From Craving to Contentment

0:00Nancy Damaswalgamuth asks, are you growing in contentment? If you're not satisfied with what you have, you won't be satisfied with what you think you want. This is the Reviver Hearts Podcast with Nancy Damaswalgamuth, author of Choosing Gratitude. For September 23rd, 2026, I'm Dana Grash. What's the deepest longing in your heart today? Nancy wants to help you hold that desire faithfully, praying earnestly that God will meet it, while also being content if he doesn't. We're continuing in the series, A Breath of New Life. Well, we come today back to the Shunamite woman in 2 Kings chapter 4. If you're just joining us, this is a woman who lived in the town of Shunam. We don't know her name, but she's called the Shunamite, the woman who lived in the town of Shunam.

1:00And we've seen that she is a wealthy woman who extends hospitality to the servant of the Lord, Alisha, who is the prophet of God. So let me just backtrack and read the paragraph we read in the last session, beginning in verse 8, and then we'll continue in this passage. One day, Alisha went on to Shunam, where a wealthy woman lived, who urged him to eat some food. So whenever he passed that way, he would turn in there to eat food. And she said to her husband, behold now, I know that this is a holy man of God who is continually passing our way. Let us make a small room on the roof with walls, and put there for him a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp, so that whenever he comes to us, he can go in there. Now, when you think of a room on the roof, don't think of our peaked roofs, think of a flat roof, and just building a structure, adding on a room to the house, and that was the place where it could most easily be added on. So this woman and her husband open their home,

2:01they open their hearts, they show hospitality to the prophet, Elisha. It reminds me of what the Apostle Paul says to Philemon in verse 7 of that epistle. He says, I have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you. And I think that's what Elisha could have said, about the Shunamite woman and her husband. I've derived much joy, much comfort from your love, my brother and sister. This is a family relationship between believers here, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you. The Ministry of Hospitality is the Ministry of Refreshment. And as we were saying in this room before we started recording here today, keep in mind that to be hospitable doesn't require that you be some gourmet cook, or that you be always baking, or making everything from scratch, grinding your own wheat.

3:02If you do that, that's great, but don't feel that you have, I know people are like, they're growing their own coffee, they're so serious into this, well, not really growing it, but grinding it, and that's great if you can do that and want to. But listen, I've shown hospitality in my home with just very hastily prepared meals at times. Sometimes, you want to come over for popcorn and something to drink, and I bought one of these coffee makers recently, because I'm not a coffee drinker, so I bought one that you can put the little cups in and make your own, pick your own kind. People love it, and I've served maybe, certainly hundreds, maybe thousands of cups of coffee in my home, and somebody said to me the other day, thanks for, in spite of the fact that you're not a coffee drinker, thanks for making coffee available in your home. That's blessed that family. So you can do it in ways that don't require huge amounts of time. Your house doesn't have to look like it's, you know, on the front of a magazine, and if you're having people in your home,

4:02it won't look like it's on the front of a magazine, because the only place homes look that way is on the front of a magazine, right? So the gracious ministry of hospitality is a way to reflect the heart of God to others. Now, one old-time writer who talked about this passage made this point, he said, while we are doing good to others, we are always in the way of finding good for ourselves. And we see that that's exactly what happened with this Shunamite woman. A sheikh's denate hospitality to the prophet, Elisha, blessing came back to her. Let's pick up in verse 11 of Second Kings 4. One day, he came there, and he turned into the chamber and rested there. And he said to Ghezae his servant, call this Shunamite. When he had called her, she stood before him, and he said to him, say now to her, see, you have taken all this trouble for us, what is to be done for you? Would you have a word spoken on your behalf to the king or to the commander of the army?

