Dante’s neighborhood in Manila was prone to flooding. On rainy days, the little boy reached school by crossing a makeshift wooden bridge put up by a neighbor. “Mr. Tomas helped the community get around,” Dante said. “He’d guide me on the bridge, shielding me from the rain.”
Years later, Dante joined a church north of Manila. Leo, his Bible study leader, mentored him. In a conversation about their childhoods, Dante discovered Leo was Mr. Tomas’ son! “There’s no such thing as coincidence,” Dante said. “God used the son of a man who’d blessed me to help me in my faith.”
A woman from the town of Shunem also experienced God’s providence. In faith, she’d followed the prophet Elisha’s advice, leaving home to avoid a famine (2 Kings 8:1-2). In doing so, she’d forfeited her claim to her house and land. Now, at the exact moment she was seeking help from the king about this matter, the king just happened to be talking with Gehazi, Elisha’s servant, about her.
Years earlier, Gehazi had seen the woman’s dead son raised to life. Now, Gehazi said, "This is the woman, my lord the king, and this is her son whom Elisha restored to life" (v. 5). The king then “assigned an official to her case” (v. 6) and returned her property.
We can trust in God and His care even when things may not go as we planned. Our sovereign God will help us.
How does the Shunammite woman’s story encourage you? What does it say about God’s care?
Loving Father, thank You for caring for me.
God’s care for us isn’t limited to times of difficulty but is often felt most keenly in those times. For the Shunammite woman and her family, that care came in two layers. The first was Elisha’s warning of the coming famine that caused her to escape with her family to a place where food could be found (2 Kings 8:1-2). The second came upon their return to Israel and the restoration of their former property, possessions, and lost income (v. 6). The providential timing of the Shunammite and her son approaching the king at the moment Gehazi was telling their story is part of God’s provision for them as well (vv. 3-6). Whether in times of want or times of fullness, God cares for us.
