I want you to turn to 2 Kings chapter 4.
2 Kings chapter 4.
I pastored a small church while I was in seminary.
And the greatest thing that came out of those three and a half years of ministry there is I met my wife
Who was a friend of a mutual friend and he introduced us and she fell in love instantly.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Her memory is not that great.
I preached my first Mother's Day sermons in that church.
And on one of them an 82 year old lady who had never had children told me
I've always hated Mother's Day because I couldn't have children.
But I enjoyed your message today.
Thank you for thanking of all of us.
You made it special.
I'm going to tell you something.
Miss Dolly had a big impression on me when she said that.
And ever since I have tried my best to make Mother's Day a day to celebrate godly ladies.
Ladies you are appreciated more than you are told.
Your influence upon our children is beyond measure.
Whether it's your children, your own children or whether it's somebody else's that you're loving on.
I want to thank you for investing in the next generation.
And to give us fellas some love along the way.
It would be an ugly place without you here.
I promise you that.
And I am thankful for you.
Fellas, aren't you thankful for them?
Last week I ventured into 2 Kings chapter 4 for just a moment for an illustration.
But I want to go back there today.
I recently got to hear this passage preached by 88-year-old Dr. Jerry Vines.
If you're not familiar with Jerry Vines, he was the pastor of First Baptist Jacksonville, Florida,
which was the gold standard in how to do Southern Baptist Church in the 80s and 90s and early 2000s.
They had a wonderful pastor's conference that was really for the whole church.
I took a busload of my folks down there one year and got trained by a lot of their lay people in the church that were leaders
and came back and it had an impact immediately upon our church.
He did it right.
Wonderful preacher.
Wonderful man of God.
I'm thankful for him.
He gave some insights about this passage and then I dug a little deeper and cleaned up his mess a little bit.
So the passage is about an encounter with Elisha that he had with a woman that had ministered to him with kindness and hospitality.
And now she was in a crisis.
There's much to learn from this dear lady.
She had trouble having children in a day when that was thought to be a curse from God.
And Elisha told her that she would have a child and she did.
And then one day a crisis came.
2 Kings chapter 4 beginning in verse 18 says,
Yes, I tell you.
So she set out and came to the man of God at Mount Carmel.
When the man of God saw her coming, he said to Gehazi, his servant,
Look, there is a Shunammite.
Run at once to meet her and say to her,
Is all well with you?
Is all well with your husband?
Is all well with the child?
And she answered,
All is well.
Why in the world would a mother of a son that had just died say,
All is well?
Well, I want us to understand the questions that she was asked
and the answers that she gave.
Her response was a Hebrew word that you may be familiar with,
Shalom.
Shalom means peace.
It's how we normally think of it.
But it also means it's a great greeting for folks.
But it also means all is well.
And she said that, I believe, it could be for a couple of different reasons.
I really believe she said it for both.
One reason she said it is she is purposefully dismissive.
If this were a conversation today,
one may ask,
How are you doing?
And you respond, I'm fine.
How's your spouse?
Fine.
How's your children?
Fine.
We typically do not respond to such a question in the produce aisle at the grocery store.
Well, let's just hunker down here at the bananas for a few moments
and let me share with you what's happening in my life.
Let me tell you how bad it is.
Let me tell you how sorry my husband is.
Let me tell you how wild my kids are.
I will say that in most cases, if you do that, most people don't want to hear all that.
They were simply trying to be nice and good about their way in the grocery store.
Lou Holtz said one time,
Don't tell people your problems.
Ninety percent of them don't care, and ten percent are glad you got them.
They greeted you with that to speak, not, and then move on.
However, I want to ask the same questions today, particularly to the ladies on this Mother's Day.
And I don't want you to be dismissive.
And I don't want you to be surface.
Instead, I want you to strive to dig a little deeper, to be introspective.
How are you doing?
How are you doing individually?
I mean, really.
How are you doing?
Physically, how are you doing?
Are you getting the rest that you need?
Are you getting the exercise that you need?
Are you seeking the care for yourself that you need?
