Have you ever watched a play and been amazed by how everything came together? The lights, the music, the timing. The audience only sees what happens on stage. They don't see the people behind the curtain moving scenery, changing costumes, or making sure everything is ready for the next scene.
I think that's how God often works.
As I sat and read 2 Kings 8–9, my notebook started filling up. These chapters almost overwhelmed me. There is so much happening here. Kings. Prophecies. Jehu. Jezebel. Judgment. Compromise. I kept thinking, Lord, what do You want me to write about?
I could write about God's judgment. I could write about His patience. I could write about how one family's sin affected an entire nation. I could write about Jehu. Jezebel. Prophecy. Leadership. Compromise. The consequences of our choices. The faithfulness of God. And Every time I thought, That's it. That's today's devotion, I'd read another paragraph and think, No...maybe it's this.
Have you ever had that happen?
Then all of a sudden, in the middle of kings, battles, betrayal, prophecy, and judgment God kept drawing my attention back to one woman.
The Shunammite woman.
She almost feels out of place. Her story is only a few verses long. You could read right past it trying to get to all the other stuff. But I couldn't. I just kept coming back to her.
Seven years earlier, God had told her through Elisha to leave because a famine was coming. So she did. She packed up her life. She left her home. And She trusted God when it probably didn't make any sense. Then seven years later, she comes back and someone else is living on her land.
Can you imagine it. Seven years of waiting. Seven years of wondering. Seven years of trusting. And now this. But here's the part that made me put my Bible down for a minute and just take it all in.
She walks into the king's court at the exact moment Gehazi is telling the king about her. Not the day before. Not the day after. That exact moment whenher story is being told. Perfect timing.
That reminded me of My own life. There have been so many moments where I thought God was quiet. I thought He was late.I wondered what He was doing. I even questioned why certain doors closed and Why I had to wait. And why things didn't happen the way I thought they would.
Then one day I stopped and looked back. And suddenly I could see it. That closed door had protected me. That delay had prepared me. That heartbreak helped me grow into the woman I was meant to be. That waiting season deepened my trust in him.
God was never absent. He was arranging things I couldn't see behind the scenes. I wonder how many conversations God has had on my behalf that I know nothing about. How many doors He's opened before I ever knocked. How many times He's protected me from things I'll never even know happened.
While kingdoms were rising and falling, While judgment was unfolding, While history was being written, God was still taking care of one woman who had decided to trust Him.
And That gives me hope.
Because if God can orchestrate the timing of one conversation in a palace for one faithful woman, I have to believe He's still orchestrating things for us too.
Maybe today you're in the middle of your own seven year season. Maybe you've obeyed. Maybe you've waited. Maybe you're wondering if God forgot about you.
Can I remind you of something He's been reminding me?
Just because you can't see Him working doesn't mean He isn't.
One conversation.
One phone call.
One meeting.
One opportunity.
One moment.
That's all it takes for God to change everything.
And I believe He's already arranging it.
"So the king directed an official to see that she got back everything that belonged to her..." — 2 Kings 8:6 (NLT)
I've learned that God has a way of weaving together a thousand details I can't see. And when the time is right He let us see it all come together. Because that's who he is. The God who works behind the scenes.
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