Are You Okay?

May 9

“Are you okay?”

Ever answered “yes” when you knew you weren’t really feeling okay?

I have Type 1 Diabetes. I was diagnosed at age 12. For 32 years I have walked the tight rope of my disease – careful not to lean too far one way or the other. Being a Type 1, I often struggle with low blood sugar. When a meal is delayed, I’ve had more exercise than normal, or perhaps I didn’t eat enough at the last meal, my blood sugars drop and cause me to feel shaky and weak.

My husband is my greatest supporter and snack getter when my blood sugars plunge. And the question he often asks after getting me juice or peppermints or glucose tablets is, “Are you okay?”

I always answer the same. “Yes.”

But I’m not okay. I often feel horrible. There are times I don’t have the strength to lift the glass of juice to my mouth, times I am frustrated because treating a low is inconvenient and slows me down. Sometimes, I want to lay down and cry. If diabetes had a face, I’d spit right in it. Although I’ve answered my hubby with a yes, that yes wasn’t a lie. Instead, my positive answer was confirmation of the knowledge that I was going to be okay. I could tell him “yes” because I knew I had been given the tools I needed to make things better, and I was just waiting for “better” to happen.

That’s exactly where the Shunammite woman was when her son died in 2 Kings, chapter three. This sweet woman had provided Elisha a room and bed to reside whenever he was in town. The prophet Elisha was so thankful, he wanted to repay her. Her husband was older and she had no son. This meant when her husband died, she would have no one to help provide for or protect her. So Elisha prayed for God to give her a son, and He did.

One day the son had a terrible headache and soon died. His mama saddled her donkey and traveled to where Elisha was currently staying with his servant. Can we pause for a moment and say a quick “Bless her heart” to the poor woman whose son is dead and is trying to get to the man of God post haste and is choosing a donkey as her mode of transportation? Didn’t someone in the town have a camel? I’m pretty sure you can get them running.
This lady was riding a motorized scooter of a donkey instead of the camel express.

I Googled it. The average top speed of a camel is 40 mph and that of a donkey is 15 mph. The average speed of a fast running human? It’s 10-15 mph. So let all those details sink in because that helps you to understand this story.

When Elisha saw her coming, he was concerned there was a problem. He sent his servant out to meet her on the road to ask, “Are you all right? Is your husband all right? Is your child all right?” The fact that he saw her in the distance and sent his servant to run out to meet and question her before she arrived to him, further points out the slow-footed donkey.

At this point I would have screamed, “NO!! Gas up your fastest camel! My son is dead!” But the Shunammite woman’s response surprised me.

“Everything is all right,” she said. (2 Kings 4:26 NIV)

When she finally got to Elisha, she got off her donkey and fell at his feet, because everything was not all right. So why did she say that it was?

I believe the woman, like me with my low blood sugar, was saying, “Everything will be okay.” She knew that Elisha was a man of God. He blessed her with a child when she was already old and seemingly barren. She had the faith to believe he could pray to God, and God could do something about her son.

Are you looking at a situation that seems hopeless? Are your circumstances almost more than you can bear? Look in the mirror and tell yourself, “I’m okay.” Not because you are happy or feeling positive about your particular situation, but because you believe that you are going to be okay because God is with you. He has the ability to breathe healing into anything you put in front of Him. (Jeremiah 30:17) He will never leave you or forsake you. (Deuteronomy 31:6) He has plans to prosper and not to harm you. (Jeremiah 29:11)

Whatever that situation is, God already knows what you need. He has seen every tear. He has heard your desperate prayers in the middle of the night. He was there last night. He is still there today. And He will be there tomorrow.

You ARE going to be okay.

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