Day 184.
But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent to the king, saying, “Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come now to me, that he may know that there is a prophet in Israel.” So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stood at the door of Elisha’s house. And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean.” But Naaman was angry and went away, saying, “Behold, I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper. Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage. But his servants came near and said to him, “My father, it is a great word the prophet has spoken to you; will you not do it? Has he actually said to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God, and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean. (2 Kings 5:8-14 ESV)
When Naaman comes to Elisha to be healed miraculously of his leprosy he had some preconceived expectations of what it would be like. “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper.” When God doesn’t do it the way he expects, he’s indignant. And yet, God still answers his prayer. How often do you expect God to answer in a particular way or for your church, God’s ordained servant, to do something in a particular way and it doesn’t happen? Do you get indignant? This text challenges our expectations and teaches us the lesson of humility. Just because things don’t happen the way we think they should or the way we expect doesn’t give us the right to speak poorly and be indignant. This is a hard lesson to learn. May God be merciful as he teaches us!
