“But the woman conceived, and bore a son when the appointed time had come, of which Elisha had told her. And the child grew. Now it happened one day that he went out to his father, to the reapers. And he said to his father, “My head, my head!” So he said to a servant, “Carry him to his mother.” When he had taken him and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees till noon, and then died. And she went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, shut the door upon him, and went out.” II Ki 4:17-21 (NKJ)

My wife had just dropped the phone. She’d been speaking to a tearful friend and what she had to say wasn’t good news. Her friend’s only son had for weeks been having epileptic fits during the nights which left him so weak that he could hardly stand up during the day. So, we arranged a time to visit and pray with them.

A few years earlier, my wife was talking to her friend, a Christian, who had by then been married for twelve years without a child. She shared God’s word with her and encouraged her to trust God and left it there. So you can imagine her joy when this friend called her months later with the good news that she had conceived and had even waited that long to tell her because she wanted to be double sure. We duly rejoiced with this family who had waited on God for a child for fourteen years; that was until we received this challenging news. We surmised that Satan wanted to steal God’s blessing from their life and characteristically turn their joy into mourning. So we determined to do something about it.

Using the biblical precedence of this Shunammite woman above and God’s promise that “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” James 1:17 (NIV), we spoke healing to that child and encouraged the parents. This woman of faith refused to subscribe to that flawed belief that God would give with one hand and then take away with the other. Had she subscribed to that false notion, she would have lost her son forever. So, whatever God gives, it is always in line with His good nature and it is permanent. It is Satan who tries to steal from us that with which God has benevolently enriched our lives. So, the moral of this story is this – don’t surrender your blessings to the Devil. Fight his lies tooth and nail and God will intervene and save you.

So what happened to that child? Like God did with the Shunammite woman and gave her back her son alive, this child has also recovered and has started school. At one point in time even the doctors gave up on him and were administering adult dosages, which under normal circumstances should have killed him, to try and control his condition. God proved to us and that family that whatever He gives, He does not take back by the back door. So, trust Him completely and He will definitely and invariably come through for you.

Prayer:
Lord, I understand that your gifts are always good and that you don’t change. I now speak by faith commanding the restoration _____________ (mention your situation – child, marriage, business etc) of all that the devil has stolen from my life and glorify your name through me. Now, start praising God as you rejoice in anticipation of receiving the answer to your prayer. CONSIDER IT DONE