Living in Times of Normalcy

This morning, I want us to fix our eyes for a few minutes precisely on a woman who distinguished herself by being a cheerful giver, a servant of God; who gave the Lord her best offering and was greatly blessed. You know that we are studying the miracles of the prophet Elisha; we are studying the life of the prophet Elisha during this time when we are speaking about the life of faith.

Let us go to Chapter 4 of Second Kings. It is the third miracle that we are going to discuss in the life of the prophet Elisha.

The first miracle we discussed was that of the widow whom Elisha blessed by inviting her to find many empty vessels and ask all her neighbors for vessels. Her husband had died, she was helpless, and she had no way to pay her creditors, so Elisha invited her to look for empty vessels throughout the neighborhood. The only thing she had was... what? A little oil, and Elisha told her, “Take those empty vessels, pour the oil you have into each vessel, and as each one is filled, set it aside and take another one.” And when they had used all the vessels she had, the oil ceased, and with the money they obtained from selling the oil, she and her children were able to live and pay the creditors. A beautiful miracle with great symbolism and many practical and spiritual lessons.

Last Sunday we spoke about that other miracle, when King Jehoshaphat found himself in great distress in the middle of the desert, without water for himself, the other two kings accompanying him, the entire army, and the animals—the horses and cows that were with them. They were on their way to war and found themselves in the middle of the desert; their provisions and water ran out, and the prophet Elisha was nearby. He ministered in the power of the Holy Spirit, gave the prophetic word, and water miraculously sprang from within the earth, and they all drank. And not only that—not only did God perform the miracle of providing for them in their need, but He also confused the enemy, because when the enemy saw from afar in the desert those pools of water that had appeared, they looked like blood. It was a time of day when the reddish sun—perhaps already toward evening—made the water shine, and they thought, “This is blood. They have killed one another—for where would water come from in the desert? Let us go collect the spoils.” And when they arrived, the Israelites were there, quite refreshed and waiting for them. And there was a great defeat for the enemy army. So God not only saved their lives, but also gave them victory, even though they were not doing things properly, as we saw.

That sermon taught us about the importance of being careful about how we relate to people who do not walk with God, about the care we must exercise in the world. The fact that we are a holy people, a people set apart, does not mean that we walk in pride because of that fact, but we do have to be very careful, because we cannot share in the leftovers of the world; we cannot share in the leftovers of those who do not know the Lord. Jehoshaphat did so by entangling his life with this King Joram, who was an ungodly man who wanted nothing to do with God—a pagan, an apostate. So we must be careful, because when someone walks with God and then, as often happens, becomes too intimately joined with unbelievers, that person sometimes ends up suffering the same afflictions and setbacks that they suffer, and we must be very careful about that.

Always with humility and simplicity, but also with great caution, because, as it says, two cannot walk together unless they are in agreement.

Well, today I want to speak about the woman, the Shunammite, a figure very dear to me. I have preached about her over the years, and meditating on the life of this exemplary woman is always a great, great blessing.

Second Kings, Chapter 4, beginning with verse 8, says: “It also happened one day that Elisha passed through Shunem”—hence the name Shunammite; she lived in the town of Shunem, she was from the town of Shunem—“and there was a prominent woman there”—in other words, she was a woman of some financial means and some social standing. She was perhaps a wealthy woman; her husband had businesses. She was a woman known in the community, influential, a renowned and prominent figure in her city.

“...there was a prominent woman there who persistently invited him to eat...”

I invite you to focus your attention on that adverb: persistently. She invited him, and not just in any manner, but persistently invited him to eat.

“...and whenever he passed through there, he would come to her house to eat. And she said to her husband, ‘You know what? Behold, now I understand that this man who always passes by our house is a man of God, a holy man of God. Please, let us make a small room with walls and put a bed, a table, a chair, and a lampstand there, so that whenever he comes to us, he may stay in it.’ And it happened one day that he came there, stayed in that room, and slept there. Then he said to Gehazi his servant, ‘Call this Shunammite woman,’ and when he called her, she came and stood before him. He then said to Gehazi, ‘Tell her, “Behold, you have taken such painstaking care of us. What would you like me to do for you? Do you need me to speak on your behalf to the king or to the commander of the army?”’ And she answered, ‘I dwell among my own people.’ And he said, ‘What, then, shall we do for her?’ And Gehazi answered, ‘Behold, she has no son, and her husband is old.’ Then he said, ‘Call her.’ And he called her, and she stood in the doorway, and he said to her, ‘Next year, at about this time, you shall embrace a son.’ And she said, ‘No, my lord, man of God. Do not deceive your maidservant.’ But the woman conceived and gave birth to a son the following year, at the time Elisha had told her.”