5:03Now, this woman had never charged Elisha and his servant for her hospitality. She never asked for anything in return. She wasn't expecting anything in return. She was just doing it to be a blessing to them. But Elisha was as a good guest would be. He was appreciative. He was grateful. He was touched by this woman's kindness, and he didn't take it for granted. He wanted to know, was there some way he could be a means of blessing to her? But what do you do for the woman who has everything, right? So he sends his servant to ask her, is there anything we can do for you? Is there any way we can bless you? Do you want us to speak to the king for you? Now, Elisha knew the king, King Jehorum, who was the king of Israel at the time, the son of wicked king Ahab, and Jehorum actually owed Elisha a favor. Because in chapter three, the previous chapter of second kings, there was a rebellion where the Confederate armies of Judah and Israel and Edom were fighting against

6:05the nation of Moab, and the people of God and their armies had no water. They had called on Elisha to pray, and God had miraculously revealed to the prophet that he was going to provide an abundance of water, which he did, and therefore the Moabite army was defeated. That's a long complicated story. You find in chapter three. So God had used Elisha to help win a victory for the Israelite army. And so he says, do you want me to ask the king to return a favor? I don't need anything from him, but maybe I could ask him for something for you. Elisha isn't looking for anything for himself, but he's glad to use his influence to help someone else. So is there anything we can do for you? Do you want us to ask the king or the commander of the army for something? Now, you think about the things that this woman could have asked for in response to that blind check. Yeah, it'd be nice if I could have a bigger house so we could have more room, more stuff, more whatever. But she answers simply,

7:07I dwell among my own people. And he said, what then is to be done for her? Ghehazah answered to Elisha, well, she has no son and her husband is old. Now, let's just unpack that for a moment. First of all, this woman has no child. There is in that culture the shame of barrenness to not have to be married and not have a child was considered to be a curse. It was a shameful thing, not because God said it was shameful, but people considered God hasn't blessed you with children. There must be something wrong with you. And then this woman would have no male heir. Her family line, the family name, would not continue in Israel. And then after her husband was to die, we see that he is older. He's likely to die before she does. She's likely to become a widow. And she's going to have no means of provision for herself after her husband dies. So this is a serious thing in that culture that a woman has no child.

8:07So here's a woman who has human reason for discontent, for resentment, for restlessness, but here's a woman who is satisfied with what she has. She has what she needs. She just says, I dwell among my own people. They say, what can we do for you? Ask us anything. She says, I'm fine. I have what I need. She lives among extended families, so she has their support, their protection. Now, that's not always going to be the case, as we'll see later in this series. And when it comes to the point where she doesn't have provision, God is going to providentially intervene to meet her needs in other ways. But she has what she needs right now. She's content with what she has. She has a husband. She has a home. And she's not focused on what she doesn't have, which is a child. She's using this season of life as it is, imperfect as it is, to reach out to others. She's not pining about her childlessness.

9:08She's still being a giver and nurturer of life. She's making a home. She's making a nest. She's serving others. And there's just no evidence that this woman, even though she doesn't have a child, the implication is that she can't have children. There's no evidence that she's bitter or that she's discontent. I want commentator made this comment on this verse. He said, how few are there like this woman on the earth? Who is so contented with what he has as not to desire more? Imagine if somebody were to say to you, write your own ticket, write your own check. What do you want? What do you need? Would you have a long list in your heart, even if you didn't give it to them? Or could you say, I've got what I need? But I have this enough. Not even mentioning the fact that the one thing perhaps that she most longed for, she didn't have. She didn't bring that up. There's such a human tendency we have to crave more,

10:09not to be satisfied with what we have. And for many of us, what we have is never enough. And that is fueled by reading catalogs. I come to points in my life where I just have to toss the catalogs I get a lot of them for some reason. I know if I hold on to them, I'm going to be fueling disc content in my life. I'm really happy with what I have until I see all the things I don't have. And last year's styles are fine for me until I see all of this year's styles. And I know it's not just me. That's one reason among many that I tend to stay out of malls. They don't help my spiritual life. They don't help me be more content. If you're not satisfied with what you have, you won't be satisfied with what you think you want. And I see in this woman a heart of contentment. And the scripture talks to us a lot about that. First Timothy 6, we read from that in the last session, but let me read another paragraph from First Timothy 6. Godliness with contentment is great gain.

