“Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, ‘Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.’ 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. . . .’ So he turned and went off in a rage.” (2 Kings 5:10-12)
Naaman was desperate to be cured of his leprosy, but he still had expectations for how this miracle cure should come about. Yesterday, we saw that he expected it to come from the royal palace of Israel. It didn’t. Next, he expected the cure to come with the prophet waving his hand over the death spot in a kind of religious ceremony. Nope.
Instead, Elisha sends a simple servant with a simple message to do a simple task: wash in that filthy river seven times.
Confession: I’ve also gotten angry when God answered my desperate prayers in the “wrong way.” I wrote the script for the miraculous answer I really wanted instead of the good gift He gave me. That’s big and stupid pride, pride that wants to control God instead of trusting Him with my whole heart.
Think: Can you understand Naaman’s rage at being told by a servant to go and wash himself in a muddy river with no pomp or circumstance or magic words?
Pray: Ask God to make you grateful for His gifts, including that ones that come wrapped in plain, brown paper.
Do: Imagine what it would feel like to go and bathe yourself in a dirty river seven times in a row.