By Bill Boldham

In these perilous times in which we live, there is a story from the Old Testament that is worth considering. It concerns the prophet Elisha and a wealthy woman. Elisha traveled to a town in which this lady of means lived and she invited him to her home for dinner. Whenever Elisha was in town, he went to her house to eat.

          One day she told her husband, “Look, Elisha is a holy man of God who comes through town often. Let’s add a room to our house and furnish it, so that when he’s in town, he can stay with us.” Then next time Elisha came, he stayed in the room they had prepared for him.

          One day, while resting in his room, he said to his servant, “They have gone to a lot of trouble to prepare this for me. Ask the lady if there is a favor I can do for her, maybe speak to the king or the commander of the army on her behalf.” When he asked her, she said she didn’t need anything.

          So Elisha asked his servant if there was anything he could do for her. The servant said, “Well, her husband is an old man and she has no son.” Elisha went to the woman and said, “About this time next year you’re going to be embracing a baby boy.” She frantically replied, “No, my lord, O man of God: please don’t lie to me.” But sure enough, the woman conceived, and about that time, the following spring, she gave birth to a son.

          When the boy had grown, he went out one day to help his father in the field reaping. Suddenly he cried out, “My head, my head!” His dad told a servant to carry the boy to his mother. He brought the boy to his mother, and the boy sat in his mother’s lap until noon, and then he died. She took the boy up to Elisha’s room, laid him on the prophet’s bed, closed the door and left.

          She called to her husband, telling him to get a donkey saddled quickly because she was going to see Elisha. He said, “It’s not a religious day or a Sabbath, why are you going?” She replied, “All is well.” She went to Elisha and told him what had happened. Elisha returned with her to her home and raised the boy back to life. All was well!

          The children of God are living in a world surrounded by perversion, immorality, corruption and violence; and not only that, but surrounded by men who are forging all kinds of weapons against God’s people to kill and destroy them. Can we look at all of that and say with confidence, “All is well!”? 

          Jesus left these words to His church before ascending to the Father: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20

          The children of the living God are living in the world under the direct care, protection and authority of the Lord Jesus Christ; He is with us, for us and abides within us. The sons and daughters of God can do one of two things: we can either fix our eyes on the daily goings on of the wicked and become fretful, anxious and alarmed and live in despair or, we can fix our eyes on the man in heaven Who has power over it all; the One Who is coming soon to destroy the kingdoms of this world; the One who will usher in an everlasting kingdom of righteousness, peace, joy, and love, and declare, “All is well!”

Brother Bill is a Bible teacher and can be contacted at bboldham@sbcglobal.net