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In the Old Testament, we read about a healing of a high-ranking man from Syria named Naaman. However, Naaman almost blew his chance of a miracle. Naaman suffered from leprosy. Fortunately, His wife was blessed to have a little maid from Israel who believed in the miracle power of God; not just any God, but the God of Israel. After Naaman learned about the great man of God, whose name was Elisha, he went to seek out a healing.
Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honourable, because by him the LORD had given deliverance unto Syria: he was also a mighty man in valour, but he was a leper. And the Syrians had gone out by companies, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid; and she waited on Naaman's wife. And she said unto her mistress, Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy. - 2 Kings 5:1-3
So, Naaman went to seek out this man of God.
So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha. - 2 Kings 5:9
But, God wasn't going to work based on Naaman's preconceived notion.
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. 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. - 2 Kings 5:9-12
Naaman had a preconceived notion of how it was all going to work. And, when God didn't work on his terms, he became angry. However, his servants calmed him down and he did according to the words of the prophet.
And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean? Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean. - 2 Kings 5:13-14
There is a great lesson to be learned from this account. Do we not also judge according to "how we think God should perform miracles"? How many times have we missed out on blessings and miracles because we had an attitude like Naaman? While we do need to be careful of false prophets, there are, however, real moves from God that are dismissed because of our preconceived notions.
In the Old Testament, we read about a healing of a high-ranking man from Syria named Naaman. However, Naaman almost blew his chance of a miracle. Naaman suffered from leprosy. Fortunately, His wife was blessed to have a little maid from Israel who believed in the miracle power of God; not just any God, but the God of Israel. After Naaman learned about the great man of God, whose name was Elisha, he went to seek out a healing.
Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honourable, because by him the LORD had given deliverance unto Syria: he was also a mighty man in valour, but he was a leper. And the Syrians had gone out by companies, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid; and she waited on Naaman's wife. And she said unto her mistress, Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy. - 2 Kings 5:1-3
So, Naaman went to seek out this man of God.
So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha. - 2 Kings 5:9
But, God wasn't going to work based on Naaman's preconceived notion.
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. 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. - 2 Kings 5:9-12
Naaman had a preconceived notion of how it was all going to work. And, when God didn't work on his terms, he became angry. However, his servants calmed him down and he did according to the words of the prophet.
And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean? Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean. - 2 Kings 5:13-14
There is a great lesson to be learned from this account. Do we not also judge according to "how we think God should perform miracles"? How many times have we missed out on blessings and miracles because we had an attitude like Naaman? While we do need to be careful of false prophets, there are, however, real moves from God that are dismissed because of our preconceived notions.
Great point. I am going to spend some time considering whether my preconceived ideas are blocking God's blessings...
Thank you for posting this.
The main thing I see is that Christians tend to use preconceived notions of judging others,while forgetting that we ourselves will be judged in the exact same manner,if we do not repent.
For example,a Christian may talk about his neighbor's yard being less than perfect,assuming all that while that just because HIS own yard is cleaner,that it's ok to judge him...but it isn't! That's because God doesn't judge by our standards...He uses HIS!! And so now the critical neighbor has opened himself up to God's judgment in the exact same manner,and he will be judged accordingly.
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