ToddGaddisBook_October2023_8.5x5.5.indd

set out for Mount Carmel in search of the man of God. Seeing them coming, Elisha sent his servant Gehazi out to meet her. When Gehazi arrived and asked how the child was doing, she said, “Everything is all right” (2 Kings 4:26). How could she say everything was all right when the boy was at the point of death back home? -the same way Abraham could lift a knife to slay his son as a sacrifice. (Genesis 22:10). Just like with Abraham, she had the faith to know God was going to work it out for good in the end. A strong Christian woman exudes faithfulness. Just like we are saved by faith, we are sustained by faith.TheWord says, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). Keep in mind, however, that the presence of such faith doesn’t mean the absence of distress. Understandably upset when she finally met up with Elisha, the mother said, “Did I ask you for a son, my lord? Didn’t I tell you,‘Don’t raise my hopes’” (2 Kings 4:28). So, in preparation for sending the woman and his servant back to tend to the boy, “Elisha said to Gehazi,‘Tuck your cloak into your belt, take my staff in your hand and run. Don’t greet anyone you meet, and if anyone greets you, do not answer. Lay my staff on the boy’s face’” (2 Kings 4:29). Persevering- Think back to the first characteristic.There was something about Gehazi the distressed mother didn’t trust (more on that in the next chapter). Responding to Elisha’s instructions that she and Gehazi go on ahead, she said, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you” (2 Kings 4:30). Recognizing him as a true man of God, she was all in on Elisha and wasn’t about to leave his physical presence until this matter was solved.

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