I Want A Cool Miracle!

2 Kings 5:1-14

¹ Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and in high favor, because by him the Lord had given victory to Syria. He was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper.

² Now the Syrians on one of their raids had carried off a little girl from the land of Israel, and she worked in the service of Naaman’s wife.

³ She said to her mistress, “Would that my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.”

⁴ So Naaman went in and told his lord, “Thus and so spoke the girl from the land of Israel.”

⁵ And the king of Syria said, “Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” So he went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten changes of clothing.

⁶ And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read, “When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you Naaman my servant, that you may cure him of his leprosy.”

⁷ And when the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, “Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Only consider, and see how he is seeking a quarrel with me.”

⁸ But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent to the king, saying, “Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come now to me, that he may know that there is a prophet in Israel.”

⁹ So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stood at the door of Elisha’s house.

¹⁰ And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean.”

¹¹ But Naaman was angry and went away, saying, “Behold, I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper.

¹² Are not Abana and 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.

¹³ But his servants came near and said to him, “My father, it is a great word the prophet has spoken to you; will you not do it? Has he actually said to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?”

¹⁴ So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God, and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.

Sometimes we want a miracle. The situation is just so bad that nothing else will do. And not only do we want a miracle, we want it exactly the way we envision it. We have a plan and an idea as to how this can best work out; problem solved!

Naaman is in a desperate situation. He is a social outcast because of his disease. Every aspect of his life is hampered by leprosy. (This could have been any debilitating skin condition from actual leprosy, known today as Hansen’s Disease, or any number of other skin ailments.) And as far as he knows, there is no cure or treatment. Then a little slave girl suggests he visit the Prophet Elisha in Samaria. She is quite sure that because the prophet knows God he will be able to help. Her faith makes her bold to share what she believes. Naaman, filled with hope, goes to see Elisha bearing gifts that he believes will entice the prophet to help him; and he goes with certain expectations. Much to Naaman’s disappointment, Elisha doesn’t wave a magic wand, recite strange incantations, or even come out to greet him. Sight unseen, Elisha tells him to dip himself in the Jordan 7 times and he will be healed. A very simple task, right? And yet Naaman is “in a rage.” His expectations were not met! Where is his magic show? Where is the hand waving? God did not live up this his standards. Fortunately for Naaman, he allows himself to be convinced that he’s been asked to do a simple thing and so he does it, thus securing a healing from the Lord.

This is an important story for us to study. We have all kinds of expectations of God, some spoken, some kept to ourselves. And when God doesn’t perform the way we think we should, we are disappointed and angry. Surely He must know that our plans are good ones. Why wouldn’t He graciously accept our plans and do what we say? Doesn’t He know that our way is the best? Even as you read the words, you know they are ridiculous. Why would God, who always means us well, lower His standard of care to meet our puny expectations? Who among us would come up with a plan that would mean the shedding of innocent blood for our sins? And yet that is God’s perfect plan and meets the demands of His purity and justice. Learning how to step out of God’s way and see His plans take shape in our lives can be exciting and faith building. The story of Naaman helps us see the wisdom of that path.