The Shunammite Woman

In 2 Kings, chapter 4, starting at about verse 8, there is an incredible story about a Shunammite woman. In a nutshell, she decided to feed the servant Elisha whenever he came her way. Then she decided to fix a small room for him to rest when he came her way. Elisha asks what he can do to repay her, and she says nothing. Gehazi, Elisha's servant, says, "She has no son and her husband is old." So Elisha calls the woman to him and tells her that she will become pregnant and have a son.

Fast forward several years...the Shunammite woman is happily living with her husband and son when the boy begins to complain of a headache. He gets very sick and dies. The woman takes the boy to Elisha's room, shuts the door and heads off to find Elisha.

The verses I want to focus on start at verse 25. Elisha sees the woman far off and sends his servant Gehazi to ask the following questions, "Are you alright? Is your husband all right? Is your child all right?" The woman replies "Everything is all right." But when she reaches Elisha, she sings a different tune. She takes hold of his feet and begins to weep.

Why is it that the woman told Gehazi that everything was alright? If, in this scenario, Elisha is portraying God, and we are the Shunammite woman (with our hurts/anger/needs) , who is Gehazi? Is it the people trying to help us? Should we put on a brave face for everyone else in the world, (our Gehazi's) and only take our troubles to God?

I don't think so. I think Elisha represents a close friend in this story. Someone who can be trusted; someone who will listen to her needs, cry with her, pray with her, help her in whatever way possible. Gehazi, on the other hand, represents the people who we can't trust. The people who want to know what the problem is so they can gossip about it instead of pray about it. (If you read on over in 2 Kings 5, you will find out that Gehazi really can't be trusted and pays dearly for his dishonesty)

What about you? Are you an Elisha or are you a Gehazi? When you are the Shunammite woman, do you have "Elisha's" that you can turn to, or are you surrounded by "Gehazi's"? Will the Shunammite woman post her prayer request on this blog, because she knows that she has "Elisha's" working with her? Or will she say, "Everying is okay, Gehazi" and keep the prayer request to herself? My hope is that every Shunammite woman with a need/a request/an anger/a frustration will be able to post on here and ask all the "Elisha's" to help her out.

P.S.- Just in case you want to know how the story ends- Elisha goes with the woman to her house and helps to bring the boy back to life. Can we be Elisha's this week?

Let Down your Mask

Can I ask you a question? How often do we walk through the church doors with hurts, burdens, anger, and fears? Probably more often than we want to admit.
Now let me ask another question. How often do we put on our "church mask"? How often do we smile and laugh and pretend everything is okay?
Ladies, it's time we took off our masks! It's time we have an honest relationship with God and with our Christian sisters! Once a week (hopefully...) we will post a devotion, a question, a statement, a testimoney, a quote...something to get us talking...something to get us to let down our masks. Our hope is that the ladies of this church (and others) will leave comments, prayers, or anything that God lays on your hearts. If you leave a comment saying you're hurting today because of xyz, someone else might leave a comment later that says they are praying for you, or they may say they are going through the same thing. Our hope is that through this blog, we can all be drawn closer to each other and closer to God.

***A few ground rules***
Please remember that this is a Christian blog. Under NO circumstances should there be foul or innapropriate language.
Please respect the opinions of others. If you disagree with someone, please be cautious in your return post.
Know that this site will be monitored. Every comment will be read and the moderators will remove any comments that they deem innapropriate.

***How to leave a comment***
Look at the bottom right of the screen under the blog entry and you will see something that says # comments (right now it says 0 comments). Click on that link.
It will say "Post a Comment" Post your comment in that box. Don't forget to put your name
(i.e. I'm praying for you today!
-Michelle)
Where it says "Comment as", click anonymous.
Click "Post Comments."
It's that simple.

We really want this blog to be a success, and in order to do that we need your help. Please, check the blog often, pray for each other, and, most importantly, lets all let our masks down!

In Christ,
The Women's Ministry Team of PBC