11:13For we brought nothing into the world and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing with ease, we will be content. That simplicity, isn't it? Not having to have more, not having to accumulate, and not just stockpiling the stuff we have, but cleaning out our closets, getting rid of stuff, using it to bless and to benefit others. I looked at some things in my closet the other day, and there's some items that I have multiples of that I'm not using. And as I was studying this passage, I thought, just ran through my heart. You need to get rid of some of this stuff. Now, I do that periodically, but I need to do it again. Maybe you need to do it again as well. There's an old-time minister named William J. lived in the late 1700s and the early 1800s, who wrote a piece about the Shunamite woman. And there's a fairly lengthy passage here. I don't like usually reading lengthy statements

12:13from other people on the program here, but I just thought this was so good. I want to read it to you on this whole issue of contentment as we see it lived out in this woman. He says, the truth is that happiness does not depend upon external things, but upon the principles and dispositions of the mind. And therefore, that happiness is as accessible to us in our present state as in any imaginable one. You can be as happy with what you have now as you think you would be if you had stuff you don't have now. He goes on and says, cultivate therefore happiness within. Seek it not in a superior station, but in a contented mind, endeavour to reduce your wishes rather than to enlarge your means. Guard against a roving mind. Make the most of present enjoyment and of actual possession in distinction from the future and the imaginary. Enter that school in which the Apostle studied

13:14and was able to say, I know both how to be a based and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things, I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. This pastor goes on to say, confide in the providence of your Heavenly Father as concerned in fixing the bounds of your habitation. Let your Father decide. You have only Father decide how much space you need, where you should live and what is good for you. And trust Him as engaged to make all things work together for your good. Leave Him to choose your inheritance for you and then in the end you will be able to acknowledge the lines are fallen to me in pleasant places. Yay, I have a goodly heritage. He says you would do well also to remember that this is not your rest, that you were only strangers and pilgrims upon earth. And that in a very little time, it will be a matter of indifference to you,

14:14whether you have been poor or rich, splendid or obscure. Seek after a well grounded hope of heaven. This will reconcile you to any privations you may be called to bear upon earth. And should you even walk in the midst of trouble, this will revive you and you will be enabled to say, I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, works for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. Seek after a well grounded hope of heaven. Be content with what you have now, with what God has given you here, and then ground your heart and your hope and your affections in the hope of what is yet to come, the hope of heaven. Well, I see that heart, that heart of contentment in this woman and that's the kind of heart I want to have as well. Well, verse 14, a Lysha says to Gheysi,

15:16this woman who says she doesn't need anything, she has what she needs, she's content, Lysha says what then is to be done for her? And Gheysi answers, well, she has no son and her husband is old. So this is a great idea. This woman could use a son, she needs a son, she apparently would love to have a son, she can't have a son. There's no hope of her having a son, humanly speaking. Why bring this up? Because there's nothing that can be done about this. I mean, what can Gheysi do? What can a Lysha do? This woman can't do anything. Her husband can't do anything. She has no son, her husband is old. The implication is she's barren. So why bring it up? Well, it's humanly impossible, but God, God. So Lysha says in verse 15, call her. And when he had called her, she stood in the doorway. And he said, at this season, about this time next year, you shall embrace a son. Wow, talk about reward for your hospitality.

16:19I mean, this was amazing. This must have been the last thing in the world this woman expected to hear. But a Lysha discerned God's plan to bless this couple, to bless this woman with a child. And she says, no, my Lord, oh, man of God, do not lie to your servant. What she's saying, don't mislead me. Don't get my hopes up if they're not going to be fulfilled. But verse 17, the woman conceived. And she bore a son about that time, the following spring, as a Lysha had said to her. So here's a woman whose husband at least is old. She may have been past childbearing years herself. We don't know. She had no children. Jewish women were eager to bear children, because that was the blessing of God. And here's a woman who was past the point of hoping that she could ever have a child. But God knows the unfulfilled longings of every person's heart. And in this case, God said, I'm going to grant you the desire of your heart.

