Now Elisha spoke to the woman whose son he had restored to life, saying, “Arise and go with your household, and live wherever you can live; for the Lord has called for a famine, and it will indeed come on the land for seven years.” So the woman arose and acted in accordance with the word of the man of God: she went with her household and resided in the land of the Philistines for seven years.Then at the end of seven years, the woman returned from the land of the Philistines; and she went to appeal to the king for her house and for her field. Now the king was speaking with Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, saying, “Please report to me all the great things that Elisha has done.” And as he was reporting to the king how he had restored to life the one who was dead, behold, the woman whose son he had restored to life appealed to the king for her house and for her field. And Gehazi said, “My lord the king, this is the woman and this is her son, whom Elisha restored to life.” When the king asked the woman, she told everything to him. So the king appointed an officer for her, saying, “Restore all that was hers and all the produce of the field from the day that she left the land even until now.” 2 Kings 8:1-6
“It is notable that in this case the action called for is an act of economic justice. The basic move of this story from problem to solution by means of an intervention is common to all these narratives. Here, however, the intervention is not by a miraculous deed or prophetic word. Here the intervention is really the oral tradition about the prophet. Here a problem of economic justice is solved by retelling the good news about one who raised the dead, an act referred to four times in six verses. This story moves into the situation of God’s people under the power of canonical traditions. Stories about past mighty deeds now produce the faith that those deeds themselves once created. For the church, the stories of Jesus, who raised the dead and was Himself raised, have power in themselves to solve life’s problems.”
Richard D. Nelson in First and Second Kings: Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching (Louisville: WJKP, 1987) 192-193.
Imagine being told, “Arise and go with your household, and live wherever you can live.”
This arising and go, preserved her life through a time of difficulty. But when she returned, it’s as if she had lost everything.
But God did not forget about her, and in His grace, does not forget about us today.
Notice how the challenge of economic justice was solved by retelling the good news. There’s power in stories of restoration. When we tell and retell them, they bring hope, life, peace, and deliverance.
People find themselves in stories. Often, hearing them affects change in the hearts of listeners.
If you ask organizations that seek to spur generosity in the lives of others, they would talk about the power of stories and how they deliver information and inspire transformation.
How has God been generous to you? What stories can you tell to inspire others today?
I would tell of my gratitude to God for my wife, for my children, and for God’s provision for us, one day at a time supplying daily bread whilst inviting us to live, give, serve, and love generously. God is so generous.