I am going to leave it there. And we bless the word of God this morning.

We will possibly address the next part of the account next time. Although the two parts are very closely connected, for now we are going to leave it there. We will meditate on this portion because the next part describes a crisis that arose as a consequence of the miracle she received, and it speaks about crises and how we should conduct ourselves in times of crisis.

This first part of the account teaches us how to conduct ourselves in times of normality. Because Christians are often crisis-oriented.

When do we seek God? When things get really bad, when the water is rising up to our necks, and when the devil is circling our house and is ready to checkmate us. Then we cry out to God and think about God and become very devout people. But in the meantime, we are sometimes indifferent, we are casual, and we are not as concerned about the things of God; we do not give God the priority He requires.

Both in normal times and in crisis, this woman showed herself to be a person who loved God, a woman consecrated and devoted to the Lord. She was a woman who showed dedication, consecration, devotion, and preference toward God, and that is why she is such a special woman to me.

There are so many beautiful women in the Old Testament—exemplary women, women who show us... Some say, well, that the Old Testament is sexist and that women are somehow demeaned. But what I see in Scripture is women like Deborah, Ruth, Naomi, this Shunammite woman, the widow we saw, the widow of Zarephath, Esther—listen, the Bible is filled with exemplary women, powerful women. The woman in Proverbs, the virtuous woman, the ideal woman described in Proverbs.

Everywhere one looks, one sees these beautiful, exemplary women who are a model of what life in God is.

And this Shunammite woman is no less than that, and I love her example because, from the very beginning, one sees that there are so many things one can imitate. Here it says that she was a prominent woman. This woman had means, money, and influence, but she did not stop there; she was not content simply to possess these things. Rather, there was love for God in her heart.

The first thing I learn is that money and the possessions we have are not ends in themselves. They are given by God for us to enjoy, yes, but above all, also so that we may do good to others and act on behalf of the things of God; so that we may be attentive to the Lord’s concerns; so that when there is a need, when someone has a need, we may extend mercy and generosity.

And you know what? The Lord always sees to it that He gives more and more and more to the person who is generous with what they receive. Let us not fall in love with money, brothers and sisters; let us not become attached to money or cling to it. When God gives us money, let us receive it joyfully and enjoy it and the blessings it brings, but let us always hold money loosely, because ultimately God gives it and God can take it away, and ultimately our worth, our importance, and our happiness do not depend on money.

You know? What makes money beautiful is when we invest it in blessing others, when we do good to those around us. When we bless our children, bless our friends, when we are hospitable, when we use the blessings we have received to be agents of God’s grace—especially when we bless the kingdom of God, the things that are important to God.

This woman was not consumed by her position; instead, she viewed her position as a way to bless and advance the kingdom of God. So we see that she was attentive to the things of God. It says that “when Elisha passed through Shunem”—now, what was Elisha doing passing through Shunem?

Well, I imagine that Elisha was like an itinerant preacher; he was a prophet of God. God sent him to different towns and cities to communicate His word. Elisha led a school of prophets that was like a traveling seminary.

God sent him to different places to minister, and he had to walk along difficult roads. I imagine that night overtook him wherever he happened to be, and he had to stay there so he could continue his journey the next day. Evidently, this woman’s house was located along what was probably an important road, and she noticed that this man of God passed by there. She understood that he was a man of God, and that was important.

She discerned that this man was genuinely a servant of God. God communicated His word to him; he walked in integrity and in service to the Lord, and that was what moved her heart.