17:20Psalm 113 verse 9 says, he makes the barren woman to be a joyful mother of children. Now, let me remind you of what Pastor William J said in that long quote I read just a few moments ago. God may not bless you with the physical blessings that you're longing for. We have women in this room likely who can't have children. And that doesn't mean that you cannot be fully blessed by God. There's no promise in this story or in God's word that God will grant every longing of your heart, including that great longing that so many women have for a child. That's where we need to remember that it's God Himself who fulfills the longings of our hearts. That He is the fulfillment of those longings. And He may choose to give you a child even in your old age. He may not. But the woman who is content with what God has given her and with God Himself will have a means of joy in her life,

18:21regardless of whether those longings are fulfilled in this life or not. The person the woman who has her heart fixed or set on heaven is going to have joy. I can find and do find fullness in Christ by embracing by accepting as God's gift to me the season of life that He has me in. I'm blessed. Does that mean I never have those unfulfilled longings? Does it mean you will never have those unfulfilled longings? It's all right to have the unfulfilled longings. What isn't all right is to let that make us discontent, depressed, discouraged, or to become demanding that God fulfill those longings. So here God gives this woman that desire of her heart, but fills her with Himself. And as one commentator says, thus did she joyfully experience that the God of Sarah and of Hannah still lived. God who had given Sarah a child in her old age, God who had given Hannah a child when she was barren, God in His providence and wisdom for His kingdom purposes,

19:26chose to bless this Shunamite woman with a child when it was not humanly possible. This was something beyond her wildest dreams. And can you imagine the change that took place in that household? You know what bringing a child into your house does when you have the child at 22. Imagine at whatever age she and her husband were and never thinking that there would be a child in that home. Probably the age of grandparents and now bringing a child into their home, the change that came about, but also the joy that God brought to this woman. And going back to Pastor William J, he says, and thus she who built a chamber for the man of God has the prospect of her house being built up in Israel. And she who had distinguished herself by her generosity and friendship is rewarded by the gift of a life the most precious. God is rewarding in this way, this woman's graciousness and her generosity to the servant of the Lord.

20:27And I think of that principle in Scripture doesn't mean you'll be blessed with a husband or with a child because you're hospitable, but you will be blessed. Hebrews 6, verse 10, for God is not so unjust as to overlook your work and the love that you showed for His sake in serving the saints as you still do. God knows how you're serving. He knows the behind the scenes, ways that you serve. He knows the un applauded ways that you serve and He will reward. Proverbs 11, verse 25, whoever brings blessing will be enriched. Proverbs 11, verse 25, whoever brings blessing will be enriched and one who waters will himself be watered. Or as Jesus said in Luke 6, give and it will be given to you. So as we look at this passage, I wanted to just remind us that there's nothing too difficult for God. There's no longing that God cannot fulfill if and when He knows that that's what will bring the greatest glory to Him.

21:31And at that point, God can and He will in His providence grant the desires of your heart. But in the meantime, and even if God never grants those unfulfilled longings because He wants to glorify Himself in a different way, that's where we must learn to trust God's provision and God's timing in our lives. Now look at this woman and I'm just reminded that I don't want to waste any season of my life by pining for what I don't have, what I wish I did have, or what I do have that I wish I didn't have. But to be in the moment, to enjoy the season and to use it to the fullest for God's glory. And then the reminder to give and to serve in whatever ways you can in this season of life. Ask God how do you want me to use what you've given me to be a blessing and a means of grace into the lives of others and watch God pour back into your life as your channel of blessing to others.

22:37Nancy Damaswagmuth has been showing us the peace that comes from Godly contentment. And it's true, contentment does bring so much peace. And I want to remind you as we close today that contentment and grief aren't mutually exclusive. In fact, most often the paths to true rest in the Lord is paved with moments of lament. If you're listening today and you're deeply longing for a child, tell the Lord that weep over what you hoped would be and then turn to God and trust rest in the promised goodness of his plan for you. If you'd like to learn more about lament, what it means and how to practice it, we'll link some past conversations with Pastor Mark Brogop, author of the beloved book on lament, dark clouds, deep mercy. You can find those links in today's transcript at reviveourheartstockcom.

23:38We're learning about the Shunamite woman this week and she is featured in our newest woman of the Bible study devoted. In that book you'll also find the stories of Hannah, the woman at the well, Anna, Sarah, and Mary the mother of Jesus. Let us send you a copy as our thanks when you make a donation of any amount this month. To give a request devoted, visit reviveourheartstockcom or call us at 1-800-569-5959. When crisis hits your life, where you turn, as we continue to study the life of the Shunamite woman tomorrow, we'll see how she responded when the unthinkable happened. Please be back for reviveourheart. This program is a listener-supported production of reviveourheartstocks in Niles, Michigan, calling women to freedom, fullness, and fruitfulness in Christ.