Thursday January 26, 2017

 

An Alternate Plan

 

You have been feeling shortness of breath and you think you may be having heart problems so you make an appointment to visit the cardiologist. After a thorough examination, the doctor tells you that you have a weak heart and that you need to do some cardiovascular exercises. Now you think to yourself, I am already short of breath, if I do exercises I am going to have a heart attack! Therefore, you decide to ignore the doctor’s advice and take matters into your own hands. The same thing happens in our relationship with God. We come to God with our problems, but when what He asks us to do does not make sense, we take matters into our own hands by either ignoring him or attempting to solve the situation on our own.

 

Today, we will peek into the life of a man named Gehazi. He was the servant of a poor Hebrew prophet named Elisha. One day there was a knock on Elisha’s door. A wealthy man named Naaman who suffered from leprosy arrived seeking healing. Elisha, instructed his servant Gehazi to open the door and tell Naaman to wash in the Jordan River. Naaman did as Gehazi instructed and he was healed from leprosy. Then he returned to offer Elisha some gifts as a token of his appreciation. Elisha politely declined and soon after Naaman departed on his way back home.

 

After Naaman had traveled some distance, Gehazi thought to himself; this makes no sense. We are poor and this man out of gratitude has offered us gifts yet my master will not accept them. I will run after Naaman and get whatever I can. So off went Gehazi in search of Naaman. When Naaman spotted Gehazi, he immediately got out of his chariot and asked if everything was ok. Gehazi replied; everything is ok. He proceeded to tell Naaman that some men had arrived at his master’s house who were in need and his master wanted to know if the offer of gifts still stood. Naaman responded, “by all means”; Gehazi then returned home and hid the gifts from his master.

 

2 Kings 5:25-27 NIV

 

 When he went in and stood before his master, Elisha asked him, “Where have you been, Gehazi?” “Your servant didn’t go anywhere,” Gehazi answered. But Elisha said to him, “Was not my spirit with you when the man got down from his chariot to meet you? Is this the time to take money or to accept clothes—or olive groves and vineyards, or flocks and herds, or male and female slaves? Naaman’s leprosy will cling to you and to your descendants forever.” Then Gehazi went from Elisha’s presence and his skin was leprous—it had become as white as snow.

 

Too often we are guilty of making the same mistake Gehazi made. When God asks us to do something that does not make sense, we think it is ok to go with an alternate plan. It is like saying to yourself; I know that this deal I am involved in is not on the up and up, but I will make sure and give the church a big offering. I know you want me to break this relationship but I will just invite him/her to church. Or, I know that you are asking me to stay in this marriage, but I will get divorced and build a Christian home instead.

 

There are two ways of finding out why God says what He says. You can either trust and follow His instructions or you can take matters into your own hands and live to regret not having trusted the Lord in the first place. At the end of the day, God is not looking for our help, what He wants more than anything else is our trust.