2 Kings 5:10-13 Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, “Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.” But Naaman went away angry and said, “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?” So he turned and went off in a rage. Naaman’s servants went to him and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’!”
Why is it that we make things harder than they really are? Why do we need to know how it all is going to work out before we take that first step of obedience. God has always been into simple obedience. One step at a time. We make it into this grand display when all He is asking for is for us to take Him at His word and step out in faith.
Naaman has the nerve to get mad at how God chose to heal him of his leprosy. It’s easy to judge him from the outside. Even his own servants could see the folly of his actions. But how do I respond when I ask God for something and He responds with what seems like a menial, unrelated task? Most of the time, unfortunately, I think that He isn’t listening, or worse yet, that He doesn’t really care about what I was praying for. So, I go away and if I do what He asked of me, I do it with a chip on my shoulder.
God told Naaman to go take a bath in the Jordan. But when you do it, dunk yourself 7 times. Naaman could have stopped after the first dunk and looked at his leprous arm and said to himself, “Well, I knew this wasn’t going to work!” And maybe he did. But he didn’t stop there. How many times do I miss God’s answer to my prayers because I stop short of full obedience? Maybe I half-heartedly obey. Just enough to feel like I tried. If Naaman would have stopped at 6, he wouldn’t have received the healing that he sought.
God is looking for simple obedience and complete obedience. He promises to show you the next step Psalm 37:23, 119:105, not the whole journey. So, what step of obedience is God asking you to take by faith today?
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.