It Shall Be Well

   I can imagine her feeling confused as she sat with her son moaning on her lap. Hugging him close, she must have thought back to the day when she discovered the wonderful blessing that she was pregnant - a pure miracle! - just like Elisha had promised her. She and her husband had not wanted anything in return for the room they had built for Elisha and his servant, but yet, he felt the need to repay them for their kindness. Upon realizing they never had any children, he told the couple that God would bless them with a child within the year. She remembered laughing in her heart, doubting his words, thinking, "That would be wonderful, but I am too old now! There is no way I am going to have a baby." Yet, two months later she began noticing changes in her body. She did not dare be hopeful that Elisha's words could truly be coming to pass, so she waited with baited breath. It was not until she felt the first flutter of movement inside her womb that she really began to believe. Her excitement grew as her belly grew, and she could not wait to meet her sweet little babe. Everything had been so good, so wonderful and he grew quickly after he was born. Now he even liked to go outside with his father and help him work in the gardens. Maybe playing with the worms was not exactly working, but as least he was spending time with his papa. A smile played at her lips. Yes, their son was exactly what they had always hoped for in a child. The smile disappeared as the little boy shuddered on her lap.
     "My head hurts so bad!" he whispered to her. "Please stop the pain!"
     With an aching heart, she watched the life slip away from her son, this answer to a prayer that was never really expressed out loud, but answered anyway. He was a piece of evidence, a living reality that the touch of God was real and He always did what He promised. With a sigh, her son breathed his last breath and relaxed in her arms, his head falling slightly to the side. Tears threatened to spill down her cheeks, but the woman refused to let them come to the surface. This was not the way it was supposed to end and she held on to the promise that if they were to have a son, then God would not take him so soon. Elisha had to be found and he would have to do something about this matter.
     With a firm step and belief in her heart, the woman carried her limp son to Elisha's chamber and laid him on the bed. With one last kiss on his forehead, she slipped out of the room, closing the door behind her. On her way out the house, she grabbed her shawl and hurried to find a servant. "Fetch me a horse right away!"
     From the field, her husband saw the bustle of excitement in the yard and hurried over.
     "Where are you going, my dear?" he asked. "Is everything okay?"
    (Here are the words that struck me hard the other day.) With a strong, clear voice, his wife simply answered him, "Yes, dear, it shall be well."
     With that she took off in search for Elisha, never informing her husband that their son lay dead inside the house. In her heart she knew that once she found the man of God then everything would be okay. What the husband did not know would never hurt him because their son would walk and talk again before the day was over, and she held on to that hope.
     The best part of the story is when Elisha returns with her, prays over the boy, and walks hand in hand down the stairs to his mother's waiting arms. That lady never doubted what God could do. She had seen a miracle in the birth of that little boy, and she knew God could do the same thing in raising him from the dead. Once again she held that answer to prayer in her arms and God was to be praised!
     Last weekend, my pastor preached a sermon on faith, something I have heard over and over throughout my life, but his message was right on the money and I certainly  needed to hear it again. It never gets old and I never grow tired of being reminded that God is and God can! That very same night I read in my Daily Light book this list of verses that really encouraged me (I love how God reinforces His message to me more than once in a week or even in a day!): 
     "A double minded man is unstable in all his way." (James 1:8)
     "He that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." (Heb 11:6)
     "Let him ask in faith, nothing waivering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord." (James 1:6-7)
     "What things ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye received them, and ye shall have them." (Mark 11:24)
     So, here is the message from the other Sunday morning. I pray you are encouraged and can walk away with a new hope and faith in your heart that God will do just as He promised...we only need to have faith. God bless!

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