Mothers, is it well with you?

Rev Gideon Lee

Sunday School children singing for all mothers at TOP

Today is Mother's Day and I want to appreciate a few people here. I asked my wife how to appreciate mothers but my wife said in the past it has been boring, like the oldest mother, mothers with the most children etc. But this Mother's Day I want to appreciate Sis Joo Kim. I know today is for mothers but it is also brother Chew's birthday so I give him flowers la (laughs). Yesterday was also my son's birthday 

Josiah. Last but not least I want to appreciate the newest grandmother in church. First time grandmother? Anybody? Sis Melinda, last year? God bless you. Of course I want to appreciate my wife too. (Special bouquet of flowers from pastor Gideon).

Let's turn to our bibles 2 Kings. 

2 Kings 4:8-26

The Shunammite’s Son Restored to Life

8 One day Elisha went to Shunem. And a well- to- do woman was there, who urged him to stay for a meal. So whenever he came by, he stopped there to eat. 9 She said to her husband, “I know that this man who often comes our way is a holy man of God. 10 Let’s make a small room on the roof and put in it a bed and a table, a chair and a lamp for him. Then he can stay there whenever he comes to us.”

11 One day when Elisha came, he went up to his room and lay down there. 12 He said to his servant Gehazi, “Call the Shunammite.” So he called her, and she stood before him. 13 Elisha said to him, “Tell her, ‘You have gone to all this trouble for us. Now what can be done for you? Can we speak on your behalf to the king or the commander of the army? ’”

She replied, “I have a home among my own people.”

14 “What can be done for her?” Elisha asked.

Gehazi said, “Well, she has no son and her husband is old.”

15 Then Elisha said, “Call her.” So he called her, and she stood in the doorway. 16 “About this time next year,” Elisha said, “you will hold a son in your arms.”

“No, my lord,” she objected. “Don’t mislead your servant, O man of God!”

17 But the woman became pregnant, and the next year about that same time she gave birth to a son, just as Elisha had told her.

18 The child grew, and one day he went out to his father, who was with the reapers. 19 “My head! My head!” he said to his father.

His father told a servant, “Carry him to his mother.” 20 After the servant had lifted him up and carried him to his mother, the boy sat on her lap until noon, and then he died. 21 She went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, then shut the door and went out.

22 She called her husband and said, “Please send me one of the servants and a donkey so I can go to the man of God quickly and return.”

23 “Why go to him today?” he asked. “It’s not the New Moon or the Sabbath.”

“It’s all right,” she said.

24 She saddled the donkey and said to her servant, “Lead on; don’t slow down for me unless I tell you.” 25 So she set out and came to the man of God at Mount Carmel.

When he saw her in the distance, the man of God said to his servant Gehazi, “Look! There’s the Shunammite! 26 Run to meet her and ask her, ‘Are you all right? Is your husband all right? Is your child all right? ’”

“Everything is all right,” she said.

I am going to read a quote to you – “A small child waits with impatience the arrival home of a parent. She wishes to relate some sandbox experience. She is excited to share the thrill that she has known that day. The time comes; the parent arrives. Beaten down by the stresses of the workplace the parent often replies: “Not now, honey, I’m busy, go watch television.” The most often spoken words in the American household today are the words: go watch television. If not now, when? Later. But later never comes for many and the parent fails to communicate at the very earliest of ages. We give her designer clothes and computer toys, but we do not give her what she wants the most, which is our time. Now, she is fifteen and has a glassy look in her eyes. Honey, do we need to sit down and talk? Too late. Love has passed by.


There are many ways to lose children. We can lose them by a tragic death. We can lose them by ignoring them. We can lose them due to broken relationships. And, we can lose them by failing to develop the strength of character in them that they will need to resist evil. In our Scripture reading, Elisha did not know what had happened but he guessed something was not right; otherwise, this mother, this Shunammite woman would not be traveling to find him. Elisha sent his servant out to greet this well-to-do-woman with three questions: Is it well with you? Is it well with your husband? Is it well with your child?


On this Mother's Day 2013, these three questions are as relevant today as they were when they were first spoken almost 3000 years ago. Let us take a look at this story and the three questions it raises.



Elisha was a fearless prophet of the Lord. He spent much of his time wondering the land and proclaiming the Word of God. One place he visited repeatedly was Shunem. Since this small village was located in the center of the country it afforded him a kind of hub from which to conduct his ministry. He was by there so often that one of the couples in the village came to know him and would invite him to dinner. She grew so fond of him, in fact, that she entreated her husband to make a small room for him up on the roof. She even furnished it with a bed and a table, a chair and a lamp. Now listen, this is extravagant. She was really trying to make him feel welcome.