Because the reality is, it's easy to spend so much time taking care of the kids,
taking care of your spouse,
taking care of your parents,
taking care of the circus that all those people create in your life.
Spend all your time doing that instead of caring for yourself.
Because we feel like we don't have time.
However, that time to take care of yourself has to be made.
Vance Havner, great North Carolina preacher of old,
said, if you don't come apart and rest for a while,
you may just come apart.
How about emotionally?
This lady had experienced an unexpected birth,
and then a few years later, an unexpected death.
And that kind of jolt,
and moving from one extreme to another,
is tough.
When I was pastoring that first church,
while in seminary,
early in ministry,
I rushed to the hospital
after I heard that one of my dear ladies in the church's son
had overdosed.
And I went to the ER,
sat with her family,
until the doctor came out and said,
he didn't make it.
You can come in and see him now.
They had put him in a stark, cold room.
His appearance was not appeasing.
It was tough.
I was young.
I'd never been in a situation like that.
And the weight of that grief
was overwhelming.
As they mourned over him,
clinging to him,
crying out to God over him.
It was horrible.
And then I left there
after praying with him.
I got in my car
and I drove a mile down the road
back to the church.
Because that night,
we were having revival.
It's time for revival.
And as the pastor of the church,
I was to be the one
to help spark it,
get it going,
get people excited.
I thank God that my preaching professor,
I had asked to do the revival.
And he was there that night.
We sat down on the stage
next to each other.
And he took his hand
and put it on my knee.
And he said,
these kind of shifts
in ministry
is what will wear you out
and nobody ever see you.
It's true.
And it happens in life, too.
So I ask you,
how are you doing emotionally?
How are you doing socially?
We all need friends.
The Apostle Paul
in his letters
lists over a hundred
of his friends
throughout those letters.
We need people
that know us.
And even though
they know us,
yet they still love us.
Those kind of people.
And the best place
to find those kind of friends
is in church.
I'm just telling you.
I encourage you
to get engaged.
I will say this
again and again.
If you come to this church
and sit in here
for one hour
and leave
and never
engage
in conversation
and never
build relationships
with folks,
you've missed
the joy
of the possibilities
that are before you.
You need to be
in a life group.
Walking through life
together.
Studying God's word
together.
Praying together.
You need to be
in a Bible study group
that goes after
a specialized
particular interest
that may perk
in your life.
You can be in that class
with other people
with a common interest.
You need that.
You need to be a part
of the fellowships
in the church.
We don't do this
just to be doing it.
We do it in order
for us to build camaraderie,
for us to build
friendships
and help.
This choir,
not only are they
wonderful at singing,
but they're a wonderful
family.
They're a prayer family
that prays together,
that loves one another.
Many times I find out
what's happening
in people's lives
because the choir's
talking to each other,
sharing with one another.
There's a couple
in this church
that's in this choir
that out of the
previous church,
they were kind of
struggling,
particularly the male
in the family.
He was struggling.
His wife was in the choir
and as he was looking
for his place,
she said,
won't you join the choir?
That's my prayer group.
That's what's getting me
through.
And he joined the choir
and it helped him
through it.
And when they came
to this church,
they both immediately
joined the choir
and was part of that.
It's a wonderful way
to fellowship.
I don't care where
you jump in.
I encourage you to jump
in as many as you
have time for.
But I encourage you
to build friendships.
How are you socially?
How are you spiritually?
One of the easiest areas
of neglect in our lives
is our time with the Lord.
I'll be very clear.
There's a satanic strategy
devised just for that.
Satan don't want you
to have time with the Lord.
In reality,
we are too busy
not to pray.
We need a dose
of God's word every day.
And we need to commit
to that.
She said everything
was fine.
But it wasn't.
How are you doing
relationally?
What about with your spouse?
Proverbs 18, 22 says,
He who finds a wife
finds a good thing
and obtains favor
from the Lord.
Proverbs 20, 6 and 7 says,
Many a man proclaims
his own steadfast love,
but a faithful man
who can find
the righteous
who walks
in his integrity.
Blessed are his children
after him.
What about your parents?
How's that relationship?
