February 9, 2001

Monica,

There is an excellent example of watching your mouth in 2 Kings.  In Chapter 4:8-37, the Shunammite woman made a room for the man of God (Elisha), and because she gave so generously to God, God wanted to give to her.  She is given a son, but while he is still a young boy, the son gets a headache and dies on his mother’s lap.  How utterly devastated the woman must have been, but look at the wisdom with which she handled the situation.  She never once said that her dead son was dead.  I am sure that if she had confessed that he was dead, he would have remained dead. She put the dead boy in Elisha’s bed, went outside and only told her husband, "It’s all right."  Can you imagine what the natural mind would have been saying to her husband? She had to have been guided by the Holy Spirit even back then.

When she got to Elisha’s servant, he asked if everything was all right.  He specifically said, "Is your child all right?"  The child was dead, but by God’s wisdom she confessed, "Everything is all right."  That is an amazing confession under her circumstances.

When she talked to Elisha, she still did not say her boy was dead.  She only complained to Elisha that he should not have given her hope of having a child.  He had to read between the lines that there was a serious problem and get the details from God.  Then he told her to take his staff back and lay it on her son’s face, and he told her, "If you meet anyone, do not greet him, and if anyone greets you, do not answer."  She insists that Elisha himself come along, but notice that she knew to not confess her son to be dead and how quick Elisha was to tell her to keep her mouth shut as she returned to the boy.  There is power in the mouth!

Well, happy trails as you grow in the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  I believe God is going to have a people right before Jesus comes back who hear his voice, walk in his specific guidance, and do the types of things Jesus did--things the world marvels at but things that are, as Elisha says in 2 Kings 3:18, "an easy thing in the eyes of the Lord."

Love,

Dad