Now, I don’t know about you but if my wife was pushing me to build an extra room for some wondering evangelist so he could pop in unannounced I think I might have her head examined. This was no casual exercise in hospitality. This was going the second mile for a man, who obviously was a prophet of God, but for all intents and purposes was a stranger to them. So lavish was there hospitality that Elisha, moved with gratitude, calls her into his room. And, as she stands in the doorway Elisha says what every barren woman longs to hear: You will hold a son in your arms. You can almost detect the pain of her heart as she responds: Don't mislead your servant, O man of God!



One year passes, the bible says, and just as Elisha had said a boy is born and everyone lives happily ever after. Right? No. Life, unfortunately, is not that way. One day as the young boy is out in the fields with his father he suffers a heat stroke, is taken home to his mother, and there in her lap he dies. You can almost anticipate her words to Elisha: I told you so! I told you not to mislead me!



1. Is It Well With You?



Mothers. Let me ask you. Is it well with you? Considering the enormous task that is placed upon you and the expectations, is it well with you? I have said it often and let me say it here: So go the mothers in a society so goes the society. If the women of a land give in to temptation and let their morals and character slip then it will not be long after that the rest of the land goes with her. William Ross Wallace echoed this truth when he said, “The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world.”



In other words kingdoms are not built by the man upon the throne but by the mother from the crib. Children will live out the life they see reflected in their mother’s eyes; they will live out the life they feel given in the touch of their mother’s hand; they will live out the life they hear described in the words of their mother’s lips.



Look at this woman in 2 Kings. She is a well-to-do woman. She obviously has a nurturing disposition. You can see it in the way she treated Elisha. She respected her husband and sought his advice and help on projects around the home. She was faithful to her husband despite their lack of children. She obviously would make a good mother but she had no children. Now I ask you. What is required of a woman to make her a good mother?


A panel of experts was asked to complete some sentences about their moms. What made them experts was the one thing they all had in common. They were all kindergarteners. Even though these are the words of 6 year olds I think the qualities they recognized in their moms are they qualities needed in all mom. Here are the sentences and the answers:



My mom is best at: "feeding the dog," "making my bed," "driving," "cleaning," "running," "riding a two-wheeler," "watering the garden."



If I had enough money, I'd buy her: "flowers," "a car," "a necklace," "a brand-new fan," "a kitten," "a diamond ring," "a big pack of bubble gum."



It makes me feel good inside when Mom says: "I love you," "good job," "dinnertime!" "You look handsome," "I'll buy you something."



My mom is as pretty as a "butterfly," "ballerina," "mouse," "princess," "my brothers," "goose," "gold ring," "a clean horse."



By the way, one of the most memorable comments from the children on Father's Day was: Daddy gets tired out from: "chasing mommy."

There is one word in that list that stands out to me as one of the glaring issues of our time. The child who said it makes me feel good inside when mom says, “Dinnertime!” This child was on to something. I recently saw statistics that showed that a family that eats together at least three times a week, and that can include McDonalds and other fast food places, it doesn’t always have to be at home, but a family that does that has a 45% greater chance that their children will not use drugs. Now don’t miss the point. It is not that there is something mystical that occurs while we eat; it simply suggest that as we eat together we participate in a basic support group. Here is the key. We need to feel secure, a part of a family where there is acceptance.



Moms, you well know, there are no manuals that come with parenting, but it does seem to make common sense that we need to get back to some basics like listening and being there for one another. I don’t care what experience all our 4 children goes through, whether it is a tennis game, spelling B, or church play, they will grow up remembering that Mom and Dad were there and that will make all the difference.



Mother’s is it well with you? I ran across a job description for a mother this week. It was written by Erma Bombeck. Here it is: "Wanted: Woman to raise, educate and entertain child for minimum of 20 years. Be prepared to eat egg if the yolk breaks, receive anything in hand child spits out, and take knots out of wet shoestrings with teeth. Must be expert in making costume for 'bad tooth' in the dental play and picking bathroom locks with shish kebab skewer. Hours: Seven days a week, 24 hours a day, including holidays. Comprehensive dental plan, vacation, medical benefits and company car negotiable.”



Moms, the hours are endless, the talents you must have are many, the patience endless, and the financial pay is awful. Is it well with you?



2. Is It Well With Your Husband?



Let me ask you also. Is it well with your husbands? Is your husband living up to his family responsibilities. I make no bones that the Father is the head of the family and must answer one day for his attentiveness to that responsibility but often times it is the mother which must prod the man to take his title seriously.



Did you notice what the father did in this story. Let me read it again. Look at verse 18: The child grew and one day he went out to his father, who was with the reapers. “My head! My head!” The boy said to his father. The father said to a servant, “Carry him to his mother.”