It was not merely Elisha himself, his position, or whatever else; rather, she saw in Elisha an extension of the kingdom of God. Elisha carried out the will of God, and so she wanted to bless the servant of God; she wanted to bless what she saw as an extension of the ministry of the Church. That is why she persistently invited him... I wonder, why did the Holy Spirit put that word there? Why does it say that she “persistently” invited him to stay? Because Elisha perhaps had other options. Perhaps he could stay somewhere else, in a small hotel or the Old Testament version of a hotel. Perhaps there were other people in the town who were eager for him to stay with them.

Notice, Elisha was also an influential man. Elisha had certain resources; it is clear that he was a man... Because when he later asks her, “What can we do for you?” he says to her, “What do you need us to do for you? Do you want me to give you a recommendation to the king, or do you want me to speak to the commander of the army so that he may do something for you, your family, or your businesses?” Elisha had access to all those things.

Do you remember what I said last Sunday?

I do not know whether it was in the first or second service: when the church of Jesus Christ has the power of God with it, when the anointing of the Holy Spirit rests upon the Church, when the miracles of God are being performed, the Church gains influence. The Church has an impact on society, and then the Church does not have to beg people to pay attention to it.

Elisha was a man who commanded the attention—and sometimes the fear—of kings and prominent people. He had access, and this woman had to compete with others who also wanted the blessing of having the man, the servant of God, stay in their homes. She insisted.

Again, there is a beautiful application there because... I believe that all of us should desire blessing, should desire intimacy with God, should desire God’s touch upon our lives, should desire God to bless our houses, our homes, with His presence.

She knew that this man of God’s visit would bring blessing to her and her household, and that by serving the Lord through serving God’s servant, her house would be blessed.

She wanted the privilege of blessing the servant of God, and that is why she kept insisting.

I understand from that, brothers and sisters, that when we want God’s blessing in our lives, we have to persist; we have to pray persistently for God to visit our home, for God to fill our house, for God to fill our life, for God to enlighten our understanding.

You know? Those who prevail, those who persistently remain before God, are the ones who receive God’s blessings—those who truly desire and long for them in their hearts. It is not the person who says, “Well, Lord, here I am. If You want to touch me, then amen; do whatever You want in my life.”

No! It is that person who reaches the boiling point and hungers and thirsts for God and says, “Lord, visit me,” “Lord, touch my life,” “Lord, rest upon my house,” “Lord, bless my marriage,” “Lord, bless my children,” and is continually crying out before the throne of God for a visitation from God. Those are the people who truly receive from God; it is the earnest person.

Elisha says, “Behold. You have been earnest on our behalf. You have shown all this care for us.”

Brothers and sisters, who are the people who touch the heart of God? It is the person who is passionate about God. Please, we must abandon that casual view of the Gospel.

Look, I always clarify these things: I respect Catholicism, I respect our Catholic brothers and sisters, and I believe the Catholic Church is a Christian church. You will never hear me throwing stones at the Catholic Church, but I will tell you something else as well. I believe that Catholicism has sometimes done a great deal of harm, just as there are also many evangelical churches that do the same thing: presenting a Gospel that is a matter of going to church for half an hour, twenty-five minutes, tossing an offering in there—10 cents or 25 cents on the plate—and going home as though nothing had happened, and believing that this is what it means to be a Christian.

And unfortunately, before so many people entered more deeply into the ways of God, that was the idea formed in their minds, wasn’t it? A casual Gospel like that.

I am a Christian, yes, but... Being a Christian is simply like one more piece of furniture among all the furniture in my house, psychologically and emotionally, and it is just one small part among all the other things that command my attention.

So many people grew up with that mentality, didn’t they? Ninety-five percent of their life is something else, or 99 percent, and for just a little while, as if to add a tiny touch of spirituality, they go to Mass briefly, and sometimes all they are doing is looking around while the priest is doing his thing up there. Then they leave, and once they are out, it is as though they had punched their time card; they feel they have pleased God and done what they had to do, yes or no?

Now, there are many devoted Catholic brothers and sisters; that needs to be made clear, doesn’t it? But unfortunately, that is the kind of mentality many of us were taught, and what happens? When we enter the Gospel, unfortunately, we do not turn off that recording.

And so what we do is change our membership card: now we are evangelicals; but we have not changed our mentality, and so we have this idea that being a Christian is the same thing, except that now, well, we stay in church a little longer and are a little more patient with the pastor who talks too much when he preaches.

