Overcoming vs Overthinking : Walking By Faith Rather Than By Emotions

Welcome back to the blog and to another article which I hope will encourage someone and uplift your soul. Today I want to share a little reflection that I had while reading my Bible a little while ago. People might say that it is outdated but I still open it and read it because there are a lot of hidden treasures in it, a lot of stories/ lessons that I find still relevant to the  lifetime and world we live in. And even though the contexts are different, some concepts/ principle still apply to live an abundant life in Christ. 

One of the stories that I particularly like is found in 2 Kings 4: 8-37. The beginning of the story (v8-14) is about a woman who met Elisha as he was passing by Sunem and pressed him to stop by her house to eat. Ever since that day, whenever Elisha was passing by the village of Sunem, he would stop by to eat. But then, that woman went the extra mile and prepared a room for the man of God in her house so that he could dwell there when he was coming. And so one day, Elisha retreated into his room and asked Guehazi to call the woman. And when she came, he asked her what favor she desired he rendered her. But the story started with the mention that she was a rich woman and so she told him that she had all she need and was happy (content) in the midst of her people. Once she was gone, Elisha discussed the matter with his servant Guehazi who pointed out to him that she and her husband didn't have a child. He then ordered Guehazi to called her back and prophesied that by the time he would come back the following year she would have a child. And his word came to pass: the woman became pregnant and gave birth to a son.

Fast forward a few years later (v15-28), the child became sick and died in the hands of her mother. And this is the part of the story that interested me the most : we have all lost someone and we know that this is the most excruciating, soul crushing experience. Even for the best of us, it has happened that losing a loved one as left us sitting on the verge of insanity, unable to snap out of the nightmare. So I could only imagine that woman must have felt watching her son, her ONLY child die in her own hands! BUT here is the plot twist: she took her son to the room of the man of God, laid her son on the bed and closed the door behind her and went to find her husband. She did not break down in tears: she went to her husband and asked for permission to have someone taking her to the man of God. Now back then, families traveled to a man of God only on two occasions: either to celebrate the New moon or on the day of shabbat but in this case it was neither. So the husband surprised asked why she was traveling to the man of God. Her only response was :"All is well". Really?? This is a mother whose son just died!! He is laying lifeless, breathless and she says all is well... Cool.

She took off, and as she arrived to the place where Elisha was dwelling (Mount Carmel), she met Guehazi first. When he saw her he asked her the questions Elisha as commissioned him with: "Is all well with you? Is all well with your husband? Is all well with the child?" and she answered :"All is well". Okay now... She did it not once but TWICE! At first we could have said that it was the shock but a second time?! That woman was up to something. She kept her composure all along but as soon as she found herself at the feet of Elisha, she let it all out.

That woman did not give into her feelings and she did not allow people to do the same by letting them know what she was going through. And perhaps the reaction of Jesus in a story quite similar in Matthew 9 explains why. In this story, a Jew came to fetch Jesus because his daughter had just died and he wanted Jesus to come and lay his hands on her so that she could live again. When he went to the man's house the bible said in verse 23

 

"And when Jesus came to the ruler's house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion"

When I looked up the definition of commotion, it said that it was "a state of confused and noisy disturbance". When we give into our emotions this is what happens: we get confused and the noise of the world and our own thought prevent us to hear God.

 

Just like that woman, Jesus had to keep the crowd at bay because their emotions would be in direct opposition with the miracle he was going to perform and the disposition of their hearts would perhaps not be favorable for a miracle.  The Shunammite woman somehow understood that: she didn't give into her feelings nor allowed anybody to do it because she knew it wasn't the time to let her emotions rule. She didn't want people to transfer their fears, disappointment, sadness to her or disturb her peace and serenity: she knew it wasn't the time to overthink but rather to overcome. She dismissed the world and ran to God because she knew God could do something about her situation. Mountains symbolize the place where we meet God : in the Bible it is usually the place where men of God would retreat to talk to God and the mount carmel was no exception. That woman went to the place where she knew she would find the man of God and thus God Himself. And God did show off and turned things around for that woman through his servant Elisha: he prayed and God answered, bringing that woman's son back to life.

From this story I took away two things that we can all apply when facing adversity or difficulties that turn our world upside down:

a) when situations happen what we need is to stay rooted in faith no matter how difficult it may be. And sometimes it can be really reaaaally hard. BUT! it is what we ought to do for the simple reason that once we are led by our emotions we tend to go astray and lose sight of God's plan for us and what He can do in our lives. We are less inclined to hear his voice and because we are worried and all over the place, we cannot see Him move and let Him do what He has to do. I am pretty sure He could have prevented the death of that woman's son. I am pretty sure she was praying begging God to do something but God let things happen because He had a point to prove. Sometimes there are situations that happen where God has a point to prove. Maybe it was a way for God to make that woman's faith firm by testing it or maybe it was a situation that God created so that she could have a personal encounter/ story with Him. Whatever it was, she overcame and perhaps we should strive to be a little more like that woman who had faith and hoped against all hope : instead of wallowing, panicking and crying, we need to stay collected, focused and trust that "all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." (Rom 8: 28)  

b) We need to seek God's presence. I understand that it feels good to discuss your issues with people. Really... I get it. Been there, done that. But what good is it to only talk about it if you are not doing anything about it? I hadn't always been the one to talk a lot about my issues not to mention to talk to Jesus but let me tell you something: it works out. Call me crazy but I'd rather seek God and tell Him about what I am going through rather than be too chatty and hear about my business in the streets. At worst, if you have to talk about it, I would advice to talk to someone who is going to pray with you and/or pray for you in order for you to get through what you are going through. And once you make God your source, once you mute the noise of the world and all the shenanigans that could interfere with your miracle and really seek Him, things start shifting. I can say it because I have experienced it.

I pray that God grants you serenity to go through what you are going through with faith and courage, knowing that "weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning" (Psalm 30:5)

Until next time,

xo