The Bible Edge
Everyone needs an Edge, Believers can have a Bible Edge
II Kings 4:26
Run now, I pray thee, to meet her, and say unto her, Is it well with thee? is it well with thy husband? is it well with the child? And she answered, It is well.
Is it well…Is it well…Is it well…It is well. How many times have we been there? Worried about the welfare of someone else. A child, a spouse, a parent, or a close friend, or for the pastors reading this for the people whom we serve. After all, according to II Corinthians 1:24 pastors are described by Paul: Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy... How can the ones to whom we minister be joyful if they are not well. Elisha faced this issue. On a certain day the prophet, the man of God, saw a Shunammite woman in a chariot coming toward him at a furious pace. This naturally caused concern in Elisha’s heart. You see, this was not just any woman, this was a woman that had treated the man of God with extreme kindness. So much so that Elisha promised her that, though she had been barren a long time, he promised her that she would have a son. She did. It was miraculous. Now, though, the child is dead.
So, when the servant asked three times is it well… with her, her husband, and her child. She said It is well. But wait a moment; the child was dead; she and her husband must have been devastated. Yet, when asked, she said It is well. It was not well, but it was well. How could this be? Because she knew that God, through the man of God, had helped her once and would help her again. This is the lesson from this great Shunammite woman. For one who has faith in God when things are not well; they are well. Proof? How about
Romans 8:28. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Or Hebrews 13:5. Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. Or John 14:13. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. On and on we could go. Oh, sure, the modernist will attack these verses belittling their simple meaning, but chip away as they might, these promises stand sure; as sure as the Word of God is sure.
This is a lesson for believers, this thought of when things are not well, they are well. When faced with difficult things, think of Daniel in the lion’s den, the three Hebrew children in the burning fiery furnace, the widow of Nain, and the woman with the issue of blood that touched the hem of His garment. Think about Mordecai and Esther defending the Jews against Haman, think about that Joash/Athaliah conflict where she projected treason upon Joash when it was she that was treasonous. Or how about Joseph and his trials before being promoted by Pharaoh, or Paul in that shipwreck, the viper and the oft beatings he endured. Think about the parting of the Red Sea and the reason for it, the whale that coughed Jonah up on the shores of Nineveh, or the sad crucifixion of our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. These all were not well, yet they were well. When it seems all is not well, remember the lesson of the Shunammite woman. Is it well, is it well, is it well? It is well!
William T. Howe, Ph.D.
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