I have been reading the story of Elisha and I came across a dude called Naaman. He had leprosy and was looking for healing and word got to Elisha. As Naaman went to see Elisha, he met up with Elisha's servant, Elisha had told his servant to meet Naaman and tell him to go wash himself in river Jordan 7 times. Well, you would think this dude would go straight to river Jordan and do this because is this not what he has been looking for? but this dude got so angry that Elisha did not meet up with him personally and put his hand over his wounds and call out to heaven for his healing and to make matters worse he asked him to wash himself in river Jordan when there were better and cleaner rivers in the city! How dare he? Long story short, his servant had to beg him to do what Elisha said and he went ahead and washed his body 7 times in river Jordan and was healed.
I remember reading this story and thinking, "this dude is crazy, who does he think he is?" but the Holy Spirit convicted me of the many times I have acted like Naaman. Why? Because I have.....
Expectations of the answered
Naaman believed that God would ONLY heal him if Elisha would put his hand over his wounds and call out to heaven for his healing. He expected to be asked to do something grand BUT, God had other plans, a simpler plan which involved him going to the Jordan and wash his body 7 times.
How many times have you asked God to intervene in your situation expecting Him to answer you in a specific way. Praying for a spouse and giving Him a long list of the requirements you expect and even how, when and where to meet the person, praying for a certain job where you would do specific things and earn a certain amount of money, praying to get into a certain school, praying for healing of a loved one, praying for a specific idea, for a home, for a specific car e.t.c
The thing is, we have no power over God, He is GOD. He already had a plan for your life when He formed you in your mother's womb, He knows EVERYTHING! (Jeremiah 1:5)
Just like Naaman we may risk missing out on our answered prayer because we are focused on our expectations of how God will answer our prayers. We might miss out on that spouse, job, opportunity etc because God has not answered us in the way we expected Him to.
I used to wonder why sometimes people would say a loved one was healed even though they died, but I see it now that God answered that prayer but not in the way we expected Him to. I see men and women keeping good women and men in the friend-zone because they do not necessarily meet a 'silly' requirement in their list( I almost did this to my husband), I see people passing up internships or not-so-well praying jobs because they expect more yet that job would open up doors for what they wanted etc...
We have to get to a place where we trust that God has the BEST plan for us because He sees the beginning to the end. He knows EXACTLY what you need even before you ask Him (Mathew 6:8)
Compared the answered prayer
Naaman thought that other rivers (Abana and Pharphar) were better than Jordan and even if he was to go wash himself in a river, he would prefer them.
Has God ever answered your prayer and immediately when you see someone else's answered prayer you think that surely couldn't God have done this for you? I know I have been guilty of this.
Like you have been praying for a job and it comes then you hear your friend has landed another one that pays twice what you earn and start thinking..'that should have been my blessing' etc
Just like Naaman, where his answer lied (river Jordan) did not look as appealing as the other two rivers. If he had gone and washed himself in any of these two rivers (no pun intended for Kenyans :-)) he would not have received his healing. If you try to go for the same exact thing as our friend, neighbor, relative etc thinking that it would be an answer to our prayer, you might end up being disappointed and think why is God not coming through for you?
Again, God knows the EXACT thing you need to do, the opportunities you need to go for, the person you need etc He has custom made your life to fit your purpose. So stop comparing your journey to that of others, you have been instructed to go to 'river Jordan' do exactly that, do not waver just because it does not look glamorous or its not what you expected. Trust that God has everything under control.
By all means do not take this as me saying that you settle for less, instead take this to challenge you to ask God to confirm whenever something looks like an answered prayer from Him. So that you will not be too quick to get mad at God and miss out on the very thing you were praying for.
Just like Naaman, despite him not believing at first, God gave him another opportunity which led him to his healing. So do not be discouraged if you feel like you have passed on, on something that might have been God answering your prayer. Instead, pray for God to give you another chance and help you trust Him this time round. He is a God of infinite chances.
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