Seeking Greater Intimacy with the Holy Spirit

I remember that in my first sermon, some thirty-odd years ago, I chose the Shunammite woman, one of my favorite characters in all of Scripture, because this woman is fascinating in terms of her character, her love for God, her miraculous life, and the spiritual truths she embodies and illustrates.

So the passage in Second Kings, chapter 4, verse 8, begins by telling us: “One day, Elisha was passing through a town called Shunem, and there was an important woman there who urged him to eat. And whenever he passed through, he would come to her house to eat.”

You know that in a novel or a work of literature, the way to develop a character and present their character is not so much by describing the person’s temperament or character as by illustrating it through their actions and their words in conversation. That is how the reader learns what the character is like. It is not necessarily that the narrator describes the person as being this way or that, or doing one thing or another; rather, the character’s actions and words speak for them and portray them to the reader. And here we begin to see this woman’s character, her life, and her spiritual makeup.

The first thing we are told is that she was an important woman. That means she was a woman of some standing, some weight, some significance in her town. She was not just anybody; she was a woman of substance, probably known in her community. Her social position may well have been very secure, and she was probably a woman of influence, respected in her community.

And another thing we are told here is that she repeatedly invited Elisha to come to her house and eat with them—with her and her husband, her family—because it seems she lived in a house near the road, where she had the opportunity to see the prophet passing by when he traveled to some town to carry out a mission or something of that sort.

She had observed the prophet Elisha and had realized that he was a man of God, because later she tells her husband, “This man who always passes by our house is a holy man of God; I understand that he is a holy man of God.” In other words, this woman had discerned that he was a man of God, and so, of course, she wanted to have contact with him.

How important it is, when we discern the Presence and Work of God in a person, to try to build a relationship with them. We grow through the relationships and friendships we form. If you want to grow spiritually, you had better stay close to people who love God, whose lives express the values of the Kingdom of God, and who have a clear vision of the Kingdom and of what Christian character is, because sooner or later those people will influence you and shape your character.

So this woman wanted to draw near to the prophet Elisha. That also tells us something, I think, about her spirituality. She was a spiritual woman who wanted to draw near to God and to the things of God. We will see later that she is a woman with great spiritual, even prophetic, discernment. She is a woman of very strong character, and that is the kind of person God evidently wants to bless and reward.

The Bible says that God’s eyes range throughout the whole earth to find those whose hearts are perfect toward Him, so that He may bless and honor them. How important it is for our character and our lives to express the values of the Kingdom of God. This woman evidently wanted intimacy with God, and when she saw this man of God passing by her house, she did not want merely to watch him from afar; she wanted his experience, his anointing, to have an impact on her life. Brothers and sisters, let us not be content with a merely superficial, vague relationship with God, but seek to bring Him more fully into our lives.

In this passage we see this woman continually seeking greater intimacy, a closer relationship with this man who represents the Kingdom of God. She is therefore an example of the kind of spirituality that is not content to remain at the margins of spiritual life, but wants to enter its center, wants intimacy with God, does not want lukewarmness or spiritual mediocrity, does not want a casual relationship with God, but wants to enter into fellowship, into intimacy with the Holy Spirit, represented in this case by the prophet Elisha.

These are some truths from this passage, and we will continue to expound it in our next meditation. May the Lord bless you.