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 all the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?” So he turned and went off in a rage. 2 Kings 5:11-12
This is part two of Naaman’s story, part one can be found here.
To recap, Naaman is the commander of the king of Aram’s army. He has traveled to Isreal to see the prophet who can heal his leprosy. But upon arriving at the prophet’s house, a messenger tells him what to do, and his reaction is recorded in the verse above.
Naaman’s reaction
Naaman was livid. The prophet should’ve come out to greet him. There should’ve been some gesturing and an invoking of the name of God. Not a messenger telling him what to do. Was that even healing?
It’s fair to say, that nothing was happening the way Naaman imagined. First, the prophet didn’t come out. Then being told to wash in the Jordan River seven times was definitely not something he had foreseen. Had he known this was the criteria to get healed he would’ve just stayed in Aram. Why would he have traveled to Isreal when Damascus was known for its pristine rivers?
Naaman was so engrossed in how it should’ve happened that he missed how it was happening. His expectations distracted him from seeing God’s answer and he almost walked away from being healed.
The should haves
When prayers don’t get answered according to our expectations, it’s easy to get hung up on the should haves that we fail to see God working. You see, there’s more to prayer than just bringing our requests and/or concerns to God. That’s only the first step. Anybody can do that. However, we also need to humbly accept the answer. And that’s difficult to do if we’re focused on how we’d like God to answer our prayer.
Looking for instant answers
It’s even harder when we’re expecting instant change because sometimes the answer to our prayers may require some active participation. And Naaman was not expecting that. He was looking for an instant cure. But that’s not what happened. Far from being a spectator watching a prophet heal his leprosy, Naaman had to do his part. He had to go to the Jordan River and wash seven times.
It’s far more desirable to have a miraculous intervention where someone waves their hand over us and makes our problems instantly disappear rather than doing something. Unfortunately, this kind of mentality also obstructs us from seeing God’s answers.
Naaman’s cure
Thankfully Naaman had people in his life – his servants – who were able to talk some sense to him and persuade him to listen to the messenger.
I’m not sure how often a military commander finds himself in the position of taking orders from someone else. It makes me wonder if God wasn’t just healing the physical, perhaps Naaman also needed to have an attitude adjustment.
Whatever the case, he did as he was told, and just as the messenger said, Naaman was healed. A reality that wouldn’t have happened had Naaman clung tightly to his expectations. Instead, he had to let go of his preconceived ideas and do whatever God asked him, even if it didn’t make sense to him.
Our lesson
Much like Naaman’s initial reaction, our expectations can sometimes prevent us from seeing God’s answer. It’s important that we don’t risk walking away from the answer God has for us because we were blinded by the should haves.