Her story is found in 2Kings 4 & 8.
She was a giver.
“One day Elisha went to Shunem, where a wealthy woman lived, who urged him to eat some food. So whenever he passed that way, he would turn in there to eat food.” (I Kings 4: 8)
Shortly after providing meals for Elisha, she goes to her husband to ask if she can do even more, “Behold now, I know that this is a holy man of God who is continually passing our way. Let us make a small room on the roof with walls and put there for him a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp, so that whenever he comes to us he can go in there.” (2Kings 4:9-10)
Imagine that for a moment. Mrs. S gave abundantly from her wealth. She didn’t stop at an occasional meal, but generously provided Elisha with lodging when he passed through her town. BUT, and here's the key, she didn't just provide any old room in her home, but had one built specifically for him with comfortable furnishings that he was free to use whenever he wished.
I know that Jesus has asked all of us to go the extra mile (Matthew 5:41) and tells us again, "To whom much is given, much will be required" (Luke 12:48), but how many of us would go to this extent? What kind of heart must you have to give this generously?
I want to give like Mrs. S.
She is insistent and gracious when offering hospitality.
One day Elisha went to Shunem, where a wealthy woman lived, who urged him to eat some food. So whenever he passed that way, he would turn in there to eat food.” (I Kings 4: 8)
In other words she didn't take no for an answer. The word for urged here is the same one Paul uses in Acts 16:15 to describe Lydia's hospitality to Paul and those traveling with him, “she urged us, saying, ‘If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.’"
It was customary to offer hospitality to traveler in their culture, but Mrs. S understood the game of deference people play when a generous offering is given, so instead of being swayed by Elisha’s hesitancy, she graciously insisted he take it.
She was intentional about being intentional when it came to offering Elisha hospitality, and assured him that she was very sincere in her desire to provide it.
Are we this sincere when we offer a gift of hospitality in our home? Is our heart all in?
I not only want to offer hospitality, but I want to make it easy for others to accept it.
She offered what she could to support God's ministry.
Mrs. S recognized that Elisha as God's minister, (Behold now, I know that this is a holy man of God who is continually passing our way. -v.9)
And wished to offer what she could to support both this man and God. Her ministry would be to support Elisha's ministry.
Not all of us are called to go off to the mission fields, or even teach, but we can help lift the burdens of those who are. What Mrs. S offered made Elisha's work easier by providing meals, comfort, rest, and fellowship. And by doing so, she affirmed that Elisha’s call was important.
I long to be one who recognizes the call of God on others and offer my encouragement and support.
She sought to serve others in the midst of suffering.
One day when Elisha came, he went up to his room and lay down there. He said to his servant Gehazi, “Call the Shunammite.” So he called her, and she stood before him. Elisha said to him, “Tell her, ‘You have gone to all this trouble for us. Now what can be done for you? Can we speak on your behalf to the king or the commander of the army?’”
She replied, “I have a home among my own people.”
“What can be done for her?” Elisha asked.
Gehazi said, “She has no son, and her husband is old.”
Then Elisha said, “Call her.” So he called her, and she stood in the doorway. “About this time next year,” Elisha said, “you will hold a son in your arms.”
“No, my lord!” she objected. “Please, man of God, don’t mislead your servant!” (2Kings 4:11-16)
When Elisha wanted to give back to her in return for her hospitality, he promised her a child, but her response was “No, my lord, O man of God; do not mislead to your servant.” (v.16) Mrs. S had been childless in a day when we know that could bring shame upon a woman. We can see her pain and longing for a child in her response.
BUT, the fact that Elisha was unaware of her barrenness, reveals that her personal suffering had not prevented her from serving others. In the age of victim-mentality that we live in today, Mrs. S is a great example of not allowing our pain to hinder serving and supporting others.
We each have the same choices; we can either focus on being a victim or a victor in the midst of our own suffering, and I have to wonder... have I allowed my emotions to dictate at times what I will or won't do for others. Have I used my pain as an excuse?
I do also understand that there are some victims of suffering who are unable to serve others at times, but I do want her selflessness to be true of me even in the midst of my struggles.
She exhibits tremendous faith in the midst of her deepest pain.
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. The child grew, and one day he went out to his father, who was with the reapers. He said to his father, “My head! My head!”
His father told a servant, “Carry him to his mother.” 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. She went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, then shut the door and went out.
She called her husband and said, “Please send me one of the servants and a donkey so I can go to the man of God quickly and return.”...
When he saw her in the distance, the man of God said to his servant Gehazi, “Look! There’s the Shunammite! Run to meet her and ask her, ‘Are you all right? Is your husband all right? Is your child all right?’”
“Everything is all right,” she said.
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.”
“Did I ask you for a son, my lord?” she said. “Didn’t I tell you, ‘Don’t raise my hopes’?”
Elisha said to Gehazi, “Tuck your cloak into your belt, take my staff in your hand and run. Don’t greet anyone you meet, and if anyone greets you, do not answer. Lay my staff on the boy’s face.”
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.
Gehazi went on ahead and laid the staff on the boy’s face, but there was no sound or response. So Gehazi went back to meet Elisha and told him, “The boy has not awakened.”
When Elisha reached the house, there was the boy lying dead on his couch. He went in, shut the door on the two of them and prayed to the Lord. ... The boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes.
She is not afraid to speak boldly and plainly before the most powerful man in the land.
The king was talking to Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, and had said, “Tell me about all the great things Elisha has done.” Just as Gehazi was telling the king how Elisha had restored the dead to life, the woman whose son Elisha had brought back to life came to appeal to the king for her house and land.
Gehazi said, “This is the woman, my lord the king, and this is her son whom Elisha restored to life.” The king asked the woman about it, and she told him. (2Kings 8:4-5)
So, what do you think about this amazing women known only to all as "the Shunammitte woman"? I pray her life will impact all of us so that we will long to possess these same qualities she possessed in abundance.
Blessings,
sue