How are you? – Preaching
Preaching Outline on 2 Kings 4:26 – Now run to him and tell him: Is it well with you? Is it well with your husband? Is it well with your son? And she said, “It is well.
Introduction to 2 Kings 4:26
The text concerns a woman from Shunem who, in the days of the prophet Elisha, fed him with bread every time he passed by, until she built him a small room next to the wall, placing four elements at his disposal: a bed, a table, a chair and a lamp. She couldn’t give birth, but at a time determined by the prophet, she had a son. Her son grew up and on a certain day, he died between her knees. She placed him on Elisha’s bed and went to meet him.
Development
Our lives are full of surprises, of encounters; sometimes we define them as mere chance, or as a whim of nature and we become bitter, other times unloved or incomprehensible, and we close ourselves off within this or that problem, making our struggle the most difficult and we are not understood. We close ourselves off to our problem and not to its solution.
This Shunammite woman had no child and her husband was old (II Kings 4:14). The situation of the man today is the same as that woman’s, he has no fruit, and he thinks he can no longer bear (verse 16); the one who can give him fruit is old, outdated, typical of the religious, complacent, traditional man.
God doesn’t forget us
Even so, the Lord God doesn’t forget us; he sends Elisha, a type of Jesus, who at times becomes a traveler, always visiting us, feeding us, breaking bread, even though we didn’t know him, our hearts burned when he spoke (Luke 24:32).
There comes a time when it becomes more intimate, we let it dwell, make its home in our hearts, even though it’s a room next to the wall, which speaks of our limits, almost outside. The bed is a place of rest – … and you will find rest for your souls Mt 11:28b. Jesus is our rest, when we let him into our lives.
Communion
The table and the chair speak of communion, of intimacy – He brought me into the banquet hall… Ct 2:4a; the lamp is to give light, to keep the light coming. When we are in the Lord, we have the Holy Spirit, God’s guidance to walk by. For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light. Eph 5:8
God’s blessing comes to us even when we don’t believe (II Kings 4:16). How many answers God gives us and, in the face of this, we don’t even know how to thank Him for the blessings we have received and we demand what we haven’t received and we don’t honor God’s sovereignty and His free will.
The child grows up, if everything goes well, we no longer remember the prophet, because his room is still there by the wall, far away, because my problem has already been solved. Time makes us get used to it and things become routine for us, until the day our son dies. The first thing we do is put the child on the bed of the man of God, close the door and go out to meet the one who has the answers I need; who can solve my problem. We no longer seek only on a specific day (Verse 23)
The Lord searches our hearts and knows our needs.
Often our response to the man is that everything is fine, but inside everything is destroyed, with no reason to live, a pain that consumes us. First to her, portraying each one of us, then to the husband, who speaks of the one who generated the good work in us; the son speaks of the fruit of that love, of God’s miracle in our lives.
She opens up to the prophet, tells him her problem, recounts her pain, and even blames the death of her son on his birth, because she didn’t ask him for anything. The prophet does not rebuke her, but comforts her, does not leave her alone, but accompanies her. This is what the Lord does with us through his Holy Spirit.
When he reached the house, the room, the boy was dead, cold. The prophet closed the door and prayed to the Lord, then warmed the boy with his body, placed his eyes, mouth and hands on the boy’s, walked around the house, went back up, stretched out on him, until the boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes and handed him over to his mother. All the prophet’s actions are prophetic. He performs seven actions before the boy comes back to life, sneezing seven times.
Closing the door – communion; praying – seeking God’s help; warming the boy by placing your eyes on his eyes – discernment; mouth on mouth – testimony; hands on hands – working in God’s work; walking over the house and coming back up – letting the Lord act in His time and not in our time; stretching out over the boy – acting on God’s answer.
Conclusion of 2 Kings 4:26
The result was the son returned alive; the Lord attends to and responds to the needy who cry out to him, who trust in him and let him act, believing that he is powerful to respond to us, even in a situation impossible for man. “… for it is God who works in you both to will and to do, according to his good pleasure.” Philippians 2:13
Preaching Outline on 2 Kings 4:26 – Now run to him and tell him: Is it well with you? Is it well with your husband? Is it well with your son? And she said, “It is well.
More Preaching Outlines
- Fear not, only believe – Luke 8:41-50
- Noah’s Wife – Genesis 6:18
- At night I searched my bed… – Song of Songs 3:1-4
