pWe can fall into the trap of picturing the women of the Bible as all quiet and soft-spoken sorts. Not so with the Shunammite woman. You can read her story in 2 Kings 4. Most of our Bibles describe her as ‘great’, which is a polite rewording of the original Hebrew for ‘bold and loud’. Why’d she get that reputation? First, let’s go back to the beginning.br /
The Shunammite woman looked after the prophet Elisha whenever he came by her town. In return, Elisha prophesied that she would have a son. When that son grew up, he got a headache one day while working the fields, and collapsed dead in her arms. The Shunammite woman wasn’t having that. She rolled up her sleeves, announced to everyone, ‘It is well’, and went to ask Elisha for a miracle. Elisha said he’d send his servant to her boy. She went, ‘Fine, but I’m staying here with you till you come.’ Picture him raising his eyebrows at this point, Dumbledore-style - and finally giving in. He goes, prays to God, and a miracle happens. Her boy comes back to life. What’s going on here, then? Without knowing what would happen to her son, this woman clung onto God and said it was all ‘well’. Want in on that boldness? We can have it. Hebrews 4:16 says we can go to God, unashamedly confident, with whatever is pressuring us./p
pWhat now?br /
God’s given you permission to take pains and pressures to His throne and ask for His help, literally right now. Write a list (so you don’t get distracted when you pray) and take them to Him./p