The father said to a servant? A servant!? Why is he telling a servant to do what obviously is his job? It looks as though the boy had fainted. Verse 20 says the servant had to lift him up. The boy wasn’t simply complaining the boy was seriously ill. Probably a heat stroke and the father keeps right on working harvesting the field while the servant carries the limp body of his son back to his mother. What in God’s name is this man doing?


I can hear so many boys crying out and so many girls calling out for their dads. “Dad, my head! my head! Father, my heart! my heart! Dad, my soul! my soul! And what do the father’s do? They keep right on working. There is a true story about a young man who was to be sentenced to the penitentiary. The judge had known him from childhood. He was well acquainted with his father a famous legal scholar and the author of an exhaustive study entitled, "The Law of Trusts." The judge asked the young man, "Do you remember your father?""I remember him well, your honor," came the reply.

Then trying to probe the offender's conscience, the judge said, "As you are about to be sentenced and as you think of your wonderful dad, what do you remember most clearly about him?" There was a pause. Then the judge received an answer he had not expected. "I remember when I went to him for advice. He looked up at me from the book he was writing and said, 'Run along, boy; I'm busy!' When I went to him for companionship, he turned me away, saying "Run along, son; this book must be finished!' Your honor, you remember him as a great lawyer. I remember him as a lost friend." The magistrate muttered to himself, "Alas! Finished the book, but lost the boy!" I ask you Mom. Is it well with you? Is it well with your husband? And lastly I ask you is it well with your child?



3. Is It Well With Your Child?



Notice the devotion of this mother. She was not about to let this little boy of hers die without a fight. He had died in her arms and she refused to let him go. I know that some moms can be pretty shrewd when it comes to their children. Children need to be protected and this becomes so engrained in us that we tend to keep protecting them even when they are grown men and women. But at some point we need to let them fend for themselves.



Former president Jimmy Carter spoke at Southern Methodist University and related an incident that occurred after he left the Whitehouse. A woman reporter came to Plains, Georgia, to interview his mother in relation to an article about Mr. Carter and his family. His mother really didn't want to be interviewed, but was being gracious. So when the reporter knocked at her door, Mrs. Carter invited her in. The reporter asked some hard questions and actually was rather aggressive and rude.
"I want to ask you a question," she said. "Your son ran for the presidency on the premise that he would always tell the truth. Has he ever lied?"



Mrs. Carter said, "I think he's truthful; I think you can depend on his word."



The reporter again asked if he had ever lied in his entire life.

His mother said, "Well, I guess maybe he's told a little white lie."



"Ah, see there!" the reporter exclaimed. "He's lied! If he told a white lie, he has lied."



The reporter was still not satisfied and asked, "What is a white lie?" And then Lillian Carter said, "It's like a moment ago when you knocked on the door and I went to the door and said I was glad to see you."



I love that! Mrs. Carter still trying to protect her boy and he was the former president of the United States. Now Mrs. Carter should have said what do you mean has he ever told a lie? He was a boy wasn’t he? Of course, he has told a lie. Mom’s you’ve got to let your children go and let them learn on their own. On the other hand, we all know they never outgrow their need for a mother. It’s an art isn’t it? Deciding when to let them go. How far to let them venture away from you and when to draw them in, hold them, and protect them from danger.



Notice that this mother let her young son go out in the field with his dad. She let him be a big boy. There is risk in that. But there is also risk in coddling them. 



Now, contrast the devotion of this mother with the devotion of this father. In the end I don’t think there was very little devotion on the part of this father. The child is near death and the dad doesn’t even pick the boy up. The servant is told to do it. It’s as if the task is beneath him. And here it is. This is the evil of our age—father’s who believe fatherhood is beneath them. That they have more important thing to do with their lives.

Listen to how the story ends (Read verses 26b-37). I thank God that these two mothers were devoted to their two sons. But more than this, they were both devoted to God. Mothers! There are so many things in this life that cause stress and I know that the demands are great. But remember— Children will live out the life they see reflected in their mother’s eyes; they will live out the life they feel given in the touch of their mother’s hand; they will live out the life they hear described in the words of their mother’s lips.



It’s a pretty tall order isn’t it? Teaching children their heritage. Teaching them the love of God in Christ and helping them grow in that knowledge. It’s, as Erma Bombeck said, a 20 year job and sometimes longer than that but keep telling them about the love of God in Christ. That’s your number one devotion. Mom, is it well with you? Is it well with your husband? Is it well with your child?

TOP mothers and wives gathers after service

Pastor Gideon praying for all mothers

Youth and Young Adults getting ready to give out Mother's Day gifts

A token of appreciation to all mothers and wives. Getting their gifts from the youths inTOP.

Many thanks to Rev Gideon for passing me his notes so only the beginning was transcribed.