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Grappling With Grace; The Perfecting of Our Faith
2Kings 4:8-37 August 30, 1998
Scripture Reading: 2Kings 4:1-7
It is not that God could not supply her if she had not this one jar of oil, it is just that God wants us to use what we have and to make the best of it.
She was the wife of a prophet and had credit with her neighbors to whom God sent her.
The oil was supplied in the pouring.
The way to increase what we have is to use it.
It is not the hoarding of the talents but the use of them that the Lord commends.
It must be poured out by herself.
What we have is best increased by our own hand.
The oil continued to flow as long as she had jars to receive it.
He will give us all the bounty we can handle.
It is our faith that fails, not his promise.
He gives more that we ask.
If there were more jars, he would have filled them.
The supply of the faith he provides will not fail as long as there are hearts to be supplied with that faith.
We may today not be able to expect miracles as in the time of Jesus, since we are in the age of grace, which is miracle enough.
We can expect mercies by that grace as we wait on him and seek him.
What do you have?
What do your friends have?
Devote it to God who gives the increase.
Be bold about your needs.
Pour them out before the Lord.
He will fulfill your needs.
You can live on that.
/Many a person is praying for rain with his tub the wrong side up.
/
/ /
/ -- Sam Jones, Christian Reader, Vol.
33, no.
2./
* *
*Introduction:*
This morning’s Scripture passage leads into the passage upon which we shall dwell.
They both involve the development of faith as a gift from God through the prophet, Elisha.
The first woman was poor, the second was well-to-do.
The first woman sought Elisha’s provision, the second initially offered her provision to Elisha.
The first woman lost her husband and was threatened with losing the children she had, the second had a husband and was childless but later lost the child she was miraculously given.
Both were put to severe test, but both received back their children.
The first pictures for us redemption from the curse of the Law which would enslave us as impoverished debtors, the second bears the fruit of redemption as a new lease on life.
Both require the development of faith.
It takes faith to embrace the grace of God that throws open the prison door.
It takes faith to step past the door and embrace the freedom of new life.
A little faith is enough for God to work with (recall the parable of the mustard seed in Mt. 17:20?).
And if we have not even a little, he will see that we have some if we will use it.
He will increase it and perfect it to believe and accomplish mighty things at his hand.
It is faith that pleases God and brings us reward as we are increasingly convinced that he exists as we seek him (Heb.
11:6).
It is faith that connects us with God, and that is what he wants.
He wants us to acknowledge that we are totally dependent upon him.
This dependence upon God is a major element of our worship.
We are drawn to God in adoration of his greatness.
This morning’s message concerns grappling with the grace of God as he perfects our faith in spite of us that we might be drawn toward his unlimited supply of greatness in our behalf.
The process may be difficult to understand, but the purposes of God are perfect.
And we are his purpose.
There are 6 players in this O.T. drama and 6 scenes.
The players are Elisha and his servant, Gehazi, and the household of the Shunammite woman with her husband, her son, and their servant.
The 6 scenes are the movements of the Shunammite’s faith in the following outline as her faith is perfected by the hand of God’s grace.
*Scene 1: Shunem, vv.
8-10; The Establishment of Faith*
Recall a similar story in 1Ki.
17 regarding the raising of the son of a widow in Zarephath by Elijah?
*Scene 2: Shunem, vv.
11-17; The Reward of Faith*
Some years after this we find this woman had occasion to be spoken for to the king (2Ki.
8:1-6), but for now she was content.
The Jews hold that Gehazi’s motives in suggesting the gift of a child for the woman was engendered by his own lust.
As the story unfolds, it does seem that she doesn’t trust him.
Jewish tradition also holds that the son who was born to the Shunammite woman was Habbakuk.
But the time in which he ministered to Judah was about 250 years later which leaves this speculation in doubt.
All the sons of miraculous birth recorded in the Bible, like Isaac, Samuel, John Baptist, became heroes in Israel’s history - except this one is not mentioned.
She had received a prophet in the name of a prophet (Mt.
10:41) and now receives a prophet’s reward.
*Scene 3: Shunem, vv.
18-24; The Testing of Faith*
Is God fickle?
Does God toy with our emotions?
Is God inconsistent?
To whom do you turn in your distress?
Shall we blame God?
She didn’t ask for this son.
But God allowed the fears she had to come true so he could deliver her from her fears and perfect her faith.
He does not want us to be tossed by the wind or unstable in our ways (James 1:6-8).
God through Elisha will not meet her deepest desire as much as he will meet her deepest need.
In fact, he will match the two together.
What are our fears?
Perhaps God will allow them to be realized just so he can deliver us from them to focus on him more than on them.
How many times have you heard of some child of God telling how they once said in their hearts, “I will not go here or there or do such and such,” only to find out later that God brought them to it?
(I remember my own statement that I would never live in Chicago.)
But we will allow God to instruct us (James 4:13-15).
A completely humble heart will avoid exalting ourselves against God in any way.
Notice how she holds her tongue.
The seeds of faith are evident as she makes plans to trust again for life the one who gave it (Heb.
11:35).
She makes no preparation for burial but for resurrection.
*Scene 4: Carmel, vv.
25-28; The Maturing of Faith*
The woman bypassed Gehazi and made directly for Elisha.
Her response was patient.
Can we be as patient in trust of God that ‘all is well’ when we are faced with death in our household?
The loss of a mercy should never make us undervalue the gift of it.
Even though the providence of God may disappoint us, we must be sure that the promises of God will not.
Hope in God will never make us ashamed.
She did not press God for a son, so she has nothing to be ashamed of in asking for him back.
*Scene 5: Carmel and Shunem, vv.
29-31; The Re-testing of Faith*
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