More on Naaman today.
About 20 minutes after I sent you all Wednesday's Devotional, I received a phone call from the Tustin Police Department: my dad was in an automobile accident and was being taken by ambulence to the Emergency Room at Western Medical Center. Was I immediately thankful to God for this? No, I did panic a little bit. Did I immediately cry out to God for help? No. I left my office. While walking to my car...I began to calm down a bit and remembered to thank God for this situation. I also asked for His help, strength and attitude so I could glorify Him in whatever situation I walked in to with my dad.
And, you know what? I believe the Lord helped me be calm, thoughtful and ready to rely on Him whatever the situation was with my dad. In the ER room, I found my dad. He kept saying, "we don't need this." My reply, "let's trust God to decide what we do and don't need." My answer surprised my dad, the ER nurse and the ER attending (who all claimed to be Believers, by the way).
All this to say, none of this was about me. God is in control. He orders our very next breath. He is worthy of our worship, adoration, praise and trust.
Like Naaman, when we look at our situation from our perspective, pride dictates the wrong thinking that we deserve immediate attention, solutions and ultimate control over how things turn out. Like a little toddler kicking and screaming, we demand, "my way! My way! My Way!"
Whatever you are going through...are you saying, "I don't need this right now!" OR...are you humbly saying, "God, I trust You. I know You are in control. Even here, in this situation, I will glorfy Your name and be thankful!"
Like we learned at Hume Lake, most people throw around Romans 8:28 as an answer to all of life's problems.
Romans 8:28-31
(28)
And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. (29)
For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; (30)
and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified. (31)
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? If you keep reading, verse 29 explains the reason for all those "things to work together for the good to those who love God...": "to become conformed to the image of His Son,".
God uses everything to make us more like Jesus. For His glory, His purpose, His plan.
Still, it is all about God and not about you or me!
Read on about Naaman.
I hope to see all of you for worship on Sunday!
By the way, dad is a lilttle sore but doing okay. This situation helped him to see he shouldn't be driving any more. Praise God no one was seriously injured!
Love in Christ Jesus,
Mary
| Desperate: Boring Miracles? Posted: 15 Jul 2010 01:00 AM PDT "Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, 'Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.' But Naaman went away angry and said, 'I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. . . .' So he turned and went off in a rage." (2 Kings 5:10-12) Naaman was desperate to be cured of his leprosy, but he still had expectations for how this miracle cure should come about. Yesterday, we saw that he expected it to come from the royal palace of Israel. It didn't. Next, he expected the cure to come with the prophet waving his hand over the death spot in a kind of religious ceremony. Nope.
Instead, Elisha sends a simple servant with a simple message to do a simple task: wash in that filthy river seven times.
Confession: I've also gotten angry when God answered my desperate prayers in the "wrong way." I wrote the script for the miraculous answer I really wanted instead of the good gift He gave me. That's big and stupid pride, pride that wants to control God instead of trusting Him with my whole heart.
Think: Can you understand Naaman's rage at being told by a servant to go and wash himself in a muddy river with no pomp or circumstance or magic words?
Pray: Ask God to make you grateful for His gifts, including that ones that come wrapped in plain, brown paper.
Do: Imagine what it would feel like to go and bathe yourself in a dirty river seven times in a row.  |
--
Mary E.Hickcox
www.CalvaryBaptistSM.orghttp://mary-neotes.blogspot.com/
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home