2 Kings 4:11-27

2 Kings 4:11-27 - Daily Devotion - 10 July 2026 St Barnabas Anglican Church Fairfield & Bossley Park 11 One day Elisha came to visit and went to his upper room to lie down. 12 And he said to Gehazi his servant, “Call the Shunammite woman.”And when he had called her, she stood before him, 13 and Elisha said to Gehazi, “Now tell her, ‘Look, you have gone to all this trouble for us. What can we do for you? Can we speak on your behalf to the king or the commander of the army?’”“I have a home among my own people,” she replied.14 So he asked, “Then what should be done for her?”“Well, she has no son,” Gehazi replied, “and her husband is old.”15 “Call her,” said Elisha.So Gehazi called her, and she stood in the doorway. 16 And Elisha declared, “At this time next year, you will hold a son in your arms.”“No, my lord,” she said. “Do not lie to your maidservant, O man of God.”17 But the woman did conceive, and at that time the next year she gave birth to a son, just as Elisha had told her.18 And the child grew, and one day he went out to his father, who was with the harvesters.19 “My head! My head!” he complained to his father.So his father told a servant, “Carry him to his mother.”20 After the servant had picked him up and carried him to his mother, the boy sat on her lap until noon, and then he died. 21 And she went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God. Then she shut the door and went out.22 And the woman called her husband and said, “Please send me one of the servants and one of the donkeys, that I may go quickly to the man of God and return.”23 “Why would you go to him today?” he replied. “It is not a New Moon or a Sabbath.”“Everything is all right,” she said.24 Then she saddled the donkey and told her servant, “Drive onward; do not slow the pace for me unless I tell you.” 25 So she set out and went to the man of God at Mount Carmel.When the man of God saw her at a distance, he said to his servant Gehazi, “Look, there is the Shunammite woman. 26 Please run out now to meet her and ask, ‘Are you all right? Is your husband all right? Is your child all right?’”And she answered, “Everything is all right.”27 When she reached the man of God at the mountain, she clung to his feet. Gehazi came over to push her away, but the man of God said, “Leave her alone, for her soul is in deep distress, and the LORD has hidden it from me and has not told me.”REFLECTIONSWritten by James DavidsonThe last verse struck me. When the Shunammite woman reached Elisha on Mt Carmel, she clung to his feet. But Elisha’s servant Gehazi came over to push her away. Why did he do that? I think most likely because he thought it was unseemly. He thought it was inappropriate for a woman to be touching God’s prophet like that. But Elisha said, “Leave her alone, for her soul is in deep distress.” This was not a moment for conventional etiquette to be observed. This was a moment when deep compassion was called for. Elisha recognized her distress and had compassion on her.What a clear foreshadowing of Jesus! The disciples were surprised when they found Jesus talking to the woman of Samaria. It didn’t seem quite proper according to the custom of the time. But Jesus’ compassion for her was greater than his desire to fit the disciples’ view of what was proper. He broke down the conventional barrier to bring her the news of eternal salvation.There’s a challenge for us. Are we prepared to reach out to people who other people may think are not appropriate for us to reach out to? Perhaps the homeless man living in a nearby park. Perhaps someone in jail. Perhaps that awkward person at work. We must treat all people with absolute purity, but we must also reach out to all people, including the not so socially acceptable. ABOUT THE AUTHORJames is one of our Assistant Ministers.