The Shunammite woman in the Bible (2 Kings 4,8) had a good life. She and her husband were rich but they had no children. Through her generosity to the man of God, Elisha, they received a son through prophecy. Sometime later, they lost that son and through the power of God the son was restored to life. The trials of her life (barrenness and death) became the testimony of the Shunammite woman. The Shunammite woman was shown enough mercy and favour from God. Her generosity to the man of God opened up a memorial for her. Her home became the dwelling place for the servant of God and she and her family experienced God's miraculous powers. Instead of focusing on what she didn't have (a child), she focused on what she could give (food and accommodation) and she in turn received what she didn't have. As long as your gaze is on your problems, you fail to see what God can do. But, when your gaze is on what God's power can do, your mess becomes your message and your tests become your testimony. Instead of a garment of sadness, put on a garment of praise and cast all your cares on God. He is able.
The Shunammite woman and her family continued to serve Elisha, the man of God. When we continue to fellowship in the presence of God, He reveals his mind to us. For example, before God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham was told because he was a friend of God (Genesis 18:16-33). 2 Kings 8:1 state this, "Now Elisha had said to the woman whose son he had restored to life, “Go away with your family and stay for a while wherever you can, because the Lord has decreed a famine in the land that will last seven years.” The Shunammite woman and her family were aware of what had been decreed by God. With this knowledge, "the woman proceeded to do as the man of God said. She and her family went away and stayed in the land of the Philistines seven years" (2 Kings 8:2). Thus, while another woman became so hungry in a time of famine to the extent of eating her own son, the Shunammite woman and her family were spared. When the famine was over after the end of the seven years she came back from the land of the Philistines and went to appeal to the king for her house and land (2 Kings 8:3).
The king asked the woman about it, and she told him. Then he assigned an official to her case and said to him, “Give back everything that belonged to her, including all the income from her land from the day she left the country until now.” (2 Kings 8:6)
Elisha was no ordinary prophet, through him, God performed marvelous signs and wonders in the land. He was known by the king and the power of God in him was visible. The king had experienced the different ways God's power had been revealed through the ministry of Elisha. At the time the Shunammite woman went to the king to make an appeal, the king was talking to Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, and had said, “Tell me about all the great things Elisha has done” (2 Kings 8:4). Thus, the king was also searching to know the power of God that has been revealed through Elisha. Then, just as Gehazi was telling the king how Elisha had restored the dead to life, the Shunammite woman whose son Elisha had brought back to life came to appeal to the king for her house and land. The woman was just in at the right time. The testimony of her life was being shared with the king. Gehazi saw the woman and said, “This is the woman, my Lord the king, and this is her son whom Elisha restored to life" (2 Kings 8:5). Right in front of the king was a living testimony of God's power. Instantly, the king asked the woman about it, and she told him. The woman shared her testimony with the king. When the king heard her testimony, he assigned an official to her case and said to him, “Give back everything that belonged to her, including all the income from her land from the day she left the country until now” (2 Kings 8:6).
For the Shunammite woman, the key to the restoration of her property was her testimony. She didn't have to say much. She was a living testimony of what God had done. She did not just receive her properties, she also received all the income from her land. All these different doors of favour became accessible to the woman and her family because she opened her home to a man of God. She diligently served a prophet and for the rest of her life, she and her family enjoyed the blessings of a prophet.
Like the Shunammite, many of us have received great testimonies of what God can do. We have been shown mercy, we have been favoured and we have been forgiven. Our personal testimony is a message that can restore others to God. Our personal testimonies can bring kings to the knowledge of God. You have a message and a testimony. Don't keep it. God can use your message to restore others, to save others and to give you all that belongs to you.
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