And there, grudgingly, instead of putting 25 cents on the plate, we put in 1 peso, but we have not changed our hearts, nor have we changed our minds. And truly, I mean, it is sad, but that is the reality.

And I beg you, my brothers and sisters, turn off the tape recorder. If I were Pentecostal, I would tell you, “Tell your brother or sister: turn off the tape recorder,” right? Turn off that record telling you that this is the way to live the Christian life.

I long, brothers and sisters, I ask the Lord, “Father, may our church, may our congregation become filled with people who are boiling for You, people who are red-hot for You.”

When a prayer meeting is called, look, may the church be filled; when a special session is called, may people not say, “Well, no, I already punched my time card on Sunday. I don’t have to go again until next Sunday.” No! May people feel the desire to come to the house of God, people who do not say, “Oh! I’m too tired, my back hurts, this hurts.”

Look, if you exercised it more by coming more often, it would hurt less, I assure you. The problem is that we are so stingy with our energy. I have discovered that the more I try to conserve my energy, the less it lasts, and the more I invest it in the Lord, the more I have. It’s incredible, brothers and sisters! But that is the secret of multiplication.

The more we give to the Lord, the more we receive. Sometimes you are going to be thinking, “No, it’s Friday night, I’ve already worked all week... going to church at night for a service—what would that accomplish? No. And I need to rest; I need to recover.”

Look, in the long run, you will have dark circles under your eyes on Monday morning when you go to work. If you go to church and seek the Lord and are filled with the Lord, your spirit is blessed, your mind becomes clear, your emotions are enriched, all your aches and pains go away, and you feel God’s blessing the next day.

I have stopped thinking that the more I conserve my energy, the more I will have. It is exactly the opposite: there are more energy leaks. Look, consecrate your life to the Lord, persist with God, seek God. As the psalmist says: “As the deer pants for the streams of water, so my soul cries out for You, O God!”

It says: “My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before the house of God?” says the psalmist.

How many of us can say that we desire the presence of God like that? How many of us are as persistent as this woman, so that when we see the presence of God—in this case, in the servant of God whom this woman saw? For Elisha was the embodiment of God’s presence in Israel. When we see that presence of God, we say, “I want that; I want that presence to be in my house. I want that presence to be in my house, and I am willing to pay the price for God’s blessing to rest upon my life. And I want to invest in the things of God.”

And that is what makes the difference. This woman persisted.

Brothers and sisters, I encourage you to give... look, take the brakes off the car of your spirit; just have an accelerator, that’s all, and move forward. Do not worry, because a collision with the presence of God is the most beautiful thing, I believe.

Seek God, persist with God, persist with God.

It says: “The one who seeks will find, to the one who knocks it will be opened, and to the one who asks it will be given.” The Lord says that “If you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”

What is your need? Pay the price; persist with God until the Lord opens His hand and blesses you. Many times, the Lord likes to hold back His blessings so He can see us longing and asking Him until He releases the blessing He has for our lives.

Be like this woman: persistent. She persistently invited him to sit in her house and eat with her. And whenever he passed that way, he would come to her house to eat.

There is another beautiful passage like this that reminds us of God through Elisha sitting down to eat. The Lord Jesus Christ often went to the home of Lazarus, Martha, and Mary and sat down to eat with them.

The Lord says in His Word: “I stand at the door and knock, and if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and dine with him or her, and that person with Me.” Signs of intimacy, aren’t they?

When Elisha sat in this woman’s house, there was conversation; there was intimacy. She learned. I imagine that woman asking Elisha, “So, how did that widow’s miracle happen? The newspaper says that you told her to bring empty jars and they were filled with oil. How did that happen? Was it that the oil never stopped flowing, or was it simply that she poured out one little drop and it multiplied in the jar? Explain that to me, Mr. Elisha.”

Elisha would tell her how the miracle happened; she grew, learned more, developed in her faith and her knowledge of the mysteries of God, and was blessed. Because when we have intimacy with God, that is where understanding, discernment, experience, and the things that then enable us to receive more blessing from God come from.

He sat down to eat with her. But notice what follows: she could have stopped there and already would have been an exemplary woman—she persisted, used her possessions to bless the prophet, and continually gave him food.

