2 Kings 5:1-14 (NIV) is our text for
this study.
5:1 “Now Naaman was commander of the army of
the king of
Aram. He was a great man in the sight of his master
and highly
regarded, because through him the LORD had given
victory to Aram.
He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy.
:2 Now bands from
Aram had gone out and had taken captive a
young girl from Israel, and she served Naaman's wife.
:3 She said to her
mistress, "If only my master would see
the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him
of his leprosy."
:4 Naaman went to his master and told
him what the girl
from Israel had said.
:5 "By all means, go," the king of Aram replied.
"I will
send a letter to the king of Israel." So Naaman left,
taking with
him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of
gold and ten
sets of clothing.
:6 The letter that he took to the king
of Israel read:
"With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman
to you so that
you may cure him of his leprosy."
:7 As soon as the king of Israel read
the letter, he tore
his robes and said, "Am I God? Can I kill and bring
back to life?
Why does this fellow send someone to me to be cured
of his
leprosy? See how he is trying to pick a quarrel with
me!"
:8 When Elisha the man of God heard that
the king of Israel
had torn his robes, he sent him this message: "Why
have you torn
your robes? Have the man come to me and he will know
that there
is a prophet in Israel."
:9 So Naaman went with his horses and
chariots and stopped
at the door of Elisha's house.
:10 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."
:11 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.
:12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers
of Damascus,
better than any of the waters of Israel? Couldn't
I wash in them
and be cleansed?" So he turned and went off in a
rage.
:13 Naaman's servants went to him and
said, "My father, if
the prophet had told you to do some great thing,
would you not
have done it? How much more, then, when he tells
you, 'Wash and
be cleansed'!"
:14 So he went down and dipped himself
in the Jordan seven
times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh
was restored
and became clean like that of a young boy.”
The question, then, is “What is God inviting
you to do so He can solve your problem?
Naaman was invited to wash in the Jordan to
be healed of his
leprosy. Not a bad thing to be cured of an
incurable disease!
Yet, he questioned it and wanted to do something
else. He had
better ideas, and left in a temper tantrum. He was
offended by
the idea. Seems illogical to us, now, and even
laughable. But
before we laugh too hard, we’d better take a good
look at our own
lives.
What is God inviting us to do to heal our
“infirmity?”
Just what is it we are trying to overcome?
What area in our lives are we struggling with? What is troubling
us? What is keeping us down, and not doing what we love to do?
Is it an illness, a situation, a relationship?
One important thing to note, here, is that
God is looking for a humble spirit. (vs 13)
If we go back to the previous chapter, we
see that it is possible that God’s ministers face death-causing problems
just like all other people.
(2 Ki 4:38 NIV) Elisha returned to Gilgal
and there was a famine in that region. While the company of the prophets
was meeting with him, he said to his servant, "Put on the large pot and
cook some stew for these men."
:39 One of them went out into the fields
to gather herbs
and found a wild vine. He gathered some of its gourds
and filled
the fold of his cloak. When he returned, he cut them
up into the
pot of stew, though no one knew what they were.
:40 The stew was poured out for the men, but
as they began
to eat it, they cried out, "O man of God, there is
death in the
pot!" And they could not eat it.
:41 Elisha said, "Get some flour."
He put it into the pot
and said, "Serve it to the people to eat." And there
was nothing
harmful in the pot.
God provides needed resources from unexpected places.
:42 A man came from Baal Shalishah,
bringing the man of God
twenty loaves of barley bread baked from the first
ripe grain,
along with some heads of new grain. "Give it to the
people to
eat," Elisha said.
God keeps His promises.
:43 "How can I set this before a hundred
men?" his servant
asked. But Elisha answered, "Give it to the people
to eat. For
this is what the LORD says: 'They will eat and have
some left
over.'"
Then if we jump forward again to 2 Kings 5:5-7:
:5 "By all means, go," the king of Aram
replied. "I will
send a letter to the king of Israel." So Naaman left,
taking with
him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of
gold and ten
sets of clothing.
:6 The letter that he took to the king
of Israel read:
"With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman
to you so that
you may cure him of his leprosy."
:7 As soon as the king of Israel read
the letter, he tore
his robes and said, "Am I God? Can I kill and bring
back to life?
Why does this fellow send someone to me to be cured
of his
leprosy? See how he is trying to pick a quarrel with
me!"
You may think I’m confusing things by jumping
around like this, but as I read this over and over, these are how these
points came to me! Now for the big questions:
What inadequate substitute for God are we
going to for help? What inadequate material resources are we depending
on for help?
The enemy loves to get us looking in all the
wrong places for help. He would love for us, like the king of Aram
and Naaman, to rely on financial resources, position, or our own knowledge
and judgment to solve our problems. He’d like for us to close our ears
to the simple answers God may give us. He’d love it even more, if
we become and angry, like Naaman in our story, and storm off in a fit of
rage.
This year let’s commit to looking to God for
the answers....especially for the simple ones. After all, He came to earth
in a simple form...not a kingly one by earth’s standards. Let’s seek
for Him in our everyday lives, and rejoice when we find Him!
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