Jehoram Restores the Shunammite’s Land
8 Now Elisha spoke to the woman whose son he had restored to life, saying, “Arise and go [a]with your household, and sojourn wherever you can sojourn; for the Lord has called for a famine, and it will even come on the land for seven years.” 2 So the woman arose and did according to the word of the man of God, and she went with her household and sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven years. 3 At the end of seven years, the woman returned from the land of the Philistines; and she went out to [b]appeal to the king for her house and for her field. 4 Now the king was talking with Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, saying, “Please relate to me all the great things that Elisha has done.” 5 As he was relating to the king how he had restored to life the one who was dead, behold, the woman whose son he had restored to life [c]appealed to the king for her house and for her field. And Gehazi said, “My lord, O king, this is the woman and this is her son, whom Elisha restored to life.” 6 When the king asked the woman, she related it to him. So the king appointed for her a certain officer, saying, “Restore all that was hers and all the produce of the field from the day that she left the land even until now.”
We may not always enjoy God’s plan, it might be tough, and I’m sure the Shunammite woman didn’t relish moving to the land of the Philistines for seven years. But God does have a plan, and when we follow it, things go a whole lot better for us.
Indeed, His timing is quite amazing, even when we might be tempted to despair. For the Shunammite woman to approach the king was a long shot, but God had it all prepared, well in advance. When the time came for her to return and get her land back, God went above and beyond and the king ended up going so far as to restore to her the profit from her land for the last seven years.
God’s timing is perfect, and try as we may, we cannot improve it. Instead of fighting against it (as we are wont to do at times), we will do far better to trust God’s plan, and know that He is working for good. That isn’t always comfortable or convenient, but it will be good in the end.