But she wanted more than that. We must be ambitious, brothers and sisters, in the things of God. We must be hungry. In the Dominican Republic, we say you have to be an “agayú”; you have to say... Does that word exist in other countries too? It does, right? It is something that is... yes... it comes from “agalla”; we must ask Him, we must dare to ask God for great things, right?

Then, “she, it says, said to her husband, ‘Behold now, I understand that this man who always passes by our house is a holy man of God.’”

Let me say something there. It says, “Behold, I understand that this man who always passes by our house is a holy man of God.” That implies something, namely, that there were perhaps other people around who were false prophets. There were people around who were merchants. In the days of Elisha and Elijah, there were false prophets; wherever there are genuine prophecies and the movement of God is in the atmosphere, there are also people preaching what they should not and people who are after money or fame or influence or other, worse things.

This woman discerned that Elisha was a sincere man, that he was truly serving God, that the resources he handled were for the kingdom of God, and this woman said, “You know what? I have realized that this is a man of integrity; this is a man who truly walks with God. We must bless him.”

Brothers and sisters, what I mean by this is the following: as I was saying last Sunday, there may be many different churches, many different ministries, many different people serving the Lord. When you distinguish, discern, and discover a good church, a good community, a good ministry, bless it.

Bless it and stay close to it, and do not go around like a little butterfly, flitting from place to place.

Hold on tightly. Nowadays I see many people jumping from place to place; they grow tired of one place and go to another to see what is new in that church. And listen to me, the grass always looks much greener on the other side. When they get there, they discover that there are wrinkles and flaws and everything else there too, and then, when they grow tired of that ground, they go to yet another, and they never grow, nor do they serve or bless anyone.

If you have a good congregation, serve your congregation, give to your congregation, remain in your congregation, because there is a great deal of bad teaching out there. If you believe that, let us say, the Word of God is preached in this church, and there is a certain degree of integrity, though we are far from perfect. But if you are eating well, if you are receiving from the Word, bless your congregation.

The Apostle Paul says that “those who receive spiritual goods should bless with material goods those who bless them spiritually.”

This church is your congregation; you eat here; this church serves this city through so many different ministries. Give generously to your congregation, bless your church, and support your congregation if you believe that your money is being used appropriately here.

And I believe we give the greatest possible evidence that what is done here is done to serve the Lord and not to enrich anyone. So there is no reason not to. Thus, she discerned that this man was a truly holy man who served the Lord from his heart, and that leads her to conclude—she says, “I beg you, let us make a small room with walls and put a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp there, so that whenever he comes to us, he may stay in it.”

Let me stop for a moment and go back, because there is a very important lesson here.

The brothers, the men, think that I am always hitting them over the head; but notice that this woman is sort of the... the spiritual leader of the household. You will see later that when she says, “Look, I have to go see the prophet because his son has died, and I want to go see the prophet. I want to visit him where the prophet lives,” the husband says, “But what are you talking about? It isn’t Sunday, there is no special activity at church, and today is not Wednesday prayer meeting. Why do you want to go to church?” How many people think like that? If it is not Sunday or Wednesday night, at best, why go to church? There are so many other things that make up a church.

But this woman—she is the one who always seems to be the protagonist. Her husband seems to be concerned with business, with work, while she is the one who is always attentive to the spiritual blessing of the home.

You already know where I’m going with this, don’t you? Brothers, men, be leaders in your homes, be priests in your homes, take the lead in your household in the Christ-centered way God desires. A home is blessed when the husband is a man who exemplifies the finest values of the kingdom of God.

I rejoice because, more and more each day, I am seeing signs of an entire army of men rising up in León de Judá, ever more numerous; men who come to pray at five o’clock on Saturday morning and gather on Tuesdays.

I give thanks for the ministry of our brother Gilberto Sámano, who is blessing those men, leading, encouraging, and spurring them on to be true men, men of God. May it not be only the sisters.

Evangelical and Catholic churches... already have too many women in them. It is not that there are—as we have said—too many women; there are too few men in them. That is the problem, and we need men who are consecrated to God. The age in which women stay ahead of us must now come to an end, brothers. Sincerely.

