Baking, cleaning, rearranging furniture, retrieving the company dishes from their hiding places. I had many chores to accomplish before the women from my Hong Kong Ladies’ Bible Study arrived for one of our biannual parties. To prepare food and make room for 50 women in our small flat required planning and creativity. But I relished the opportunity to host the women because I treasured the relationships. The Shunammite woman felt the same about Elisha’s visits.

Seeing and Seizing an Opportunity

Elisha, a prophet in Israel during the ninth century B.C., often passed through the town of Shunem. (2 Kings 4:8-37) Grateful for an opportunity to show her honor and hospitality, a local woman invited him for a meal. Scripture calls her a “great woman.” Most translators assume the word “great” denotes her wealth. However, in other writings, the same Hebrew word refers to rabbinic scholars noted for their Torah learning and sagacious rulings. Since the Shunammite possessed both wealth and wisdom, perhaps the author intended both meanings. 

After several visits, the woman suggested to her husband they renovate their house to include a furnished room for the “holy man.” In providing for Elisha’s needs, the Shunammite became his patron. Elisha, of course, wanted to reciprocate. He offered to speak to the king on her behalf, to become a broker in the system of patronage. But the woman explained she needed nothing. When Elisha persisted, his servant noted the woman was childless. Barrenness was a stain on the Shunammite’s honor since in the ancient world, a woman’s primary purpose was to bear children. Childlessness also meant her elderly husband’s property would pass to someone outside the family, shaming his family and leaving her future well-being in doubt.

When Elisha promised the woman she would bear a son the next year, she objected:

No, my lord! Please, man of God, don’t mislead your servant!

2 Kings 4:16

Her response revealed her deep desire for a son and her desperate fear of another disappointment.

Gifts Are Not Guarantees

God fulfilled his promise to the Shunammite woman, and she held a treasured son in her arms the next year. But one day, when the little boy was in the field with his father, he complained of a headache. Although a servant placed the child in the loving arms of his mother, he died. Why would God give her the child and then let him die? She immediately laid him on Elisha’s bed and arranged a journey to the prophet’s home at Mt. Carmel. When Elisha saw her coming, he sent his servant to inquire about her family.

“Everything is all right,” she said.

2 Kings 4:26

Rabbi Alex Israel observed:

Interestingly, the Shunammite woman never states that the child is dead. … She is frightened that if she says that he is dead, that indeed will be the case. On the other hand, if she vaguely alludes to his condition, there is always room for hope. 

Israel Koschitzky Virtual Beit Midrash, “Elisha and the Shunammite Woman”

Regardless of her claim, everything was not all right. As the Shunammite grabbed Elisha’s feet, he recognized her distress and realized God had hidden the cause from him. He instructed his servant to race to Shunem, but the woman refused to return without Elisha. Despite the servant’s efforts, the boy still lay dead on Elisha’s bed when the prophet arrived. After prayer and performing something like CPR, the boy sneezed seven times. Once again, God had worked through Elisha, this time to restore the promised son to life.

Following the Lead of the Shunammite Woman

When the Shunammite recognized an opportunity to entertain God’s prophet, she made room for him in her home and heart. Our awareness of or desire for God is his invitation. He invites us to make room for him, to make time for him, to open our minds to his presence and message. Enforced isolation or idleness may be the opening he’s been awaiting.

Though the Shunammite woman had no thought of reward when she made room for God, he fulfilled her heart’s desire. He gave her a son. God’s gifts always accompany his presence. Nevertheless, the Shunammite wasn’t immune to the heartache of our broken world. When tragedy struck, she maintained her faith and focus. Rather than wasting time speculating on the cause or solution, she took her grief and confusion to God. She recognized that she didn’t have the complete picture, that God had the last word.

The same is true for us. We can’t know the truth of our circumstances until we hear from God, until we see our situations from his perspective. When we refuse to acknowledge him, we limit his power in our lives. When we make room for him, we give him space to act.

[He] is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.

Ephesians 3:20

God doesn’t help those who help themselves. He helps those who depend on and follow him. Are you making room for his work in your life?