The Void That Remains
Where have you experienced loss in which there hasn't been restoration? You have Scriptural precedence to call it back and see it restored.
A few years ago, I was in a position that was suddenly shut down. In an instant the salary, platform, bonuses, and sales from that position were gone. It brought hurt, confusion, and financial loss, and it appeared there was nothing I could do about it.
When we have things in our lives where we experience loss, it leaves us with a sense of vulnerability. Loss from relationships, finances, and position—wherever the loss has occurred—sits as a reminder of pain and/or injustice. Even if we have given the matter fully to the Lord, questions can still linger due to the void that remains.
God Can Protect Our Stuff Better than We Can
Perhaps what you experienced wasn't an injustice but just immutable circumstances that brought loss. Things happened completely beyond your control, like the Shunammite woman in Biblical days.
In 2 Kings 8, we learn of a Shunammite woman who experienced the loss of her home and land because of a famine.
"Now Elisha had said to the woman whose son he had restored to life, 'Arise, you and your household; go and live as a foreigner wherever you can. For the LORD has decreed that a seven-year famine will come to the land.'" (2 Kings 8:1 BSB)
God spoke a word to this woman through the prophet Elisha to protect her and her family regarding an upcoming famine, but it required she leave her home. She could have ignored the warning to protect what she possessed. Instead she obeyed and left.
That is a good reminder for us. God can protect our "stuff" far better than we can. Had the woman remained in order to retain possession of her home, her family could have died in the famine. Instead, she chose to trust God. (Photo via Pixabay)
Walking Into a God Set-Up
When the seven-years famine came to an end, the woman returned. This was also key. She recognized the season had concluded and returned, and she was right in God's timing.
"Now the king had been speaking to Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, saying, 'Please relate to me all the great things Elisha has done.'
"And Gehazi was telling the king how Elisha had brought the dead back to life. Just then the woman whose son Elisha had revived came to appeal to the king for her house and her land. So Gehazi said, 'My lord the king, this is the woman, and this is the son Elisha restored to life.'" (2 Kings 8:4–5 BSB).
Upon her return the woman determined she would make an appeal to the king to get her home and land back. Why not? It was hers, and what could it hurt? Perhaps we don't receive restoration because we simply don't ask.
And it just so happened that when she was coming before the king, Gehazi was there telling him the story of how God restored the woman's son to life (2 Kings 4:5–6).
Go take a moment to read it. She was a woman of great faith, and because of that her son was raised from the dead! As she returned to her land, she walked right into a God setup!
"When the king asked the woman, she confirmed it. So the king appointed for her an officer, saying, 'Restore all that was hers, along with all the proceeds of the field from the day that she left the country until now.'" (2 Kings 8:6)
Even More than What Was Asked
The Shunammite woman went to ask for her home and land back, but look what happened! God restored ALL THE PROCEEDS she would have had during the time she was gone from that day until the present. She wasn't asking for that. God just did it because He loved her. I believe He was still honoring her for her kindness to Elisha when she provided him food and lodging. God was honoring her faith and obedience. (Photo via Pixabay)
"But," you say, "my situation doesn't mirror that at all." Perhaps you were actually partly at fault for what was lost or taken. Have you repented? Have you asked the Lord what He wants to do in the situation? God sees your heart. Remember, God gives good gifts to His children.
When we have Biblical precedence of something God has done in the past, it gives us legal standing to ask for it in the present.
Whether your situation was loss, theft, unjust or deserved, God can still intervene. I believe it is similar to the Shunammite woman. She made an appeal to the king to restore, and he did even more than what she asked.
Make an Appeal to the King
As I read that Word in 2 Kings 8 today, it jumped out at me, and I sensed the Lord saying, "Make an appeal to the King!"
I believe God is giving us the opportunity to make an appeal to the King. You have not because you ask not (James 4:2). Where have you experienced loss or theft? Most likely you have given up ever seeing restoration. But the word to you today is APPEAL TO THE KING!
Then, like the Shunammite woman, stand in faith, remain immovable, and watch what He will do.
"Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us..." (Ephesians 3:20 NIV)
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Karen Hardin
Destiny Builders Ministry | City-by-City Prayer Network
Email:Â karen@lightandremnant.org
Websites: www.karenhardin.com | city-by-city.org | destinybuilders.world | awakeoklahoma.com
Karen Hardin is a journalist, activist and revivalist, using her pen and prayer to seek change for our nation to turn it back to God and to truth. Her work has been published in USA Today, Western Journal, Intercessors for America, Charisma, The Elijah List, and more. She is the author of several books, including "Scriptural Prayers for America and Donald Trump," and "Infected: How to Stop the Global Spread of Rage, Deception and Insanity." For additional information, go to awakeoklahoma.com or karenhardin.com.
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