Elisha often passed through Shunem on his travels
through Galilee. A Shunamite woman of
wealth and standing began opening her home to Elisha, extending her hospitality
by offering him food and rest. This
woman urged her husband to add a room on to their house, a guest room of sorts
where Elisha could spend the night. During
one of those stays, Elisha decided that he wanted to reward the woman for her kindness. He asked her if he could put in a good word
for her to the king or to the captain of the army.
The Shunamite woman said no to Elisha, explaining
that she had all that she needed or desired right there in her own
community. But Elisha still wanted to do
something to thank this woman, and so Gehazi, Elisha’s servant, reminded him
that the Shunamite had no son……….and her husband was very old. Elisha called the woman back and then
proceeded to tell her that by this time next year, she would have a son. At first she didn’t believe it, but sure
enough, to this woman and her old husband a son was indeed born.
When the son was grown, he went out to the field one
day to help his father. He complained of
his head hurting and was carried back to his mother, where he soon died. He was placed on the guest bed in Elisha’s
room, and then the Shunamite rode a donkey to Mt. Carmel, where she found
Elisha. She grabbed his feet and in
great distress she reminded him of God’s promise of a son for her. A promise that now ended because her son was
dead. Elisha returned to her house, and
through God’s intervention the son was restored to life.
What so impressed me as I read Davis’ commentary was
this: The Shunamite woman, when asked by
Elisha if he could put in a good word for her, said no…..that she had all she
needed. She had no need of a favor or a
good word or anything, really. She had
position and money, a husband and a home, and a strong community. No needs.
Yet at the end of this story, she is very needy as
she pleads for Elisha’s help. What had
made her needy? God’s gift had made her
needy. God had given her a son, a
beautiful gift of a son, but through that gift she had now become very
needy. God gave her a gift, but then He
took it away. Does this mean……that God
is mean? Does He enjoy giving good gifts
only to enjoy taking them away? Does He “make
glad, only to increase the pain? Does He
lift us up only to drop us all the harder?” (Davis)
The Shunamite clutched Elisha’s feet and sobbed in
bitter distress as she pleaded for his help.
And in her sobs and her distressful pleading, she was exercising faith
in God. The God Whom had so blessed her
was now perplexing her and crushing her.
And as Davis said, “What can you do when God’s mercy has turned to
malice? Take the bitter distress and in
it keep clutching at the God you don’t understand. We have a word for that: faith. (Which tells
us, by the way, that faith is not serenity.)"
My mind turns to our Aaron when I read these
words. He was such a wonderful gift from
God to Gary and me. We had been married
for over five years when he was born. He
was a precious little 6 lb. 4 oz. bundle of blessing to us. Our firstborn! I knew that no other woman on the earth had
ever felt as much joy as I was feeling as I looked at him in my arms. I was so proud and thankful. A son!
Boys were rare in our family and there I was, with a son. A SON!
The days turned into months and the months into
years. Then came the seizures, along
with behaviors that only increased with age instead of improving. School issues, finding doctors, trying all
sorts of medicines, friends or lack thereof, sibling problems, the autism
diagnosis, endless meetings with professionals, embarrassments, and constant
awareness that our life was often rotating around Aaron. It was overwhelming, and totally not what I
thought life would be like for us and our Aaron……our son.
It was often hard to capture that joy and pride I
had experienced when he was born. I
loved Aaron……I love him now……but it’s often been through a haze of sadness
because of his condition, and frustration because of his behaviors. As I read what Dale Davis wrote, though, it
hit me square in my heart. God’s gift of
Aaron to me has made me needy…..and being needy has made me learn to rely on
God in a way I might not have done otherwise.
Like Davis said, I have often found myself clutching
at the God that I don’t always understand….and that is called faith. “Faith is not serenity,” Davis said. That’s certainly true in my life. Not only is life with Aaron rarely serene,
but the raging questions and disappointments in my heart are anything but
serene.
Is Aaron our thorn in the flesh like Paul had? Maybe.
I do know that beside certain verses in my Bible I have written Aaron’s
name and a date, my signpost of ways that God reached down and spoke to me
concerning Aaron issues. God has
certainly used this gift of Aaron to draw me to Himself in a way that perhaps I
would not have ever experienced without Aaron in my life.
I want to remember that phrase……..God’s gift has
made me needy. Needy for God and needy
for faith………a faith exercised in sometimes very trying circumstances and a
faith exercised without always having answers to my questions.
Davis said, “……the story is here to reveal your God –
the God Who delights to amaze His ‘ordinary’ people with good gifts; Who
sometimes baffles us with the mysterious sorrow He brings…..”
God baffles, but He also blesses.
Much like Aaron does in my life………from baffling to
blessing, over and over.
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