasons that God takes away His earthly blessings from His children is precisely that reason—to restore their focus on the Giver rather than His gifts, which are infinitely insignificant in comparison to Him. One day, He will take all our earthly blessings from us so that we may embrace Him as our all in all. The losses we experience in this life is a reminder of this truth to prepare us for that day.
What are you lamenting about these days? Is it making you resentful toward God? Could it be that you are resenting God for being good to you? May the Lord turn your grief into joy by reminding you of His goodness as it was supremely and undeniably expressed in the cross of Jesus Christ.