August 10 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading:

2 Kings 4:11-17

¹¹And it fell on a day, that he came thither, and he turned into the chamber, and lay there.
¹²And he said to Gehazi his servant, Call this Shunammite. And when he had called her, she stood before him.
¹³And he said unto him, Say now unto her, Behold, thou hast been careful for us with all this care; what is to be done for thee? wouldest thou be spoken for to the king, or to the captain of the host? And she answered, I dwell among mine own people.
¹⁴And he said, What then is to be done for her? And Gehazi answered, Verily she hath no child, and her husband is old.
¹⁵And he said, Call her. And when he had called her, she stood in the door.
¹⁶And 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 unto thine handmaid.
¹⁷And the woman conceived, and bare a son at that season that Elisha had said unto her, according to the time of life.

Devotional:

Why do women want to have children? We could simply say, Because God made them that way in order that His plan for a growing and continuing world might be realized. But there are many facets of the nature of women that could be mentioned to show how He accomplishes His purpose.

Having a child is experiencing something which validates her womanhood.

Having a child is the fulfilment of a woman's relationship with her husband.

Having a child changes the character of the home, bringing new love, challenge, fun!

Having a child continues the family and enables it to reach out into the future.

Having a child enables a woman to engage in a role of mothering and nurturing for which she was especially equipped by her Creator.

Having a child enables a man and a woman to express in a magnificent way their God-given creativity.

Having a child enables a human being to extend beyond the confines of self!

When asked by the prophet what she would like, this woman chose to have a child. In her day there was the added hope among Hebrew people that one's child might be the promised Messiah! Today we too experience a suggestion of this hope as we dream that our child may become a person of importance in the world—maybe not in the front rank, but at least a person of outstanding influence!

How sad that a growing number of women declare themselves uninterested in having children! For some inconsequential reason they are cutting themselves off from that which gives a woman one of her greatest joys.

And really, this all comes basically from an ignorance of God the Creator who had a plan, a very good plan! O God, open our eyes to the magnificence of Your plan, in all its wonder. Help us to be able to communicate it, by our lives and our words, to a needy world.