Re:Verse reading–2 Kings 5 (day two) But Naaman was furious 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 wave his hand over the place and cure the leper.’ vs. 11
Naaman was a leper. How much worse could it get? His affliction would have been a constant aggravation a source of revulsion from others. Even so, when offered a cure Naaman is displeased with the method of miracle. He had it in his head that Elisha would stand over his head and utter the magic words. It never occurred to him that he had no idea how the cure would come, Naaman was sure he knew how the whole thing would play out.
Sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it? And yet…how often do we miss the forest for the trees? We get an idea in our heads and hold on so tightly that we simply cannot, or will not open our minds to the best way forward. What gave Naaman the idea that he knew how to cure leprosy? Why wouldn’t he be open to any remedy offered to him? Why aren’t we? This is surely one of this times where we should let go of preconceptions about God and his sovereignty, and allow his Spirit to do the work in our lives.
Naaman is a typical example of someone with a closed mind. All too often, people allow what they know or think to limit what they can imagine. That’s a huge problem. The take-away from this story is that we can’t learn, grow, or invent the future if we cling to out-of-date ideas or closed mind even if they have worked well in the past.
Obviously, Gods ways are not our ways. We are clueless as to how-when-why God answers prayer, changes the direction of our lives, gives us instructions or solutions. We seem to know what we need-want-deserve so when God responds differently we are offended-angered-insulted. Friends/family finally convince us to step back and reconsider and go with Gods unlikely direction. Why are we surprised when it works?
Seek God in all things then follow His lead.