The One Hit Wonder

We all know the songs "Cotton Eye Joe", "Kung Fu Fighting",  and "Who Let the Dogs Out", but the one thing these songs have in common is that the bands that sang these songs never had another big hit. These bands were all one hit wonders. They showed up, sang a catchy song and were pretty much never heard of again.

In 2 Kings chapter 4, we read about the woman from Shunem. This woman and her husband befriended God's prophet Elisha. In fact, the two of them had a room built onto their home for Elisha so that any time  he was in town, he would have a place to stay.  The woman and her husband never asked for anything in return. Elisha and his servant Gehazi, noticed that the woman had no children and prayed to God on her behalf. The woman from Shunem became pregnant and gave birth to a son the following year. All was right with the world, until one day, the young boy was working in the fields with his father when he suddenly became ill. The boy died later that day in his mothers arms. The mother carried the boy up to Elisha's room and laid him on Elisha's bed, then she went directly to Elisha. The broken hearted mother saw God raise her son back to life that day. Undoubtedly, there was much celebration in the household that day.

End of Story…right?

No! In second Kings 8, we read again about the woman from Shunem. A famine is about to take over the land so Elisha finds the woman, now widowed, and warns her about the famine. He tells her to go to the land of the Philistines and stay there until the famine has passed. She and her son will be saved. So the woman leaves her home, her people, her possessions and does as the prophet of God tells her. After the famine is over, the woman returns to her homeland, just as she was told. Her plan is to go to the king and ask him to restore her property to her and allow her to live out her days in the land. As she enters the palace, guess who is there? Elisha's servant Gahazi. He is talking to the king. Can you guess what the conversation was about? At the very moment that the woman arrived in the palace, the king and Gahazi were talking about the woman from Shunam and the time that Elisha raised her son from the dead. Gahazi turned around and pointed at the woman and said, "Look, my lord the king!…Here is the woman now, and this is her son - the very one Elisha brought back to life!" (2Kings 8:5) God had already prepared the heart of the king to provide for this woman and her son. 

Many times we read fantastic stories about real people in the Bible and we forget about them. This story was one of those for me. The story of how God provided for the woman from Shunem was a one hit wonder to me. I knew about the beginning of her story. God gave her a son and then he raised her son from the dead, BUT God is not a one hit wonder. He was there for her entire story, from beginning to end. He was there when she cared for his prophet. God was there when she had no children of her own. God was there when her son died. God was there to bring her through to the end of her story.

Friends, hold onto the times that God has shown Himself faithful to you in the past. Trust Him. Have faith in Him. He will not abandon you.

 God is not a "one hit wonder".