We need men who love the Lord just as much as their wives do. We need men who assume their spiritual leadership, so that it is not always the woman pulling the man along, saying, “Let’s go to church, let’s take the discipleship course, let’s go to the special service, let’s go to the campaign.”

No! Men, you have a special gift from God. Woman is blessed; she is and will be a great blessing. She is a co-heir of the kingdom, spiritually equal to us, but God has made man the head as a blessing—not so that he may lord it over his wife, but so that he may cover her and take the spiritual lead. So, brothers, do not underestimate its importance.

I love this woman because, ever since I laid eyes on this passage, I have seen that she exemplifies so many beautiful things.

Do you know the first time I preached this passage...? This was the first sermon I preached in the church, 24 years ago, about the Shunammite woman. And I still have it—look how good it is to keep things—these notes are from 1985, and that was the first sermon I preached in the church as pastor. Brother Polishuck, who was the preacher, had left after Brother Juan Vergara had to return to Puerto Rico with his wife Elsie for a time.

And that indicates something about how important this woman, this figure in the Bible, has been to me. She has been a great inspiration to me because she represents so many things: that spirit of women who, down through the centuries and against all odds—often oppressed, often disparaged and ignored—have nevertheless quietly kept life, the lamp of God on earth, burning. But it does not have to be that way.

I believe that God wants men—the spirituality of men is very special. It is not that we are better than women, but there is something powerful when a church is led, in a Christ-reflecting way, by men with their wives beside them like warriors, spiritual Amazons displaying the vitality of God.

Why is the Muslim world so strong even though they do not have the Holy Spirit and even embody a spirit contrary to the divine Spirit? One reason, I believe, is that men in the Muslim world—the Islamic religion is full, full of men who would give their lives a thousand times over for their God, unfortunately for an utterly false cause. And in the Muslim world, in a way that oppresses and destroys women and their dignity, men unquestionably take the lead in that religion. The fact is that when men stand up, my brothers, in a way that reflects the fruit of the Holy Spirit, the gentleness and love of God—that is, look, that is explosive, I tell you.

And that is why I implore you, men of God, to “get in gear,” to put it very plainly, and to be there, red-hot, leading and heading the people of God, serving as priests in your homes, setting an example for your children and spearheading the vitality of the kingdom of God. I call upon you in the name of Jesus.

This woman, however, was the one who came up with the ideas: ‘Look, since this servant of God continually comes through here, why don’t we build him a bedroom? Why don’t we make a place where he can come and stay?’

You see how attentive she was. Giving the servant of God food was no longer enough: ‘Let’s make him a room, put a Wi-Fi Internet connection in there, put in a little stove so he can make his coffee there in the morning, and give him a desk and a bed.’

Look at how thoughtfully she planned; this woman was attentive. She thought of everything. I imagine that what it says there includes only some of the little things she thought of. She thought, ‘This little picture, which I’m sure he’ll like, and a bedspread so that he’ll feel happy when he arrives, and a good pillow, and his desk so he can write there, and a lamp at night...’ She thought of everything for the presence of God. Forget the servant; what she saw was the embodiment of the Spirit of God entering her house.

She wanted to bless the man who represented the work of God in that spiritually barren land that Israel was at that time. So she went to her husband and said, ‘Why don’t we prepare a nice room for this man? Let’s build it for him.’

Do you see the point? She wanted to invest her family’s money in preparing a place for the servant of God. And I imagine her husband also said... ‘Well, if that’s what you want, then go ahead and do it.’ They made a nice room for the servant of God. She went further: a plate of food is one thing, but it is another thing when you add a structure to your house and permeate your home’s intimacy with the presence of another person, allowing that person to live with you.

That is moving to another level. I have always said, brothers, that there are always other levels of maturity and spiritual growth in the ways of the Lord. Do not be content with yesterday’s fire; do not be content with yesterday’s experience; do not be content with the summit you climbed spiritually a week ago or a year ago. Seek the next summit.

In the Lord there are no limits of depth, height or breadth. In the Lord, one can always go to another level. When you reach the next summit, look to see where the next mountain is and head in that direction.