Exodus chapter 20, verse 12 says,
Honor your father and mother
that your days may be long
in the land
that your Lord,
your God has given you.
I remember reading that
as a kid
and understanding that
to say that if I don't
honor my mother and father,
they're going to kill me.
The reality is, folks,
when you're grown
and on your own
and you no longer
have to obey your parents,
you still ought to
honor your parents.
What about friends?
How are you doing
relationally with friends?
Ecclesiastes 4, 9, and 10
says this,
Two are better than one
because they have
a good reward
for their toil.
For if they fall,
one will lift up
his fella.
But woe to him
who is alone
when he falls
and has not another
to lift him up.
I meet with men,
they take turns
sometimes coming,
but I meet with
about 80 men total
between 6 a.m.'s class
and 9 a.m.'s class
on Tuesday morning.
We read a common book
together and share together
and tear each other down
and build each other up
and pray together
and those type things.
We just closed out
this semester.
Some of them are grieving
over that this morning,
they told me.
They're missing it already,
you know.
And we'll start back
in August,
and I encourage you men,
if there's any way
your schedule can allow it,
I promise you,
you'll be blessed
by being a part
of that time together.
But a common passage
that we often refer to
probably every week
is Proverbs 27, 17.
Iron sharpens iron
as one man sharpens another.
How are you doing
as a parent?
Psalm 127, 3 says,
Behold, children
are a heritage
from the Lord,
the fruit of the womb,
a reward.
However, I will tell you,
even with all of that,
it's not easy
being a parent.
I have heard
that there are
four stages
of maturity
in children.
And I didn't hear this
from Freud or Erickson.
I heard it from a preacher.
First,
children idolize
their parents.
When they're very young,
man,
they're looking for mama.
They're looking for daddy.
When you come home,
they meet you at the door.
They're like a good dog.
They'll meet you at the door
and love on you.
They idolize
their parents.
Then they demonize
their parents.
We are the cause
and we are the problem
for whatever's wrong
in their lives.
And then,
they utilize
their parents.
They find out
we've got something
they want
and they're not afraid
to ask for it.
And then,
as they mature,
they humanize
their parents.
They realize
that we're not gods.
We're not demons.
We're not things.
But humans
with faults
and with failures.
Parents,
do all you can.
Be as diligent
about it
as you can be.
and then you leave
the rest to the Lord.
God
is perfect.
Yet,
all of God's children
have went wayward.
Every last
one of them.
Don't be surprised
when your struggle
has will.
So,
when somebody asks you
these type of questions,
it's easy to dismiss them.
it's easy to ease by them.
It's easy to move on.
Sometimes,
that might be best.
However,
it's good to do
a spiritual inventory
to lay it out
before the Lord.
She said
all is well.
And she said it
to be purposefully
dismissive.
But I want to explain
to you why
she did that.
She did that
because she
is passionately
expectant.
This lady
put a lot of faith
in the man of God.
She had ministered
to him.
She had been ministered
to by him
and she trusted him.
And I want you
to understand
the back story
of what set
this passage up.
It's in 2 Kings
chapter 4
beginning in verse 8
and it says this.
One day,
Elisha
went out
to Shunem
where a wealthy
woman lived
who urged him
to eat some food.
So whenever
he passed
that way
he would turn
in there
to eat food.
And she said
to her husband
behold now
I know that
this is a holy
man of God
who is continually
passing our way.
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 there.
Now understand
in this culture
they lived
in a flat
top house
and so if they
wanted to expand
the house
they just had
to build the walls
up a little higher
on the top
and they could
add a room.
That's exactly
what they did
for the prophet
Elisha.
It was a simple
room.
Even the word
for chair
speaks more
of a rustic
stool
but it was
still a place
and what a
blessing.
From time
to time
always
at just
the right
time
people
through the
years
have offered
a beach
house
have offered
a lake
house
have offered
a resting
spot
away
to me
and my
family
and it's
been a blessing.
I know a man
who dearly
loved pastures.
I was able
to pastor him
for the last
six years
of his life.
