Oh, the joys and frustrations of being a brand new three-year-old! We recently celebrated the third birthday of our youngest twins with a wonderful morning at an indoor trampoline park followed by lunch at their favorite restaurant, Jolly Roger. The pirate theme and great kid’s menu make this a perfect place for a family outing, especially when it is someone’s (or sometwo’s) birthday(s). Our girl twin rolled with all the punches and enjoyed every minute. Our boy twin did too, playing endless games of peek-a-boo with the pirate hostess while he announced to everyone who passed, “It my BIRTDAY!!” Each child was given a pirate duck to play with, and finally our entrees arrived. Young Master looked at the pancake on his plate, knotted his eyebrows in disappointment and asked loudly, “Why I not eating CAKE???”
To be perfectly honest, I have said the same thing when sitting down to a nice, healthy, kale salad.
We were able to alleviate his momentary disappointment by assuring him that cake would come later, which it did, presented by singing pirate waitresses. They asked the kids if they wanted to hear “Happy Birthday” sung backwards, and I was so intrigued, I also voted yes. So they turned their backs to us and sang it.
Today we read about the disappointment of an army general named Naaman, who was afflicted with leprosy. He commanded Syria’s armies and was very important to King Ben-Hadad. Naaman was so important, in fact, that Ben-Hadad sent a letter to Israels’ King Jehoram asking for healing. But Jehoram was a king who did “evil in the sight of the Lord” and thus had no relationship with the God who could heal Naaman. Jehoram sent Naaman off to the prophet Elisha, knowing that this was his only hope for recovery.
2 Kings 5:9-14
9 Naaman arrived with his horses and chariots. He stopped at the door of Elisha’s house. 10 Elisha sent out a messenger who said, “Go and wash seven times in the Jordan River. Then your skin will be restored and become clean.”
You can imagine the indignation that Naaman felt at being received by a mere messenger. Here he was in all his regalia, with his war horses and chariots, and this Hebrew prophet elected not to greet him.
11 But Naaman went away in anger. He said, “I thought for sure that he’d come out, stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the bad spot, and cure the skin disease.12 Aren’t the rivers in Damascus, the Abana and the Pharpar, better than all Israel’s waters? Couldn’t I wash in them and get clean?” So he turned away and proceeded to leave in anger.
Naaman’s anger at the brushoff was fierce. But look again at what he said in verse 11. He assumed that Elisha could just “wave his hand over the bad spot” and cure him. I wonder how many times we expect God to just wave a hand over a bad spot in our lives so that we can just go on with things? Do you ever pray for the easy way out instead of asking God to partner with you in your healing? Addicts will tell you that recovery is a lot of hard work and there is no such thing as a wave of the hand to fix things. The same applies to physical illness, grief, financial hardships, relationship troubles, etc. God invites us to do our part in finding the way. We would never learn or grow if we always got the easy way out.
13 Naaman’s servants came up to him and spoke to him: “Our father, if the prophet had told you to do something difficult, wouldn’t you have done it? All he said to you was, ‘Wash and become clean.’” 14 So Naaman went down and bathed in the Jordan seven times, just as the man of God had said. His skin was restored like that of a young boy, and he became clean.
The servants were wise in challenging Naaman. Truly if Elisha had given him a hard task to reverse his leprosy, he would have gladly done it. His sense of entitlement was misplaced, and he knew it.
Is God calling you to do the work of turning your situation around? Are you being told to go wash and get clean? Confession and repentance are the things that bring the cleansing of forgiveness. When you approach God with a humble attitude and willingness to work, you will never be disappointed.
At Water’s Edge 