PROMISES TOO GREAT TO BELIEVE
““What can be done for her?” Elisha asked. Gehazi said, “She has no son, and her husband is old.” Then Elisha said, “Call her.” So he called her, and she stood in the doorway. “About this time next year,” Elisha said, “you will hold a son in your arms.” “No, my Lord!” she objected. “Please, man of God, don’t mislead your servant!”” 2 Kings 4:14-16 NIV
Our theme Scripture speaks of a beautiful story of a woman who received a miracle she didn’t ask for. Her reason not to ask, however, was rooted in fear; fear to hope and have her expectation cut short.
Not much is spoken of her story, whether she had miscarried or had always been barren. But the passage tells us “her husband was old,” which may lead us to think there may be more to the story. The prophet still went ahead and spoke the oracle of God, because God knows the fondest desires of our hearts, and when they fall into His original design, He makes haste to fulfill.
Her response is striking: “Do not mislead your servant.” This is not unbelief as much as it is wounded hope. She had likely learned to survive by lowering her expectations. It is easier to live with quiet disappointment than to resurrect a dream and watch it die again.
How often do we do the same? We stop praying certain prayers. We stop imagining certain possibilities. We call it maturity, but sometimes it is self-protection. Yet God is not intimidated by the promises that feel too great to believe. In fact, He specializes in them.
When Sarah laughed at the promise of a son in her old age, the Lord asked, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” (Genesis 18:14). When Abraham considered his own body “already dead,” Scripture says he “did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith” (Romans 4:20).
Child of God, the lesson we draw is this: God’s promises are not limited by our past disappointments. Our history of delay does not cancel His intention. What He has designed, He is able to bring forth, even when circumstances seem biologically, logically, or emotionally impossible. Sometimes the greater miracle is not the child in the womb, but the resurrection of hope in the heart.
May we learn not to quench the voice of God with our fear. May we allow Him to speak again into places we have closed off. And when He does, may we trust that His word is kinder than our caution and stronger than our doubt.
Prayer: My Father, I thank you for this truth. I thank you for resurrecting hope in the places where disappointment had shrunk my expectation. I thank you for teaching me to trust your heart. Many are the promises you speak, and they may feel too great, but even so, anchor me in faith rather than fear. My hope is restored daily as I hold fast to the truth that nothing is too hard for you. In Jesus’ name, amen.
CI.
RELATED RESOURCES
• Genesis 18:14
• Hebrews 11:11
• Proverbs 13:12
• Ephesians 3:20