She had that experience with the servant of God, who ate in her home, and now she said, “You know what? Now let’s make him a bedroom where he can live, where he can be comfortable.”

What places are there in our lives, brothers? Sometimes we give the Lord only a tiny part of our life. But we say, ‘You know what? As for Him coming and entering my bedroom—no, not there. For Him to enter my private life, my subconscious, my thoughts—not there; for Him to enter my finances—not there; for Him to enter my profession—no!’

And God says, ‘I want to enter the most intimate places in your life.’

I am about to wrap this up, but there is so much, so much to be gained from that image. First, because of that: she went to another level. Second, she intertwined her life with that of God’s prophet.

Third—and there is something very important here—it says that “one day Elisha passed by there and stayed there.” What does that mean? It means that for many weeks and months that bedroom remained empty, and I imagine that she would always send the girl—so to speak—to clean it, to keep the desk spotless and the bed neatly made. That lamp stood there unlit, waiting for the day when the man of God would arrive and use that bedroom.

It says that “one day he passed by there and stayed in her house.” Brothers, to me that means that many times we are asking the Lord to do things in our lives. We have told Him, “Father, I want to serve You; I want You to transform my life.”

Perhaps we have told the Lord, “Father, there is something in my life that I want You to break—a bad habit, a relationship that I know is not leading toward what You want for my life. I want to leave that job that I know does not allow me to go to church as I would like.” And one keeps pleading with the Lord, crying out to God and praying.

To me, that bedroom symbolizes those spaces within us that we want God to fill and bless in some way, yet they remain empty, and we begin to think that God has forgotten and will never come.

But, brothers, let me tell you that one day God will touch your life, and He will answer that cry within you. I encourage you to leave that lamp there; do not remove it. Leave that bed there, where God can rest in your home; keep that prayer continually before God.

Do not stop asking the Lord to rest upon your home and to enter a new level of depth in your life. Because one day the Lord will do it. The Lord does not disregard the cry of His children. The Lord does not forever disregard our desire to reach deeper levels of relationship with Him.

“One day,” the Word says, “Elisha arrived, stayed there and rested in that house,” and the blessing came. Apparently, the man rested well, because before leaving he said to his servant, ‘Listen, this woman has been so courteous to us. She has treated us so well for such a long time. Look at what she has done; we have to do something to bless her.’

Brothers, what a beautiful application, isn’t it?

When you give to the Lord, God will never tire of blessing your life. The Holy Spirit will be attentive to you if you are attentive to Him. God rewards those who seek Him. No one has ever given to the Lord without receiving a blessing from God. God’s heart is stirred and moved when there is a person who loves Him in a deliberate way, giving Him preference above all else.

And I love that because I see there what the Holy Spirit does when we give to God, when we are moved by the Lord. The Lord will be saying, “What can I do to bless My son? What can I do to bless My servant?”

I have a little thorn in my side, and I am going to pull it out now. Give me thirty more seconds.

I see people here and there who get upset, and from time to time I hear, “Pastor, don’t talk so much about money in church.” I do not think we talk much about money, even though our church has needs. I believe—do you know what, brothers?—that anyone who gets upset when money is discussed in church, if it is done properly, is someone whose heart has not yet been totally and truly surrendered to the Lord in that area.

I know that in many churches it is discussed excessively. We try to discuss it when it is relevant, when it is in the Word and when there is a situation that calls for mobilizing the people of God. I want a church that does not have to apologize for talking about money when it is appropriate.

Let me ask you a question: how often do you talk about money at home with your wife or your family? How often do you mention money to pay the household “bills,” or to decide whether to buy a car, or to pay the rent, or to pay for the next repair the car needs, or to decide how much to set aside in the account?

A family talks about money because that is part of the household economy. This spiritual family is not sustained by corn oil or whatever; there is money, there are expenses, there are projects and there are missions.

Therefore, the people of God must be informed about that in a natural, coherent and organic way, and you should not be upset by it.

I believe that a person who loves God and is in a church where money is handled with integrity should not feel tense. I believe that the person who feels tense is the one who feels threatened and does not like being confronted at their sore spot.

But I believe that when one has settled the issue of money, one is at peace, does not get upset and simply receives it naturally. If your conscience is clear, why are you upset? Let it be and move on. You know that it is not directed at you. You say, ‘No, of course; let’s give to the Lord. Let’s serve the Lord.’

