But Naaman became angry and went away, saying, “I thought that for me he would surely come out, and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, and would wave his hand over the spot, and cure the leprosy! 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?” He turned and went away in a rage. But his servants approached and said to him, “Father, if the prophet had commanded you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? How much more, when all he said to you was, ‘Wash and be clean’? So he went down and immersed himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; his flesh was restored like the flesh of a young boy, and he was clean. 2 Kings 5: 11-14, NRSV.
Dear LORD, here we are; willing to learn from You today, how we should live our lives before You. Please tell us how; and show us how. These mercies we ask in the blessed name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Today as we continue our conversation, something about Naaman becomes very visible: Naaman is an angy man! Twice in our narrative, we find him “going away,” angry: “But Naaman became angry and went away, . . .” “He turned and went away in a rage, . . .” Why do people become angry? Why do they get into a rage? Why do they “go away?”
Perhaps this is a good time to reflect upon ourselves. What makes me angry? What makes me get into a rage? Why do I go away? Let us not think of anyone else at this time. Let us turn the spotlight on the inside of ourselves. There could be several answers to these questions. Today, I invite us to concentrate on only one reason, a very obvious reason, that perhaps, is true for all of us: Because we want to have our own way!
When we are in a situation, we usually sit and think about what we would like to see happen. We begin to envision what would be the best way to solve this, or that, difficulty. Because of this, oftentimes we close the avenues to other possibilities. Many of you may have heard (perhaps you heard another version of this story) the story of a man who became shipwrecked and prayed to God to send him help. While he was hanging on to a side of his boat, a ship passed by, and offered to take him up. He refused the help and said that he was, “waiting on the LORD.” Shortly thereafter, a helicopter swooped down to where the man was, and let out a rope ladder. The man again refused the help, and repeated, that he was, “waiting on the LORD.” This happened time after time, until the poor man died. When he met with the LORD he was very despondent. Finally, he asked the LORD, “Why did You not help me? Did you not hear my plea for help?” The LORD looking sadly at him, replied, “Yes son, and I sent you a ship, and a helicopter, and other means of help, but you refused them all.”
Many times, we, like this man, envision how the LORD is supposed to help us. When the LORD sends us help that we do not recognize, we do not accept it, because it does not look like the help that we had envisioned. Therefore, we allow the help to pass us by. Listen to the words of Naaman: “I thought that for me he would surely come out, and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, and would wave his hand over the spot, and cure the leprosy! This is the way he envisioned his healing. A lot of fanfare! So he did not recognize, and therefore did not, appreciate, the simple form of healing that the LORD had sent him.
My friends, the sooner we recognize that God will not be influenced by “our way,” the more blessings we will receive! Remember, God’s ways are not our ways, because He is God, and we are not!