“9 And she said to her husband, “Behold now, I know that this is a holy man of God who is continually passing our way. 10 Let us make a small room on the roof with walls and put there for him a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp, so that whenever he comes to us, he can go in there.” II Kings 4:9-10 (ESV)
In the passage in II Kings, we saw where a Shunemite woman went out of her way to create a welcoming guest room for Elisha, a prophet of God. She made up a space on her roof and put a bed, desk, chair, and lamp for Elisha to use whenever he traveled to Shunem. As hosts we go to great lengths to accommodate our guests. Before they arrive we find ourselves cleaning, putting down fresh linen… there is this continuous cycle of preparation. We make sure they have everything they need or don’t need. We go through all this for people who are not permanent fixtures in those rooms but visitors for a short period of time.
How many of us would really go as far as she did to care for one of God’s servants? Elisha was so moved by the display of love by the Shunemite woman the he wanted to bless her. So, he sent his servant to ask her if there was anything he could do to bless her. His servant noticed that the couple didn’t have a son and the husband was an old man. So, Elisha prophesied that this time next year they would have a son.
It certainly wasn’t an easy task to add on an extra room just for the man of God. The sad thing about it is many of us don’t have such a room in our lives. I wonder how many times the Lord has wanted to come stay with us, but we 1) haven’t invited him in and 2) don’t even have a room prepared for Him to stay. The Shunemite woman’s story goes much deeper than that though; we must look at the rest of the story. The miracle in II Kings 4 took place in the room that the Shunemite woman had built for the man of God. This Shunemite woman had the son he prophesied and also lost him. This woman’s son dies she takes him, lays him in that room, and goes to find the man of God. It was in that room that Elisha locked the door, stretched himself out over the boy’s body, prayed for the boy and his life was restored. There is blessing in making room for God, how far will you go for blessing?
I want to encourage you to build a room for Him in your heart. In this room you will need:
1) A bed, so He can dwell there.
2) A desk, where He can sit and write His word upon your heart.
3) A chair, to give Him a place to sit and minister to you daily.
4) A lamp, to provide the light He needs to illuminate your heart.
Are you ready to build a room for your God today? He is passing by right now, and He is knocking on the door of your heart.
I have been planning to blog for a quite some time now (months actually), but all the excitement of working, being mom, being Youth Pastor, and a natural tendency towards procrastination have kept me from making my first bold leap. But no more! I am officially jumping on the blog-wagon. Hooray for me!!!! 