2 Kings 8:1

 2 Kings 8:1 says, Then spake Elisha unto the woman, whose son he had restored to life, saying, Arise, and go thou and thine household, and sojourn wheresoever thou canst sojourn: for the Lord hath called for a famine; and it shall also come upon the land seven years.  When God revealed to Elisha that there was going to be a famine  in Israel, he called the woman whose son he had raised to him, and he then told her to take her household and depart wherever she could go and live during this time of famine that God had said was coming.  We need to warn people of the spiritual famine that exists today, but instead of telling them to go anywhere looking for survival, we need to tell them to come to Jesus Christ in order to be spiritually filled.  Verse two adds, And the woman arose, and did after the saying of the man of God: and she went with her household, and sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven years.  The woman obeyed Elisha and went to live in the land of the Philistines for seven years.  Of course, in order to be saved a person must obey the call to Christ, and then they will not just be saved for a period of time, but forever.  Verse three continues, And it came to pass at the seven years' end, that the woman returned out of the land of the Philistines: and she went forth to cry unto the king for her house and for her land.  After seven years, when the famine was over, the woman returned and went to the king and asked that her house and land be restored to her.  She had not sold it but had only abandoned it for a time.  Once we are saved, salvation is ours forever, even if we do stray away from God at times.  Of course, this is not to say that this woman had strayed away from God, since she had simply done as Elisha instructed her to do.  Verse four states, And the king talked with Gehazi the servant of the man of God, saying, Tell me, I pray thee, all the great things that Elisha hath done.  The king was talking to Gehazi about all the things that Elisha had done.  It seems to me that Gehazi might not have been the best person to ask, but after being punished for lying, maybe he had learned his lesson.  I do know that we cannot judge people forever for past sins, especially if they have already asked God for forgiveness and accepted responsibility for the sin.  Verse five adds, And it came to pass, as he was telling the king how he had restored a dead body to life, that, behold, the woman, whose son he had restored to life, cried to the king for her house and for her land. And Gehazi said, My lord, O king, this is the woman, and this is her son, whom Elisha restored to life.  As Gehazi was telling the king about Elisha restoring a woman's son to life, the woman herself called out again to the king for her house and land at this time.  She had evidently trusted people to keep her land and house for her and they had not wanted to return it according to Matthew Henry.  I do know that we cannot entrust others with our own spiritual blessings in hard times while we walk away unless we know beyond a doubt that this is what God has told us to do because they may want to claim what God has blessed us with for themselves.  Of course, if they also are Christians, this should never happen, but sometimes greed does set in even in God's people.  Verse six continues, And when the king asked the woman, she told him. So the king appointed unto her a certain officer, saying, Restore all that was hers, and all the fruits of the field since the day that she left the land, even until now.  When the woman told the king what she needed, he appointed an officer to see that all that was hers was restored to her, even the profit from the crops while she was gone.  Our Captain is Jesus Christ, and when we come to Him by faith, He will restore our relateship with the Heavenly Father forever, even if we do still at times fail to obey God's word.  Nothing can take this relationship away from us.