Heroes of the Faith, Part 7预览

Receive the Blessing

Bible story: Shunammite woman - 2 Kings 4:8-37, 8:1-6

Theme Verse: Ephesians 3:20

Now we are going to look at someone who offered hospitality to Elisha, the man of God. A Shunammite woman together with her husband invited Elisha to their house every time he passed through the area and even built a room just for him. It cost them some time, money and effort to bless Elisha like that.

Jesus made it clear that He loves His people and that whatever we do for His people, He considers it as though we did it for Him (Matthew 10:40-42). But we can never out-bless God! Whatever good things you do for others, God will do even greater things for you, some here on earth and some in heaven. They built a room for Elisha, which was beyond what most people would do, but it was much smaller than the many ways God blessed the Shunammite woman! Elisha prophesied that she would have a son. She was hesitant to believe that it would happen and to receive the blessing. When God blesses us, sometimes it feels so great that it’s hard to receive! But when God chooses to bless you, simply believe God and accept it. Allow God to show you how much He really loves you; and He loves you so very, very much!

Years later, the child died. She could have grieved then and there. She could have gotten mad at God for all the pain in that moment. She could have cried to her husband. Instead, she went straight to Elisha, asking for God’s help. Elisha went with her and prayed to God, and the child came back to life!

Will you trust God to take care of the blessings He has given you? When bad things happen, will you ask God for help? He loves you so much! He wants to take care of you and bless you in both good times and bad. Like the Shunammite woman, go first to God and ask for help.

Elisha warned the Shunammite woman to leave the country for 7 years because of a famine. When they came back and went to the king to ask for their land back, something amazing happened. Just as they were coming in, Elisha’s servant was telling the king stories about Elisha, including when he raised the Shunammite’s boy back to life. God even used the bad thing that happened to continue to bless her throughout her life. If the boy had not died and come back to life, there would be no remarkable story to tell. The king asked her about it then made sure her family not only got her land back but also the money from 7 years of harvests from the land! You can trust God’s love for you and accept His blessings for you.

I choose to do good for others and accept God’s love and blessings for me.

Questions:

1. What things or situations could be blessings in disguise?

2. Which kind of blessing does God give more, spiritual or physical?

3. Is it a blessing if God humbles us?

Application to Life:

Look for a way to do something nice for someone. Also, watch to see if God does something nice for you. If someone does something nice for you, thank them appropriately then privately thank God as well, because He is the source of all good things in our lives.