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Devotional-It is Well Even When it is Not · The Father's Business Podcast

• 0:03
  SPEAKER_01: The Father's Business was founded by Sylvia Gunter to encourage people to a deeper relationship with God.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for listening to this devotional.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_01: As many are looking forward to this season with great joy, there are just as many who wish this holiday would pass quickly because it's just too painful.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_01: The same is true of the birth of Jesus.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_01: While Mary, Joseph, the angels, the shepherds, and the wise men will savor fondly the joy of Jesus' birth and all the miraculous things that they saw occur.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_01: There were thousands of families in the surrounding area that will mark it as the anniversary of the horrific night that their young son was massacred by Herod.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_01: Great hope and great pain, all in the same story.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_01: In Second Kings four, eight through thirty six, there is a beautiful picture of hope in the midst of pain.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_01: Elisha longed to bless the Shunammite woman for her kindness.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_01: So he promised that in a year she would embrace a son.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_01: She protested, begging Elijah not to play games with her heart.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_01: She had longed for a son for such a long time and didn't want to go through the heartbreak of disappointment again.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_01: A year later she had a son, and he grew until one day he suddenly died.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_01: What do you do in those moments in your life when it feels like what was promised to you is taken away?
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_01: The Shunammite woman asked for a donkey that she might run to the man of God.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_01: When her husband asked her why, she simply said, It is well.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_01: In Hebrew, it's one word, shalom, which means peace, health, welfare, security, safety, wholeness, and completion.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_01: All was not well.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_01: Her son, whom she never dreamed she would bear, and then miraculously had, was now dead.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_01: As she approached Elisha, his servant met her and asked her what she wanted.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_01: Again, all she said was, It is well.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_01: This was not a denial of the events or an attempt to give the right religious answer.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_01: It was a statement of hope and faith.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_01: All was not well, but it was still well.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_01: His servant came over to push her away.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_01: But the man of God said, Leave her alone.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_01: She is in bitter distress, but the Lord has hidden it from me and has not told me why.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_01: And then she said, Did I ask you for a son, my Lord?
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_01: Didn't I tell you do not raise my hopes?
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_01: I just love her response.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_01: She ran to her only hope, the man of God.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_01: But when she arrived, she didn't hold back on how she felt about the circumstances.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_01: Can't you hear it in her tone, what she's thinking?
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_01: This was your idea in the first place.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_01: You invited me to hope, you invited me to dream of having a son, and then this has happened.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_01: I told you before you did it not to play games with me, and now I am bitterly disappointed.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_01: But even more amazing was her next phrase.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_01: In the midst of her bitter distress, she said to the man of God, As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_01: As devastated as she felt, she continued to trust and hope because she knew regardless of what would occur, it is well.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_01: The Shunite woman's story has a happy ending.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_01: Her son was raised from the dead, but for many that is not the case.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_01: Despite praying, hoping, begging God for a miracle, dreaming, life circumstances have turned out differently than you expected, regardless of what this season holds for you.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_01: May you be like the Shunammite woman, able to be honest about the pain and to bring all of your pain and your distress to him.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_01: May you find a resting place in God who is your hope.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_01: You may not like what's happening.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_01: You may not understand what God is up to.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_01: He may never answer your question of why, but may you choose to receive the grace of God to be able to say, even if I don't get you, even if I don't understand, even if I don't like what I'm walking through, I can say it is well.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_01: May you be blessed this Christmas season in the heart of Jehovah Shalom, the God of it is well.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_00: This devotional is taken from strength to equal your days.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: This is our latest resource.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_00: It is a 365-day devotional.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_00: You can purchase a copy at www.thefathersbusiness.com.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for listening to this devotional.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_00: You can find an archive of devotionals and other podcasts on our website.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: Also, this podcast is made possible through donations from people like you.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: To donate, click on the donate tab on our website.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_00: Again, our website is www.thefathersbusiness.com.