He had some
property
and he dug
out a fishing
pond
and then
he built
a nice
cabin
on that
pond
and you
know what
he built
it for
primarily?
He had
family functions
there but
he built
it primarily
to house
visiting
preachers
and this
is what
he said
when they
come to
my house
I can't
go to bed
until they
leave
but if I
put them
out there
I can
go see
them
and leave
whenever
I want
to.
this lady
had
accommodated
Elisha
he had
prophesied
that she
would have
a child
and she
did
and when
that child
most likely
had a
sunstroke
is what
theologians
believe
because of
the heat
in the
harvest
it killed
him
she rushed
to get
Elisha
she dismissed
the questions
that she was
asked
she simply
replied
all is
well
but she
was dismissed
because she
was trying
to get
to the
man of
God
she knew
that if
she could
get to
him
that all
would be
well
she was
distressed
of course
but she
had the
faith to
believe
that God
would use
this man
to change
his
circumstances
and that's
exactly
what God
did
2nd
Kings
chapter 4
verse 27
through 31
says this
and when
she came
to the
mountain
to the
man of
God
she caught
hold
of the
feet
and
Gehazi
came
to push
her
away
but the
man of
God
said leave
her alone
for she's
in bitter
distress
and the
Lord has
hidden it
from me
and has
not told
me
and then
she said
did I
ask my
Lord for
a son
did I
not say
do not
deceive
me
and he
said to
Gehazi
tie up
your garment
and take
my staff
in your
hand and
go
if you
meet
anyone do
not greet
them
and if
anyone
greets
you do
not reply
and lay
my staff
on the
face
of the
child
and then
the mother
of the
child
said as
the Lord
lives and
as you
yourself
live I
will not
leave you
so
Elisha
rose
and followed
her
Gehazi
went on
ahead
and he
laid the
staff
on the
face
of the
child
but
there was
no sound
no sign
of life
therefore he
returned to
meet them
and told
them
the child
has not
awakened
he sent
Gehazi
was
unsuccessful
I
believe
Elisha
knew
he would
be
unsuccessful
I
believe
he did
it for
three
reasons
one I
believe
he sent
him
in a
hurry
away from
them
toward the
dead
son
to put
her at
ease
you
want
urgency
when
something
bad
happens
you
want
to
see
people
moving
and
doing
something
about
it
I
always
say
in the
emergency
room
nobody's
in a
hurry
but
you
because
it
feels
like
that
but
in
reality
they're
working
to
save
lives
but
we
want
to
see
things
happening
immediately
something
had to
be
done
first
to put
her
at
ease
then
it
also
appears
to be
a
lesson
for
Gehazi
whose
greed
and
selfishness
would
later
bring
him
unnecessary
hardship
in
2nd
Kings
chapter
5
Elisha
knew
what
he
was
like
he
was
trying
to
prepare
him
to
think
that
it
wasn't
all
about
him
and
I
believe
the
third
reason
it
didn't
work
is
to
teach
us
that
dead
sticks
don't
do
miracles
and
I
want
you
to hear
me
when I
say
God
who
does
the
miracles
it's
not
in
the
stick
it's
not
in
the
objects
it
wasn't
in
Moses
staff
it
was
in
the
God
that
Moses
was
trusting
in
my
friend
it's
not
in
things
it's
not
in
possessions
it's
not
in
money
it's
not
in
education
it's
not
in
pleasure
our
hope
is
not
found
in
those
things
our
hope
is
found
in
God
and
I
want
you
to
watch
what
happens
2nd
Kings
chapter 4
verse
32
says
this
when
Elisha
came
into
the
house
he
saw
the
child
lying
dead
on
his
bed
so
he
went
in
and
shut
the
door
behind
him
the
two
of
them
and
prayed
!
