Turn a couple pages in 2 Kings, and you’ll find one more little snippet from later in the Shunammite woman’s life described in 2 Kings 8. Here, we read that Elisha had warned the woman about a seven-year famine that was coming, so she moved to another area until the famine ended. When she returned, she went about in pursuit of reclaiming her home and land. When she went to the king, he just happened to be talking to Gehazi, who was recounting the time Elisha had (in God’s power, of course) restored the dead to life. What timing! After the woman confirmed to the king that Elisha had indeed raised her son from the dead, she was assigned an official who could help her reclaim not only her home and land, but also all of the income her land had produced since she’d been gone. 

And that’s it! That’s what we know about the Shunammite woman. It isn’t much, but it’s enough to pull and learn some truths about God and some applications for ourselves, too. 

So what can we learn about God from this woman?

• God’s ways are sometimes difficult to understand, but He can always be trusted. (Why did He give this childless woman a son, only to have the child die? …but then be raised back to life? Who knows! Only God.)
• He showers His children with abundance. Elisha did not need a whole private room to stay in, but God provided it. And the woman was just trying to get her land back, but God gave her that plus its income from the previous seven years. He is a generous God!
• God blesses those who obey His Word. The Shunammite woman followed Elisha’s instructions to leave before the famine, and God met her needs and then some.
• God holds final power and authority over death.

What can we learn about people/ourselves from this woman?

• We serve and honor God by being hospitable to others.
• Generosity in its most pure and humble state means not looking for anything in return—like really, truly.
• Rather than complaining, gossipping or sulking, we should go straight to God with our problems. Did you notice that when the woman’s son died, she didn’t commiserate with her husband about it, and she didn’t even settle with talking to Gehzei about it? She went straight to Elisha and only Elisha! Similarly, we can and should take our worries and troubles straight to the throne of God. 
• Obedience to God might be difficult and risky, but it will always be right, fruitful and worthwhile. 
• We can trust God to meet our needs, even when His ways are mysterious and confusing.

Reading about this interesting woman of God sure makes me wonder about what other fascinating people and events weren’t included in the pages of Scripture. Surely as Elisha and the other Old Testament prophets lived and ministered, they had all sorts of memorable and miraculous encounters with people just like this woman. Don’t you think? But obviously God had a reason for making sure the Shunammite woman’s story made it into the Bible. What might He be wanting you to learn from her life and example? Something about His perfect character? Or something about yourself? Ask the Holy Spirit to speak to you. And let’s thank God for this woman from Shunem, who He was so careful to include in His timeless and Holy Word.