Obey, Be Faithful, Wait, Be Faithful, Go Back.

2 Kings 8:5
⁵ Just as Gehazi was telling the king how Elisha had restored the dead to life, the woman whose son Elisha had brought back to life came to beg the king for her house and land.
Gehazi said, "This is the woman, my lord the king, and this is her son whom Elisha restored to life."

// THOUGHTS:

.. There is favor to those who are obedient and faithful.
.. The Shunammite woman was granted what was hers when she came back from Philistine 7 years after the famine.
.. Who would've known that at the same time Gehazi was sharing, with the king, the testimony of the woman's son whom Elisha raised to life was also the time when the woman requested for her land back.
.. Of course, we know it was granted and even was blessed with even more (v. 6b)

_Terrain of events:

v. 1 - Elisha instructed the woman what to do to escape from famine (a disaster)
v. 2 - The woman obeyed and stayed in the land of the Philistines for 7 long years just as Elisha has instructed her so
v. 3 - She came back to retrieve what was rightfully hers, her own property, after 7 years of being away
v. 4 - The king did not know anything about the woman; he was just talking to Gehazi, Elisha's servant, asking about Elisha's miracles
v. 5 - Not a coincidence, but a divinely appointed time that the woman came and requested for her land back - 7 years later; Gehazi told the king about the woman
v. 6 - The king investigated the woman; told the truth; she got back her land and more!

_Principles:

.. God provides us with instructions that we must follow - whether through His Word or godly counsel or any other way that the Lord may want to speak to us - perhaps to avoid a "disaster" (like the famine)
.. As believers, it is important to heed what God is instructing us to do even if we don't see the immediate results of our obedience (the woman didn't get the full-on blessing til 7 years later)
.. There are no coincidences in life. God divinely appoints events in our lives perfectly. IF we are obediently following His instructions to the dot, we can be assured that He will order our lives as they should according to His perfect plan.
.. We may have to wait a while to retrieve a blessing and the blessings that come along with it; but we know that God will divinely appoint the time of the "reconnection" or "heading back" of our own "land" that we originally "own" (as God allows us to have for the brief moment on earth)

// BELLE:

.. Amazing! Simple >> I will obey, I will be faithful, and I WILL DEFINITELY WAIT. It may be a time of "famine" right now where I have to "stay for a while wherever I can" and let things pass. And I know that God will appoint a specific time when I know it's time to "retrieve" my "land" back.

// LORD, Your Word is definitely TIMELY. I will treasure Your Word always. As I wait and as I "stay for a while" I pray that you strengthen me to be faithful in all that I do; to always be obedient; and to know when the "7 years" is over so I may "go back" and retrieve "my land". I am overjoyed of Your goodness. I lift this up to You in Jesus' name, amen.