Naaman was a big deal. People knew him. He was a military big shot. When he was desperate, he brought tons of money to find healing from God through Elisha. He was willing to pay a fortune to get rid of his leprosy. But the price Elisha demanded was too high for Naaman. It wasn’t a money problem. It was a pride problem. Elisha simply asked him to bathe in the Jordan seven times. That’s it. And he got offended and began to walk away from his hope of being healed.
We look at Naaman and scoff. What a fool! We shout at him from our recliners as we read the biblical account, distancing ourselves from such moronic, stubborn behavior. Yet we are all Naaman, aren’t we? How often does our stubbornness and pride keep us from doing what we need to do to find better life, but don’t? We’ll do a hundred other things, but fail to do that which will heal us. It’s the husband who won’t go to marriage counseling. It’s the wife who won’t get help on her addiction to… The workaholic parent who doesn’t spend time with the kids and wonders why they compete for attention, and get it any destructive way they can. Or the person who wonders why they can’t hold down a job while people around keep dropping strong hints of the answer.
Where has your pride gotten in the way of your life, health, happiness, etc.? Where is your pride getting in the way right now?
We look at Elisha with great admiration. What a bold man of God! He senses what God wants him to do and does it! What a rock star! We are like Elisha, though – did you know that? We know that the Spirit of God flows through us all, and at times guides and directs people in our direction for counsel. So, the question: are we praying for those in our sphere of influence? Are we praying for awareness of what God would have us do to be God’s agent for those people when necessary? Are we listening for God’s voice?
How do you know when God speaks to you about someone who needs you? How are you cultivating your ability to hear God speak to you?
We need to look at the unnamed officer who encouraged Naaman. Here is a guy who walked all that way with Naaman, his commanding officer. But before they got too far down the pike, the officer simply spoke with calm reason to his boss. His approach must have been inspired. He told his angry commander to reconsider his actions in such a way that he actually listened. Amazing. Did you know that you are like that officer? There are people in your world who need encouragement, and you are just the person for the job!
Who is your sphere needs encouragement? How do you know? How do you think you need to speak encouragement to someone discouraged? How might you approach someone who is hostile?
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