The Wrong River

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.  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?” … – 2 Kings 5:11-12

Naaman was a great general and warrior of Syria.  He was also a leper.   His household had as a servant a captive girl from Israel who told him that he might be healed by the prophet of God.  After some confusion between the kings of Israel and Syria, Naaman with his entourage was directed to the abode of Elisha.  The general was met outside by a servant who conveyed the message of the man of God, which was to go down to the muddy Jordan and dip in it seven times.   He found this casual dismissal offensive and became angry.  Fortunately, some of his servants spoke wisdom.  Naaman, acquiescing, humbled himself enough to follow the directions and was cleansed of his disease. 

In the portion of the passage quoted above, we see Naaman had his own idea of what would constitute a proper response.  There should have been a prayer line.  Since he was suffering from a highly contagious disease, he would admit that a laying on of hands might be asking a lot, but the prophet could have at least waved and chanted or something.   Not to mention that the rivers back home are clearer, cleaner and more pure than the lethargic, turbid Jordan. 

The mind of God must be a mystery to the finite understanding and insight of man.  Our reason and intellect may unravel much about the material world, but truth comes by revelation, by what we receive spirit to spirit.   If we find ourselves in difficulty and turn to God for help, we, like Naaman, may prejudge and develop scenarios for a resolution that appeals to our egos and our imaginations.

 We may have seen it happen for someone else in this way or that and expect the same thing in our own situation.  But God, for reasons of His own, sometimes does things differently for different people.  A friend of mine was convinced that people could be blessed and prospered only if they ran their own business – forget for a moment where that left his several employees -- because that is what happened to him.  Other people will tell you that God miraculously healed them because they went to a healing service or fasted or venerated a saint. 

We are always thinking that if this happens or that happens, if we had this or that, our problems would be solved.  We play out the mental paths to an unravelment.  There is nothing wrong with this so long as we do not close ourselves off to other approaches.  Unlike Naaman, we may never have a chance to hear a personal word from someone acknowledged as a prophet.  Our revelation may come from the Bible, a dream or a vision, a quote from a sage, or a comment by someone we hardly know.  We have to be open to that as well.  Not open in the sense of being blown about here or there but receptive to God's signal as opposed to jamming it.

My wife knows nothing about anything mechanical or electrical, appliances or equipment.  It’s working, or it’s broken.  That’s all.  She has no “filter” in terms of what might be wrong, so when I start to try and fix that which is broken, she is often full of helpful suggestions as to what might be amiss.  Ninety percent of the time, maybe ninety-nine percent – she talks fast, her ideas are laughable when they are not annoying.  Once in a great while, however, the proverbial blind squirrel will stumble upon a hickory nut.   Just because something clashes with what we would normally consider reasonable is not a sufficient cause for rejecting it out of hand. 

As we have mentioned before, though, the most common source of guidance and direction is simply circumstances, the things that happen to us.  These are often disguised as setbacks, roadblocks, failures, missed opportunities, rejections, and losses.  A difficulty may arise in order for us to fight through it and become stronger.  Yet if there is a challenge we are ultimately unable to conquer, despite our best efforts or because of something that is beyond our control, we may find in our hearts a spark of insight that illuminates the dark despair and says this has happened for a greater glory.