2 Kings 5:11 - But Naaman became angry and stalked away. "I thought he would certainly come out to meet me!" he said. "I expected him to wave his hand over the leprosy and call on the name of the Lord his God and heal me!"
Naaman was angry because he expected his healing to be handled differently by Elisha. He had certain expectations that he wanted to be met. When they weren't, he almost missed out on the healing and blessing of God because of his anger.
How often do we try to guide certain things to happen in certain ways, and then when they aren't, we get mad? Even before we know the final outcome. I have become a bit of an expert on trying to make certain things happen certain ways, so that I can have some semblance of order in my life. Let's be honest, we all try to do it. Fortunately for us, God doesn't operate according to our timetables, and certainly not our instructions. If He did, this world would be chaos, and we would have no pathway to salvation and eternal life in Heaven.
Jesus prayed in the garden of Gethsemane (3 times!) to have the cup of suffering taken away from Him (Matthew 26:36-44). He didn't want to die, but the kicker in His prayer was that He was still willing to die to satisfy the will of God. We may want certain things to happen and be done in certain ways to satisfy our earthly needs and wants (Jesus is God but was also a man), but when it comes down to it, we should always be asking for the will of God to be done. Just like Jesus had instructed in the Sermon on the Mount, "Seek first His Kingdom and righteousness, and all these things will be added to you" (Matthew 6:33).
In a book I recently read by Dr. Henry Cloud called Boundaries for Leaders, he talked about how our trust grows when we believe in someone's capacity and ability. He said, "Do not trust me to do brain surgery. Even if I understand you, and have good intent, and have good character, I will probably remove the wrong lobe, and every time you blink your right leg will kick." Dr. Cloud's specialty is leadership (as he points out in this section), and he makes the great point that he has abilities in that domain (leadership) that are utterly lacking when it comes to brain surgery (Ch. 9, pg. 183). We may have good intentions and character, but we are seriously lacking when it comes to producing righteous outcomes apart from the will of God.
That's how a lot of us are. We have a tendency to believe that we know best what we need and how to achieve it. I catch myself thinking that way A LOT. However, when I do start thinking this way, I try to take a step back and remind myself, "How's that been working out for you so far?" If I am honest with myself, the answer will undoubtedly be, "Not that great." The fact that I realized years ago that I couldn't do it anymore without Jesus in my life, and surrendered my life to God's plan, tells me that I need to remove myself from the decision making process. If I had all the answers, then Jesus didn't need to die. And we all know that just isn't true.
Before we try to play doctor for our lives, let the Great Physician do His job first. He is much better at it than any of us could ever hope to be in a thousand life times, and He will never lead us down the wrong path. His paths only lead us closer to Him and to eternal life in His Heavenly Kingdom. I like that path better.
Dear Lord, thank You for reminding me to let go and let You work. I know I try too hard to take charge of things and direct them to achieve my desired outcome. I am blessed that You are in control and don't let me have my way. I pray for those that don't want to give up control to You. My prayer is that they will see that Your Way is the best and only Way to peace and eternal salvation. I pray that they will give up control to You and that they will start to see Your amazing blessings in their lives. In Jesus' name, Amen!
God Bless!!!
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