Kindness seems to be a forgotten practice. We don’t see or hear too many people speaking of kindness, and if you live in New York City, it appears as if no one wants to be kind to their fellow man anymore. The late Princess Diana said the following about kindness, “Carry out a random act of kindness, with no expectation of reward, safe in the knowledge that one day someone might do the same for you.”

What a profound thought from a lady who died far too early! “A random act of kindness, with no expectation of reward, safe in the knowledge that one day someone might do the same for you.” There was a woman in the Bible who performed a random act of kindness for the man of God not expecting anything in return. God used that act of kindness to bless this woman beyond her expectation.

I am speaking of the Shunammite woman. This woman opened her home to the man of God and later built a room so that he would have a place to stay and rest after she prepared meals for him. The only thing she knew about Elisha was that he was a man of God.

“She said to her husband, ‘Behold now, I perceive that this is a holy man of God passing by us continually. Please, let us make a little walled upper chamber and let us set a bed for him there, and a table and a chair and a lampstand; and it shall be, when he comes to us, that he can turn in there.'” 2 Kings 4:9-10

One random act of kindness brought favor into the life of this woman! You know the story, she was wealthy, had no children and her husband was aged. The man of God prophesied that she would have a son; her son later died and was miraculously brought back to life by Elisha. But the story does not end there, this woman’s random act of kindness continued to bring favor into her life. Elisha warned the woman to leave her land because of the Arameans. The Arameans conquered most of the Northern Kingdom and the upcoming famine that the people were going to experience because of the siege to the capital city of Samaria.

The scene in Samaria during the siege was chaotic; the people resorted to cannibalism to survive. Again, the prophet Elisha comes on the scene and prophesies that God will miraculously deliver the city from the hands of the Arameans. Overnight, God caused the Arameans to fight and kill each other leaving all their food and possession behind, just as Elisha had prophesied. King Jehoram talks to Gehazi, the servant of Elisha, desiring to hear all the details about what Elisha had done for this Shunammite woman. As Gehazi begins to tell the story, the woman appears at the palace seeking restoration of her land. The king then asked her if the story was true:

“‘Is this true?’ the king asked her. And she told him the story. So he directed one of his officials to see that everything she had lost was restored to her, including the value of any crops that had been harvested during her absence.” 2 Kings 8:6 (NLT)

This woman’s one random act of kindness to the man of God resulted in complete restoration of all her properties.

What random act of kindness have you done without reward lately?

Be Blessed,
Bishop Jemmott

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