"Do It God's Way"

"And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean."
2 Kings 5:10

Our text is taken from the story about Naaman the leper who went to the prophet Elisha to be healed. When he got to the home of Elisha, the prophet did not come out and greet him, he did not pray a prayer over him, he did nothing except send his servant out to tell Naaman to go and wash in the Jordan River seven times. Listen to Naaman's response in the next two verse. "But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the LORD his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper. Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage."

Naaman needed a healing touch but he wanted to receive it "his" way. Aren't we like that? We'll need a healing, a provision, an answer from the Lord, but we want Him to give it to us in the way that we determine. We know how we want it to happen and expect God to do it that way. The Bible tells us that, "God's ways are not our ways." (Isaiah 55:8,9) They are so much higher and better than anything we can imagine. God doesn't always do things our way or the way we want, but He does do them perfectly in accordance with His own will.

What answer has He given you that you didn't want to hear? What has He instructed you to do but you have put if off because you don't want to do it that way? What is keeping you from obeying what He has said? Is it pride? Fear of man? Intimidation? Fear of failure? Do you think God has made a mistake? If God has told you to do something but you are putting it off, or trying to do it your own way, then your disobedience is what's standing in the way of your receiving. Obedience is better than sacrifice.

Have a great day. Just think, Naaman would have remained a leper the rest of his life if he had not gone ahead and obeyed God's instructions through Elisha.