My way or God's way?

Then Naaman went with his horses and chariot, and he stood at the door of Elisha's house. And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored to you, and you shall be clean.” But Naaman became furious, and went away and said, “Indeed, I said to myself, ‘He will surely come out to me, and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place, and heal the leprosy.’ Are not the Abanah and the Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage. And his servants came near and spoke to him, and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do something great, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” So he went down and dipped seven times in the Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean. – 2 Kings 5.9-14

Captain Naaman was a great Syrian warrior. He was a good man and a brave man, but he had a big problem – he was a leper. Leprosy was a big issue in those days. There was no way to treat it, all you could do was separate from the people and wait to die.

That doesn't work for a military leader, but there was a young girl from Israel who was a maid in Naaman’s house. She knew all about Elisha, so she mentioned him to Naaman and they sought him out.

Elisha told Naaman that all he had to do was dip himself seven times in the Jordan River and God would heal him. Naaman didn’t like that. Why should he go down to the muddy old Jordan when there were lovely rivers in Damascus?

The problem with that was that that was not God’s way and God’s way is the only way that works.

Naaman’s servants intervened. ‘If Elisha had asked to do some big task to get clean wouldn’t you have done it?’ Dipping in the Jordan seemed too easy.

So Naaman was persuaded to do it God’s way and when he did Naaman was made clean and his skin became as pure as baby’s skin.

The key thing here is simply doing things the way God wants them done. To our feeble limited mind restricted by time and space God’s way of doing things does not always make sense. I can think that my way is surely the best way – I can be a lot like Naaman.

I am not going to make it if I insist on doing things the way I want. ‘I did it my way’ might have been a big hit for Ole Blue Eyes but it wasn't going to work for Naaman and it is not going to work for me. I am only going to see God at work if I am willing to do it His way.

May my song at the end of my days be ‘I did it God’s way!’