And
as
he
stretched
himself
upon
him
the
flesh
of
the
child
became
warm
and
then
he
got
up
again
and
walked
once
back
and
forth
in
the
house
and
went
up
and
stretched
himself
upon
him
the
child
sneezed
seven
times
and
the
child
opened
his
eyes
and
then
he
summoned
Gehazi
and
said
call
this
Shimonite
and
so
he
called
her
and
when
she
came
to
him
he
said
pick
up
your
son
she
came
and
fell
at
his
feet
bowing
to
the
ground
she
picked
up
her
son
and
she
went
out
the
mother
had
said
all
is
well
she
said
that
because
she
trusted
God
enough
to
lay
out
a
plan
to
watch
him
work
through
the
man
of
God
and
if
you
look
she
had
a
plan
she
laid
the
boy
in
the
prophet's
bed
she
went
with
haste
not even
telling her
husband
why she
was going
she
answered
the
questions
that were
asked her
along the
way
with a
hurry
when she
got to
him
she
clanged
to him
inappropriate
in
that
atmosphere
it
would
have
been
as
inappropriate
for her
to do
that
as
the
unclean
woman
who
grabbed
the
hymn
of
Jesus
but
both
of
them
brought
healing
came
for
both
of
them
because
they
were
so
determined
she
knew
the
Lord
had
given
her
the
son
she
knew
the
Lord
had
a
prophet
she
could
go
to
she
knew
!
God
would
be
at
work
she
knew
however
it
turned
out
regardless
of
what
happened
she
knew
all
as
well
it's
a
famous
story
but
one I
believe
that
we
need
to
know
and
maybe
be
reminded
of
Horatio
Spadford
was a
real estate
moment
in
Chicago
in
the
1800s
when
the
great
fire
of
Chicago
came
through
it
took
a
lot
of
his
real
estate
away
he
lost
a
lot
of
his
fortune
after
that
his
son
was
tragically
killed
he
was
in
a
low
spot
he
decided
to
take
some
time
off
for
he
and
his
family
and
so
he
put
his
wife
and
his
four
girls
on
a
ship
to
sail
back
to
England
where
they
were
from
he
intended
to
do
some
more
work
and
then
to
meet
them
in
England
later
but
as
they
got
just
in
sight
of
Wales
the
ship
got
in
a
storm
and
sank
!
Many
died
including
his
four
daughters
his
wife
sent
a
wire
back
to
him
that
simply
stated
saved
alone
Horatio
made
the
means
to
make
his
way
to
see
his
wife
in
England
when
he
got
on
the
ship
to
go
on
that
trip
he
asked
the
captain
when
you
get
over
the
area
where
the
ship
went
down
will
you
please
let
me
know
when
they
got
over
those
haunted
waters
!
He
knocked
on
the
cabin's
door
of
Horatio
and
Horatio
went
out
and
stood
on
that
deck
and
overlooked
those
dark
waters
that
swallowed
the
baby
girls
that
he
had
lost
and
he
wrote
this
when
peace
like
a
river
attendeth
my
way
when
sorrows
like
sea
billows
roll
whatever
my
lot
thou
hast
taught
me
to
say
it
is
well
it
is
well
with
my
soul
though
Satan
should
buffet
!
the
trial
should
come
let
this
blessed
assurance
control
that
Christ
has
regarded
my
helpless
estate
and
shed
his
own
blood
for
my
soul
it
is
well
with
my
soul
it
is
well
it
is
well
I
know
that
with
Mother's
Day
comes
a lot
of
memories
I
know
that
with
Mother's
Day
comes
a lot
of
burdens
a lot
of
heartaches
and a
flood
of
thoughts
but
whatever
that is
that you're
burdened
by
however
uncertain
that you
may feel
about it
however
overwhelming
it may
seem
I want
you to
know
that you
can bring
that to
the Lord
today
I want
you to
know
all is
well
because of
Christ
all is
well
I want
you to
hear
me
it's
going
to be
alright
God's
on the
throne
and he's
watching over
us
it's
going
to be
alright
all
is
well
with every
head bowed
and every
eye closed
I ask
you today
what is
that burden
you need to
give to
God
today
whatever
it is
lay it
at his
feet
and trust
him
all is
well
all is
well
Lord
Jesus
help us
bring our
burdens
to you
and trust
you with
them
for we
don't know
what tomorrow
holds
but thank
God we
know
who holds
tomorrow
and in
that we
rest
in Jesus
precious name
amen