June 20: The power of humble obedience

Now Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great and honorable man in the eyes of his master….. a mighty man of valor, but a leper. And the Syrians had gone out on raids, and had brought back captive a young girl from the land of Israel. She waited on Naaman's wife. Then she said to her mistress, “If only my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria! For he would heal him of his leprosy.”….. So he departed and took with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten changes of clothing….. Then Naaman went with his horses and chariot, and he stood at the door of Elisha's house. And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored to you, and you shall be clean.” But Naaman became furious, and went away and said, “Indeed, I said to myself, He will surely come out to me, and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place, and heal the leprosy.”….. So he turned and went away in a rage. And his servants came near and spoke to him, and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do something great, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, ‘Wash, and be clean?’” So he went down and dipped seven times in the Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.   (2 Kings 5:1-14 — New King James Version)

Here is the story of a powerful army commander who was forced to humble himself before God and His servant. He had everything — fame, power, influence, wealth — but did not have health or faith in the true God. Since leprosy had no cure, his power and influence were totally useless. But when his wife's servant girl told him about a prophet of God who could heal the sick, Naaman thought he could buy his healing with silver, gold, and expensive clothing, and discovered that what was really demanded of him was humility and obedience to a command that seemed ridiculous. His first reaction was to walk away in pride and once more, he needed a servant to point out the right thing to do. He received his healing only when he chose to humbly obey.

You cannot expect to receive anything from God when you are operating in pride and a know-it-all attitude. God hates these things while the devil thrives on them. Demons are constantly whispering in our ears, encouraging pride and stubbornness. There are times that asking “why” and “how’s that going to work” will get us nowhere, and radical, humble obedience is the only currency that God will honor. The powerful and the weak, the rich and the poor, the famous and the unknown all have to humble themselves and acknowledge their need of God if they want to see His miracles. — We are all Naamans at some point in our lives. Make sure you don’t walk away from God in pride.