10Elisha sent out a servant to meet him with this message: “Go to the River Jordan and immerse yourself seven times. Your skin will be healed and you’ll be as good as new.”
11-12Naaman lost his temper. He turned on his heel saying, “I thought he’d personally come out and meet me, call on the name of God, wave his hand over the diseased spot, and get rid of the disease. The Damascus rivers, Abana and Pharpar, are cleaner by far than any of the rivers in Israel. Why not bathe in them? I’d at least get clean.” He stomped off, mad as a hornet.
13But his servants caught up with him and said, “Father, if the prophet had asked you to do something hard and heroic, wouldn’t you have done it? So why not this simple ‘wash and be clean’?”
14So he did it. He went down and immersed himself in the Jordan seven times, following the orders of the Holy Man. His skin was healed; it was like the skin of a little baby. He was as good as new.
15He then went back to the Holy Man, he and his entourage, stood before him, and said, “I now know beyond a shadow of a doubt that there is no God anywhere on earth other than the God of Israel. In gratitude let me give you a gift.”
2 Kings 5:10-15 MSG
Who needs a blessing, healing, or a miracle from God? That would be all of us, and the second question would be; “How do you imagine it occurring?” If everyone is honest, then we would admit that we all have an imagine of what our blessing, healing, or miracle will look like, how we desire it to occur, and when it should/will happen. It is good to be expectant of God’s move in our life, but it is dangerous to try and determine when, and how he will or should do it. Let’s look at Naaman from this passage; Naaman was a high ranking commander in the syrian army which should normally ensure happiness and great recognition, but Naaman also suffers from Leprosy which during this time could prevent him from sharing the same space as people if they feared catching this same disease from him. Naaman hears from a slave girl in his house that there is the possibility that he can be healed by a Prophet of God in Israel, which causes him to seek out Elisha (2 Kings 5:1-4). When Naaman finally reaches the house of Elisha, I would imagine that he has pictured this moment in his mind, that Elisha would come out to greet him, welcome him into his home, be extraordinarily grateful for the numerous gifts he provided, and simply bless him and send him back to Syria a healed man. For those of us who have been walking with God for awhile understand that nothing usually happens like we expect it to when following God. v10 begins a strange sequence of events in that Naaman shows up at Elisha’s doorstep and Elisha doesn’t even get up to greet him or invite him inside his home, but rather sends his servant to deliver a message to him. WHAT?? I come all this way to a foreign country with gifts and you knew I was coming, yet you don’t invite me in, or even come outside and speak with me! Insult to injury, Elisha instructs Naaman through a messenger to go wash in the Jordan river to become clean. Again, WHAT?? Let me remind you that the Jordan river is dirty, it is a bathtub, water source, and place where some animals frequent, so it ain’t the best area to go “wash.” Who would think to clean themselves in a dirty river or bathtub, and you don’t tell me to dip in the water once, but 7 times, so I have to remain in the water an extended time. There is multiple things to unpack here but I’ll do it quickly; 1st, The message is more important than the delivery. God had a healing for Naaman once he believed that he could be healed, but the way that message was conveyed could have caused Naaman to miss his healing. Don’t get so distracted by the packaging/delivery that you miss the power of message/content that was given or released to you. 2nd, sometimes your healing/delivery/blessing is found in an unlikely place. Aram had been exploited Israel at the hand of Naaman and other commanders, yet his healing was found in a people and place that he most likely looked down on. Also in v12, he mentions several rivers in his home country that are cleaner and would be more preferential to wash in, but instead his healing was in the “dirty” waters of the Jordan. 3rd, Naaman was told to wash 7 times, which is significant because 7 is the number for completion, and because he wouldn’t experience healing until he completed the directions as commanded. This is where the story gets better, because as Naaman prepared to leave angry without following directions, his servants spoke since to him (v13) that cause him to follow the directions. They asked “if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it?” Ask yourself this; are you missing the basics and preventing your healing/blessing/miracle because you’re waiting for God to answer YOUR prayer YOUR way, when he’s already given you an answer that you’ve rejected. Thankfully, Naaman listened to his servants, and received his healing because he, had wise council in his presence, and more importantly, he heeded the wise council of those around him.
reflection time
Is your current walk with God what you expected? What are you seeking or asking of God that you feel you aren’t receiving? What is your counsel like? Do you heed the wisdom that is present with you, or do you only respond to and walk in your rage or confusion? Are you willing to accept or do the unlikely or unfamiliar in order to receive the healing/blessing/miracle?
