The Easier Alternative Isn't Always the better one

Welcome to this beautiful new week. I trust your week has been off to a great start.

“For we have seen His star in the east and have come to worship Him.”

Recently, we attended a church where the younger children’s class was called Stars. To help the children find it, stars had been placed along the floor, almost like an adventure trail, leading all the way to the classroom. You know the wise men also saw a star, and that star led them somewhere.

But their wisdom wasn't simply in seeing the star. It was in what they did with what they saw - They moved and came to worship.

Last week, we talked about Jochebed, a woman who saw and acted. This week we turn our focus on Shunammite woman- another lady who saw and acted.

She saw Elisha continually passing by her home. She recognised that he was a man of God, and she responded to what she saw. First, she provided food. Then she went further and, together with her husband, made a room for him.

She used the wealth and influence God had placed in her hands and channelled it correctly.

But it wasn't just about doing something for the man of God.

She made room for God in the ordinary rhythm of her life.

A place for communion.

A place for fellowship.

A place associated with the presence of God right there in her home.

And what is worth noticing is she built it when she didn't need anything!

Her service wasn't a transaction but worship. Eventually, God gave her the son she had stopped believing for. But this promised son died.

You see, seeing and responding to God is not a one-time decision. Many times what we have seen requires us to keep responding in faith, even when things don't go as we expected.

You know what she did next for some reason felt related to what happened during our family holiday. One of the things we had planned to do while we were away was have a barbecue. We've attended barbecues before, but we'd never actually done our own. So we tried. Our first attempt failed miserably.

At that point, it would have been much easier to give up and go for the alternative -using the oven or air fryer. We would still have eaten. We would still have been fine.

But we tried again. And eventually, we had a beautiful barbecue meal—the taste, the experience, everything we had hoped for.

It was something so simple, but it reminded me:

Sometimes easier gives us an alternative we can live with. But easier does not necessarily lead us to the miracle we are seeking.

When the son of the Shunammite woman died, the easier thing might have been to say:

“Well, I never asked God for a child anyway. I had stopped believing this would happen. At least I had him for a while.”

And to be honest, that would have been understandable.

It would have been easier than making the journey to find Elisha.

Easier than refusing to settle for Gehazi as a substitute.

Easier than continuing to believe when everything in front of her said the promise was dead.

Easier than saying, “It is well,” while carrying a reality that looked anything but well.

But she pressed on and her son lived again! There are moments when faith asks us not to simply settle just because settling would hurt less, but to try again, to keep going, to keep believing.

Not because we are in denial but because we still believe God truly has the final say.

And sometimes, trying again simply means getting back up after life has knocked you down. I invite you to join the 7 day reading plan The righteous get back up on youversion via this link

https://www.bible.com/en-GB/reading-plans/75339-the-righteous-get-back-up-7-days-of-fin

Keep walking. Keep believing. Keep becoming the amazing woman God already sees.

Yours in walking and becoming,

Teim❤️

Host: Reframe Her Worth