Nevertheless, for the sake of his servant David, the Lord was not willing to destroy Judah. He had promised to maintain a lamp for David and his descendants forever.
2 Kings 8:19 (NIV)

I have a friend who loves to reference the “theological wisdom” of Tom Petty: The Waiting is the Hardest Part.

That could be the theme of today’s chapter, which has three general movements. Sometimes, the spiritual lesson isn’t inside the individual episodes of a chapter – it’s the thread underneath the surface that connects them all together.

The first episode is the Shunnamite woman who, back in chapter 4, offered Elisha hospitality. Elisha raised her dead son back to life. Now, Elisha warns her that she should leave for seven years so she and her son can escape the famine that’s coming. She faithfully obeys, returns seven years later, and her lands are returned to her along with all the income she lost during the seven years.

Next comes an episode with a dude named Hazael whose the servant of the King of Aram. The king is ill and sends Hazael to Elisha to ask if he’s going to recover. In a scene that could have inspired Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Elisha weeps as he predicts that Hazael will become king of Aram and commit horrific acts of violence. Hazael balks at the notion, then proceeds to return to his master, murders him, and assumes the throne.

In the third movement, the Kings of Judah in Jerusalem marry the daughters of Israel’s wicked royal couple, Ahab and Jezebel. With the royal marriages, the idolatrous worship of Baal spreads from Israel to Judah and infects the House of David. In spite of this, God chooses to remain faithful to the covenant He made with David.

Three different stories. Three different trajectories.

The Shunammite woman: Faithfulness through uncertainty leads to an unexpected moment of restoration.

Hazael: The prospect of power exposes the capacity for evil within a human heart.

The kings of Judah: Compromised character becomes a destructive generational inheritance.

All three stories concern what happens over time. Seven years of displacement.
A single day between prophecy and murder. Generations of inherited influence. And beneath it all, God’s covenant faithfulness remains.

In the quiet this morning, a question rises in my heart as the centerpiece of my chapter-a-day reflections: “What am I becoming while I’m waiting for what comes next?”

The Shunammite woman waits seven years before returning home. Hazael refuses to wait for the throne. The kings of Judah inherit a legacy they seem unwilling to challenge. All of them are moving toward something. And so am I.

The passage invites me to consider whether the passing years are making me more faithful, humble, generous, and attentive to God—or whether I’m gradually surrendering to patterns I once would have condemned. That’s the simple but essential spiritual question of the morning. Not simply, “What is God going to do next in my life?” But rather, “Who am I becoming as God leads me toward whatever comes next?”

Which brings me back to the wisdom of the great theologian, Tom Petty.

“The waiting is the hardest part.“

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