Something Difficult

Something Difficult

Naaman was a mighty Syrian general who was a leper. Those who had this disease were without hope but Naaman had a servant girl who knew the God of Israel and she urged her kind master to go to His prophet where she knew Naaman would be healed.

Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha's house. 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. 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. 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'!" 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 baby. 2 Kings 5:9-14

How often are we like Naaman? We have a problem and go to God in prayer. He gives us the answer to our problem in His Word. We then complain about not only the answer, but also the fact God didn't just snap His fingers and fix our problem.

Eventually we follow God's instructions and our problem is solved! Our way never works, but God's way ALWAYS works! Yet we avoid following His prescription until we have no other recourse.

Our rebellion against God leads to negative consequences but our obedience to Him leads to blessings!!!

God speaks to us in many ways, most often, through His Word, but also through our time in prayer, through others, and through our circumstances. The more we practice listening to God, the better we become at hearing His voice. One thing we will discover with certainty as we listen is that God will never contradict His Word. When God speaks, the message He gives will always be in line with His Word.

After we hear Him, we need to obey Him. Often, we hear what God is saying to us but we don't want to obey Him—especially if He is calling on us to sacrifice something we desire to keep.

God’s true test of our character, our faith, our depth of commitment, our love for Him comes when He calls us to sacrifice something we want to keep. That something can be money or possessions or relationships or life goals, but in most cases it is OURSELVES!

The greatest sacrifice we can make to the Lord is OUR WILL! We have nothing more valuable to give to Christ than our lives, placed in sacrifice at His feet..