Naaman

A few weeks ago at church, the sermon started out looking at the life of Naaman. It's been a really long time since I've heard Naaman's story and I forgot how great it is. Where else in the Bible do you have someone "arriving in style" at a prophet's house (according to the NIV)?

The basic gist of the story is that Naaman is from a different country than Israel and gets sick. He is told he should go see Elisha to get healed and so he goes to Israel and takes with him a bunch of money to both impress Elisha and to compensate Elisha for the healing. When he gets there Elisha doesn't even come out to see Naaman and instead sends his servant out with the instructions on how to be healed. Naaman get's furious and storms off. And I'll let you look up the story to see how it ends.

But what stood out to me was how Naaman ignored the instructions and almost missed being healed all because he dismissed the messenger. It made me wonder how often I do the same. It's sad to say, but I probably dismiss what might be words from God based on the appearance, social standing, age, or status of a person more often than I should.

I shouldn't be surprised by that. Biblically, it's often the unexpected people who God chooses to use. And while I've been taught that and clearly see that in the Bible, it's sad that I often don't apply that to my own life. I guess it's good reason to pause the next time I feel ruffled by Godly advice and ask the question and I'm ruffled because of the message or the messenger?