Focus Chapters:
- 2 Kings 5-8
Standout Verse(s):
THE ACTION
2 Kings 5:10 NLT
But Elisha sent a messenger out to him with this message: “Go and wash yourself seven times in the Jordan River. Then your skin will be restored, and you will be healed of your leprosy.”
THE REACTION
2 Kings 5:11-14 NLT
But Naaman became angry and stalked away. “I thought he would certainly come out to meet me!” he said. “I expected him to wave his hand over the leprosy and call on the name of the Lord his God and heal me! Aren’t the rivers of Damascus, the Abana and the Pharpar, better than any of the rivers of Israel? Why shouldn’t I wash in them and be healed?” So Naaman turned and went away in a rage.
But his officers tried to reason with him and said, “Sir, if the prophet had told you to do something very difficult, wouldn’t you have done it? So you should certainly obey him when he says simply, ‘Go and wash and be cured!’” So Naaman went down to the Jordan River and dipped himself seven times, as the man of God had instructed him. And his skin became as healthy as the skin of a young child, and he was healed!
Observation (s):
- Elisha’s instructions did not align with what Naaman was expecting.
But Elisha sent a messenger out to him with this message: “Go and wash yourself seven times in the Jordan River. Then your skin will be restored, and you will be healed of your leprosy.”
But Naaman became angry and stalked away. “I thought he would certainly come out to meet me!” he said. “I expected him to wave his hand over the leprosy and call on the name of the Lord his God and heal me!
- The misalignment between expectations and reality caused Naaman to reject the directions that he is given.
So Naaman turned and went away in a rage.
- Naaman eventually heeds the directions and, through his obedience, receives the blessing of his healing.
So Naaman went down to the Jordan River and dipped himself seven times, as the man of God had instructed him. And his skin became as healthy as the skin of a young child, and he was healed!
Application:
Our expectations can become the gateway to our detriment or blockage to our blessings. Naaman was an important ranking official. However, he had two faults. The first is mentioned clearly. He had leprosy, a physical ailment that could be seen and identified by all. The second was not so visible. Naaman had an expectation of how God should do things. He did not understand that God was capable of using the foolishness of men to confound the wise.
Because of this, when Naaman receives instructions to go dip in the Jordan River seven times, he becomes angry. The instructions he receives deviates from his expectations of him being meet personally by Elisha and healed in a grand gesture. His expectations almost results in him losing his blessing, his healing. Only his officer’s wisdom saves him.
The irony is not lost. If Elisha has requested that Naaman do some grand hard task, he would have done it, although it went against his expectations. However, he balks at the simplicity and seemingly disrespectful task that he assigned.
Don’t lose your blessing because of the misalignment of your expectations to God’s way of doing things. Don’t let God’s blessing be lost because of your definition of foolishness.
