3) A revelation hidden from the prophet. 

After this, she called for her husband and said, “Please send me one of the servants and one of the donkeys, that I may run to the man of God and return.” He said, “Why will you go to him today? It is neither new moon nor sabbath.” (appeared out of timing) And she said, “It will be well.” Then she saddled a donkey and said to her servant, “Drive and go forward; do not slow down the pace for me unless I tell you.” So she went and came to the man of God to Mount Carmel. When the man of God saw her at a distance, he said to Gehazi his servant, “Behold, there is the Shunammite. “Please run now to meet her and say to her, ‘Is it well with you? Is it well with your husband? Is it well with the child?’” And she answered, “It is well.” 27When she came to the man of God to the hill, she caught hold of his feet. And Gehazi came near to push her away; but the man of God said, “Let her alone, for her soul is troubled within her; and the LORD has hidden it from me and has not told me.” 28Then she said, “Did I ask for a son from my lord? Did I not say, ‘Do not deceive me’?” (2 Kings 4:22-27) 

Do not expect everything to be revealed to pastors, prophets and teachers in the faith. It is why we all must seek for greater revelation in the Spirit, regardless of your title or position. This revelation will give discernment, but not for the purpose of causing division or condemning and gossiping about others. We are sons and daughters of God, and, therefore, must be willing to tap into the same revelation. God will stir your curiosity, but you must position yourself to hear His voice and listen to Him! God never meant for us to go to a church building to simply learn all about Him 30 minutes a week. The well runs deeper than that! We have limited wisdom and revelation so much, and as a result of putting God in our customized, religious box, we become offended when things do not go our way, whether it is because someone did not speak to us at church or pastor said something that actually convicted me a little bit. So often people get offended and find reasons to get offended simply because they are not determined to obtain change and breakthrough in their lives. If you really want help and deliverance, it is available. Go after the presence of God and go deeper in Him! 

Elisha may have not known at the time that the Shunammite’s son died, but she still had confidence that the very voice that spoke her son into existence is the very voice that could resurrect it! She received the reward of her faith, never doubting. It is why her response was, “It is well”. Most people in the church are very familiar with the hymn, “It is Well.” This hymn was written by a Chicago lawyer, Horatio G. Spafford. You might think to write a worship song titled, ‘It is well with my soul’, you would indeed have to be a rich, successful Chicago lawyer. But the words, “When sorrows like sea billows roll … It is well with my soul”, were not written during the happiest period of Spafford’s life. On the contrary, they came from a man who had suffered almost unimaginable personal tragedy.

Horatio G. Spafford and his wife, Anna, were pretty well-known in 1860’s Chicago. And this was not just because of Horatio’s legal career and business endeavors. The Spaffords were also prominent supporters and close friends of D.L. Moody, the famous preacher. In 1870, however, things started to go wrong. The Spaffords’ only son was killed by scarlet fever at the age of four. A year later, it was fire rather than fever that struck. Horatio had invested heavily in real estate on the shores of Lake Michigan. In 1871, every one of these holdings was wiped out by the great Chicago Fire.

Aware of the toll that these disasters had taken on the family, Horatio decided to take his wife and four daughters on a holiday to England. And, not only did they need the rest — D.L. Moody needed the help. He was traveling around Britain on one of his great evangelistic campaigns. Horatio and Anna planned to join Moody in late 1873. And so, the Spaffords traveled to New York in November, from where they were to catch the French steamer ‘Ville de Havre’ across the Atlantic. Yet just before they set sail, a last-minute business development forced Horatio to delay. Not wanting to ruin the family holiday, Spafford persuaded his family to go as planned. He would follow on later. With this decided, Anna and her four daughters sailed East to Europe while Spafford returned West to Chicago. Just nine days later, Spafford received a telegram from his wife in Wales. It read: “Saved alone.”

On November 2nd 1873, the ‘Ville de Havre’ had collided with ‘The Lochearn’, an English vessel. It sank in only 12 minutes, claiming the lives of 226 people. Anna Spafford had stood bravely on the deck, with her daughters Annie, Maggie, Bessie and Tanetta clinging desperately to her. Her last memory had been of her baby being torn violently from her arms by the force of the waters. Anna was only saved from the fate of her daughters by a plank which floated beneath her unconscious body and propped her up. When the survivors of the wreck had been rescued, Mrs. Spafford’s first reaction was one of complete despair. Then she heard a voice speak to her, “You were spared for a purpose.” And she immediately recalled the words of a friend, “It’s easy to be grateful and good when you have so much, but take care that you are not a fair-weather friend to God.” Upon hearing the terrible news, Horatio Spafford boarded the next ship out of New York to join his bereaved wife. Bertha Spafford (the fifth daughter of Horatio and Anna born later) explained that during her father’s voyage, the captain of the ship had called him to the bridge. “A careful reckoning has been made”, he said, “and I believe we are now passing the place where the de Havre was wrecked. The water is three miles deep.” Horatio then returned to his cabin and penned the lyrics of his great hymn.

The words which Spafford wrote that day come from 2 Kings 4:26. They echo the response of the Shunammite woman to the sudden death of her only child. Though we are told “her soul is vexed within her”, she still maintains that ‘It is well.” And Spafford’s song reveals a man whose trust in the Lord is as unwavering as hers was. (http://www.biblestudycharts.com/A_Daily_Hymn.html)

Life is not about being dealt a good hand, but learning how to play a bad hand well. Both the Shunammite woman and Horatio Spafford dealt with some horrid trauma in their life. They were good people. It was as though God was placing a curse on their lives that they did not deserve. However, they came out victorious and triumphant. With the Shunammite woman, a promise that had died was resurrected to a newfound life, while with Spafford he could never get those beloved children back, but his sorrow gave birth to a song that would reach to millions and generations thereafter. We must have their same attitude, “It is well.” It is not a time to allow the enemy to wreak havoc on our lives, but it is a time to bounce back and praise God through and out of our circumstances. Do not give room to murmuring, complaining or defeat, but declare in faith, “It is well with my soul” because God, in our chaos, is still in charge!