Well, what I want to say, brothers, is that when one gives to God, God never tires of blessing. That is what I ultimately want to tell you. Let us not rob ourselves of the privilege of seeing God bless.

Elisha said, “Look, we have to do something for this woman. Call her.” And he asked her, “What can I do for you? Do you want me to do this or do that?” “No, I do not need anything.”

When we give to the Lord, let us give to Him simply because He is good. Give to God because God is who He is.

Look, I wrote this 24 years ago, and it is only a little phrase about that, because one never changes one’s way of thinking about true things. It says here: the best act of giving to God looks not toward the future, but toward the past—not at what God may do for me tomorrow, but at what He has already done for me on the cross. That is all, isn’t it?

In other words, do not give to God while thinking about what you are going to receive. One of the things I object to, and why I sometimes oppose so many preachers who ask people for money, is that what they often do is stir up and arouse people’s greed: “Give to God, and He will give you that Mercedes-Benz.” “Give God 100 dollars, and He will give you a thousand dollars,” and so on.

We ask so that God will do this and that. No.

Look, ultimately, I wish we would all be like this woman: “No, I give because I love God. I do not need You to do anything for me.”

That is one of the most beautiful answers in all of Scripture: “I dwell among my own people.”

I imagine the dignity with which that woman spoke those words. She told him, “No, prophet of God, I do not need anything. I am among my own people.” And that is the heart of someone who truly gives.

But Elisha, not content with that, asked Gehazi again, “Look, there must be something this woman needs. We have to do something for her.” And Gehazi told him, “Well, look, there is something. She has never had a son. She is barren, or her husband seems to be...”

No, she was not barren; her husband was old, in other words. He could not conceive; the factory had already closed, and God said, “Let’s open that factory one more time.” And Elisha, moved by the Holy Spirit, told her, “Truly I tell you that a year from now, on this very day, you will be holding a son in your arms.” She could not believe it and said, “You are making fun of me. No, do not make fun of me.” It seemed impossible.

Brothers and sisters, that is just how God is. When you love God above all things, God will make you the apple of His eye. God will look after you and your needs. God will keep you in mind.

Serve God, give generously to God, seek God, and prefer Him above all things. I assure you that God will not grow weary; God will give you the desires of your heart. God will grant the secret petitions of your soul. God will bless you in many different ways.

In this case, the blessing came to her not in the form of more money, but as something money could not buy.

Sometimes God blesses us with peace in our hearts, restful sleep, health, a harmonious and peaceful family, emotional healing, dear friends, and times of refreshing in our lives. There are many ways in which God blesses His children who prefer Him and love Him above all things.

This woman is a call to this church: to love God above all things and to give ourselves fully to God.

Today, my brothers and sisters, God is calling us. Let us consecrate ourselves more and more. Let us give the Lord everything. Let’s pull out all the stops, as they say in English. Let us remove every restraint and be generous with the Lord in every area. May God grant Himself a people with a heart like this woman’s! Completely surrendered to Him. Glory to the name of the Lord.

Let us bow our heads for a moment and reconsecrate ourselves to God this morning. And if anyone has not yet given their life to Jesus Christ and would like to do so, I would invite you to raise your hand this morning, and I would like to pray for you and commend you to God.

If you have not done so before and want to do it now, raise your hand, and I will pray for you, and we will present you before the Lord. If you have not done so before, we leave this moment open... Thank You, Lord. We worship You; we bless You.

If there is no one, let us pray that our hearts may be consecrated to God. Father, we bless You. Thank You, Lord. Thank You because in You we have everything we need, and even so, we want to give You more.

We want You to receive from us what You deserve. Today we surrender our entire lives to You. Raise up a church, Lord, of which You can be proud and which truly pleases Your heart. A church consecrated to You that delights in giving You the very best of itself.

Thank You, Lord; thank You for Your presence. Thank You for the beautiful example of this woman, and now we entrust ourselves to You and bless Your people, Father. In the name of Jesus. Amen and amen.

Sermon by Dr. Roberto Miranda recorded August 23, 2009, at Congregación León de Judá

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