Naaman comes to Elisha, the prophet in Israel, looking for a cure for his leprosy. Elisha hears that he's coming, and sends a messenger telling Naaman to wash himself seven times in the Jordan river, and that this will heal his leprosy.
Naaman, however, is upset by this action from Elisha. Scripture says, "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 any of the waters of Israel? Couldn't I wash in them and be cleansed?" So he turned and went off in a rage." 2 Kings 5:9-12 (NIV)
Thankfully, Naaman had some servants who challenged his anger, and encouraged him to take Elisha's advise. They reminded him that, if the prophet had told Naaman to do something "great," he would have done it...so why not something more simple? Naaman heeds their advice, washes in the Jordan as instructed and is healed.
It's not immediately clear to me the exact emotions behind Naaman's anger; his response seems to indicate he was offended by being bet with a messenger, rather than the prophet himself. However, he also indicates that he'd expected a lot more flourish and show.
I had to smile to myself as I read. How many times have I been able to relate to Naaman's experience here? In the many instances in which I approached God, asking for His intervention, there have also been many times during which I have nearly missed (and surely, sometimes, missed) His hand at work because I'd been expecting one thing, and He'd chosen to do another.
Isaiah 55:9 says "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." (NIV)
Yep, that sounds about right.
The end of the Naaman story in 2 Kings 5 is also important, I believe. In verse 15, after he's been healed, "...Naaman and all his attendants went back to [Elisha]. He stood before him and said, "Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel. Please accept now a gift from your servant.""
Naaman clearly sees how wrong he was, and in this verse (and those following), he undertakes acts and offers of humility; he gets that he missed the mark.
There's hope in this story for me. I miss the mark all the time. Sometimes it's in ways such as this; sometimes its in other ways. The good news is that we can always turn back around, acknowledge our wrongs, seek humble amends and then keep walking forward in assurance of God's love and grace.
I learned something from Naaman today; I hope you did too!
No comments:
Post a Comment