"And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean.
But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the Lord his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper.
Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage."
2 Kings 5:10-12
Sometimes I think that we are a lot like Naaman in this part of his story. He's an important man and his master paid a lot of money for the possibility of a healing. He comes to the prophet for the miraculous power of God that he has heard of, and instead of a big dramatic event, he doesn't even see the prophet... just gets a messenger, and is told to do something that can't possibly work, right? I mean, how crazy is that... to just wash in a river seven times? This is incurable leprosy. Surely it requires something way, way more dramatic.
And we do that in our lives with the answers and the strength that we seek. God asks us to do small things like reading the scriptures and praying and going to church, but we've *read* the book and sat in those boring meetings, and screamed at the ceiling, and nothing is happening. We obviously need more... some sign, some angelic visitation, some lightning bolt from the heavens. We listen to conference or to the prophet, and we gloss over the instructions because we've tried that too, or we know it won't work for us... our problem is a little more serious than those simple things.
Later in Naaman's story, his servants convince him to try the prophet's advice, and he does... and it works. And perhaps, if we are able to step back from our cynicism and doubt, God can help us too, even when he doesn't come to us in person, and even when he asks very simple things. Perhaps what we need is a fresh perspective, or a new start. Or maybe we just need to try things a different way, pleading rather than demanding, or seeking and studying rather than using the scriptures, or our meetings, as a sleep aid. :) Or maybe we just need consistency, and the belief that God can bless us with understanding even the nine-hundredth time we read a passage, not just the first. :) Whatever it is, God will still bless us if we go back and try now. He didn't strike down Naaman for doubting, and he will not strike us down either... he only waits to bless us until we can pull ourselves together and do as he asked.
Today, even if we started out doubtful and angry as Naaman did, let's humble ourselves and follow God's instructions. Faith sometimes requires simple things, but God's work, even by very small and simple steps, still takes us on a miraculous journey. God can always help us, if we can believe. And, as he did with Naaman and many others, he will help us even with our unbelief (Mark 9:24) if we go to him with whatever faith we have.
But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the Lord his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper.
Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage."
2 Kings 5:10-12
Sometimes I think that we are a lot like Naaman in this part of his story. He's an important man and his master paid a lot of money for the possibility of a healing. He comes to the prophet for the miraculous power of God that he has heard of, and instead of a big dramatic event, he doesn't even see the prophet... just gets a messenger, and is told to do something that can't possibly work, right? I mean, how crazy is that... to just wash in a river seven times? This is incurable leprosy. Surely it requires something way, way more dramatic.
And we do that in our lives with the answers and the strength that we seek. God asks us to do small things like reading the scriptures and praying and going to church, but we've *read* the book and sat in those boring meetings, and screamed at the ceiling, and nothing is happening. We obviously need more... some sign, some angelic visitation, some lightning bolt from the heavens. We listen to conference or to the prophet, and we gloss over the instructions because we've tried that too, or we know it won't work for us... our problem is a little more serious than those simple things.
Later in Naaman's story, his servants convince him to try the prophet's advice, and he does... and it works. And perhaps, if we are able to step back from our cynicism and doubt, God can help us too, even when he doesn't come to us in person, and even when he asks very simple things. Perhaps what we need is a fresh perspective, or a new start. Or maybe we just need to try things a different way, pleading rather than demanding, or seeking and studying rather than using the scriptures, or our meetings, as a sleep aid. :) Or maybe we just need consistency, and the belief that God can bless us with understanding even the nine-hundredth time we read a passage, not just the first. :) Whatever it is, God will still bless us if we go back and try now. He didn't strike down Naaman for doubting, and he will not strike us down either... he only waits to bless us until we can pull ourselves together and do as he asked.
Today, even if we started out doubtful and angry as Naaman did, let's humble ourselves and follow God's instructions. Faith sometimes requires simple things, but God's work, even by very small and simple steps, still takes us on a miraculous journey. God can always help us, if we can believe. And, as he did with Naaman and many others, he will help us even with our unbelief (Mark 9:24) if we go to him with whatever faith we have.
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