Naaman and Thinking Too Much

I’ve never really given the Biblical character Naaman much thought, beyond the basic story told in the text.  But yesterday in a Ladies Study led (via DVD) by Priscilla Shirer, I was blessed with some amazing wisdom about this story, that I needed to hear.  Maybe you’ll benefit from my sharing what I learned.

You’ll find Naaman’s story in the Old Testament in 2nd Kings, Chapter 5.  Basically, Naaman was an army commander who had leprosy.  His wife’s servant girl told him that he could be healed if he went to Samaria to see the prophet (Elisha).  Naaman got permission from his king to go, and after a brief encounter with the king of Israel, ended up at the prophet Elisha’s house.  Naaman had some assumptions about what Elisha would do to heal him.  But what Elisha ended up saying wasn’t what Naaman expected to hear, and it made him angry.  Elisha told Naaman to go wash in the Jordan River 7 times and his leprosy would be cured.

Sounds like good news, right?

Well, Elisha left mad as a hornet.  He thought there would be magic and goose bumps and some incredible spectacle involved in the healing.  Or at least clean water that was closer to where he was right then.

You know where Naaman got himself in trouble?  It’s where I, and maybe you, also get in trouble.  Right there in the first 2 words of the first sentence that is quoted in verse 11:

“I THOUGHT ….”. 

Instead of doing what Elisha, the Prophet of God told him to do, he went away angry because he THOUGHT instead of obeying.  The JORDAN River – seriously??  There were closer rivers.  There were cleaner rivers.  If he jumped into the dirty Jordan River with open leprosy sores – that would have caused a lot of pain.  Plus it wasn’t very special.  Surely there were OTHER OPTIONS that felt more miraculous.

Elisha’s instructions didn’t make sense to him and it wasn’t flashy, and Naaman didn’t think that was good enough for him.

The times when I get myself in trouble, large or small – it is usually because I was THINKING TOO MUCH.  I either thought myself into doing something that God wouldn’t approve of, or I thought myself out of doing something God expected me to be doing.

We’ve been doing a study about hearing God’s voice – recognizing when he is speaking, how to tell if it’s really God or not, and this week we looked at what to do when we do hear Him.  God doesn’t communicate with us just to hear himself talk, or because he doesn’t have anything better to do.

He speaks to be obeyed.  Sometimes we forget that.

So often we expect a lightning bolt or a sunbeam or a booming voice to accompany God’s communication to us.  We long for a loud message with absolutely clear instructions.

But do you remember where God’s voice was in 1^st Kings, chapter 19?  God told Elijah to go wait for Him on the mountain.  Elijah, naturally, was looking for God – expecting him – and some pretty intense, loud, flashy things happened.  There was a powerful wind.  Then an earthquake. And after the earthquake, a fire.  Exciting, brilliant occurrences.  But God’s voice wasn’t in any of the boisterous stuff happening around Elijah.

His voice was in a gentle whisper.  The “still, small voice.”

That’s probably not where Elijah expected the voice of God to be.  I mean, He’s GOD!  Majestic, and so brilliant we can’t look at Him.  But Elijah knew God well enough to recognize His voice when He heard it, and when that voice spoke, Elijah followed it.

“I thought”.

How often have I made my life complicated, more painful, more dramatic than need be because I thought too much?

Very often God asks you to do something you absolutely didn’t expect. Often something really uncomfortable, if not downright painful.

And our response is to be obedient.  God will speak to us how HE wants to, not necessarily how we expect or demand.

Another thing Priscilla helped us understand in this study is that when we delay obeying, we delay our healing.  Hmmmm.  I needed to think about that.

Take Naaman.  If he had just gone right away and done what Elisha had told him to do, he would have been healed of his pain more quickly.

That was a light bulb moment for me when I heard that, because it has been so true in my life.    I have been guilty of delaying my own healing, because at times I have delayed my own obedience to God.

Priscilla shared a poem that Beth Moore authored that I’d like to share.  It is our pride, our selfish nature, that cheats us out of the healing and blessings that obedience will provide.   Here’s Beth’s poem:

My Name is Pride

I am a Cheater

I cheat you on your God given destiny…. because

you demand your own way.

I cheat you of contentment…  because

you “deserve better than this.”

I cheat you of knowledge…because

you already know it all.

I cheat you of holiness…because

you refuse to admit when you’re wrong.

I cheat you of vision…because

you would rather look in the mirror than out the window.

I cheat you of genuine friendship…because

nobody is going to know the real you.

I cheat you of love…because

real romance demands sacrifice.

I cheat you of greatness in heaven…because

 you refuse to wash another’s feet on earth.

I cheat you of God’s glory…because

I convince you to seek your own.

My name is Pride, I am a cheater.

You like me because

you think I’m always looking out for you.

Untrue.

I’m looking to make a fool of you,

God has so much for you, I admit, but don’t worry…

If you stick with me,

You’ll never know.

Are there times in your life when you have created unneeded extra stress, or delayed your own emotional or spiritual healing because you refused to hear what God was saying, and instead you were waiting for the message you wanted?

I’m not advocating blind faith at all.  No koolaid involved here.  But if you have chosen this path, there are responsibilities, one of which is resigning your post as king or queen of the universe.

If you believe that God is who He says He is, then it only makes sense to do what He says to do.  Even if it doesn’t really make sense to you.  Or it’s not what you wanted.  When He gives you a command – found in the Bible or through the leading of the Holy Spirit (which will never CONTRADICT His Biblical Word) – you have a personal responsibility to act.

There are times when I need to stop thinking so much and simply obey Him.  Otherwise, I’m not really trusting God.  How about you?