By Funmi Komolafe

Brethren at a time like this, we tend to lose hope when our expectations have not been met. This is so because; each day brings us   closer to the end of the year.

On the other hand, some are rejoicing because their long awaited desires have manifested as testimonies.

May I tell you that this is the time that you must not allow the level of your faith to fail you.

Imagine a student set to write a final exam and his inner spirit begins to tell him he would fail or he believes he would not pass the exam because he didn’t prepare enough.

For such a student, he has lost faith in himself and will surely fail.

This is similar to what we go through as Christians.

Many of us born- again Christians have been empowered to overcome challenges but often we allow our faith to fail us and when our faith fails, it delays our miracles.

An example of a woman whose faith failed her is  the Shunamite woman who was so kind to the man of God, Elisha and his servant  that she made a bed for  them and entertained them.

Let’s see how she reacted when  Elisha  asked  God to turn her point of sorrow to joy.

2nd Kings 4 vs. 14-16 ( KJV) “ And he said, What  then is to be done for her? And Gehazi answered, Verily she hath no child, and her husband is old.

And he said, Call her. And when he had called her, she stood in the door.

And he said, About this season, according to the time of life, thou shalt embrace a son. And she said, Nay, my lord, thou man of God, do not lie to thine handmaid”.

What would have maid this woman tell the man of God not to lie to her?

She must have either must have prayed and gotten tired of praying and completely lost hope..

Perhaps she came to the conclusion that since her husband was old, he could no longer father a child.     Most likely, she was convinced that   she could never have a child.

Is your case similar to hers?  I mean have you lost hope and faith because you are tired of praying?

Have you lost hope and faith?

Either the answer to your prayers have come or not, stand firm with the LORD.

Though, the Shunamite woman’s faith failed her, God still showed mercy because of his servant Elisha.

According to verse 17 of the same chapter, “ And the woman conceived, and bare a son at that season that Elisha had said unto her, according to the time of life”.

Ordinarily, one would assume that with the birth of her son, her joy    would be full and  permanen

However, the devil struck when the child  fell ill  and died.   Read it up in. 2nd Kings 4 vs. 18-24.

Let’s see how she reacted in 2nd Kings 4 vs. 25-29: “ So she went and came unto the man of God to mount Carmel.  And it came to pass, when the man of God saw her afar off, that he said to Gehazi his servant, Behold, yonder is that Shunamite:

Run now I pray thee, to meet her and say unto her, Is it well with thee? is it well with thy husband? Is it well with the child? And she answered, it is well.

And when she came to the man of God to the hill, she caught him by the feet: but Gehazi came near to thrust her away. And the man of God said, Let her alone: for her soul is vexed within her: and the LORD hath hid it from me, and hath not told me”.

She told the man of God in verse 28: “ Then she said, Did I desire a son of my lord, did I not say, Do not deceive me?

Again her faith failed her.  She failed the test of faith the second time.  Not even her first miracle of the birth of her baby lifted her faith.    

She made a desperate cry to Elisha in verse 30 “ And the mother of the child said, As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee and he ( Elisha) arose and followed her”.

Many women are in that state today but let me assure you that God in his mercy is able to turn weeping to joy.  Don’t let your faith fail you like the Shunamite woman because it is not everyone that has lost faith that would benefit from the Lord’s mercy.

 Elisha saw a woman whose hope had been shattered.  Rather than get angry with her, he took steps to comfort her and renew her faith.

Our God of restoration stepped into her situation.  

The Lord will step into your situation too in Jesus name.

I don’t know how you feel now, perhaps you have lost many pregnancies to miscarriage or stillbirth, and the merciful God will restore your joy in Jesus name.

Gehazi tried but couldn’t revive the child.

Let’s see what Elisha did in verses 32-37: “ And when Elisha was come into the house, behold, the child was dead, and laid upon his bed.

He went in therefore, and shut the door upon them twain, and prayed unto the LORD.

And he went up, and lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands: and he stretched himself upon the child; and the flesh of the child waxed warn.

Then he returned, and walked in the house to and fro; and went up, and stretched himself upon him: and the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes.

And  he called Gehazi, and said, Call this Shunammite. So he called her. And when she was come in unto hm, he said, Take up thy son.”.

In the name of Jesus, your body that seems dead and unable to carry a child will receive the power of God and you shall conceive.

Brethren, twice the Shunammite woman’s faith failed her.   Twice, God rose for her and made her joy permanent.

 You can do better than her.   The word of the Lord is available for you to renew your faith.

Romans 10 vs. 17: “ So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God”.

Brethren, don’t be tired of praying.   Don’t ever get yourself to lose faith in God but you can cry to God that you are fed up with the challenge and call for his mercy.

Psalm 86 vs. 17 is a prayer point that should come handy.    It states: “ Shew me a token for good; that they which hate me may see it, and be ashamed: because thou, LORD, hast holpen me, and comfort me.

The Lord is willing to help you and comfort you.    Only if you have faith and trust that God can put an end to the challenge.

I share with you two testimonies.

A Christian lady who had been waiting on the Lord for over a decade, probably got tired of praying and consulted fertility experts who gave her a date in November, I mean this month for IVF.

Though she had a date with the doctors, she continued to pray.

Then our God of suddenly visited her.  She conceived before the month of November that the fertility experts gave her.

By the time the doctors called her to keep her appointment, she told them, it was no longer necessary as God had done it for her.

Brethren, JESUS is Wonderful.

Yours is still possible before this year ends.

Let not your faith fail you.