This Doesn't Make Sense

“Go wash yourself seven times in the Jordan River. Then your skin will be restored and you will be healed of your leprosy.” 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! Aren’t the rivers of Damascus, the Abana and the Pharpar, better than any of the rivers of Israel? Why shouldn’t I wash in them and be healed?” So Naaman turned and went away in a rage. - 2 Kings 5:10-12

There’s so much we can learn from the story of Naaman. Here was a man, wanting so badly to be healed of the leprosy he’d been suffering from for so long, and when he finally goes to Elisha to be healed, Elisha’s response is somewhat unexpected. 

First of all, Elisha tells Naaman to go wash himself in a river seven times. Naaman makes a great point after he’s given these instructions, saying, “I expected him to wave his hand over the leprosy and call on the name of the Lord his God and heal me!” Isn’t that how we expect God to work a lot of times? We find ourselves in pain or discomfort. So we pray and ask God to relieve us, and then expect Him to do so immediately. Unfortunately, God very rarely answers our prayers the minute we pray them, but that doesn’t mean He never will.

In addition to not healing him immediately, Elisha tells Naaman to go dip seven times in the Jordan River. Now, to be honest, I wouldn’t have thought twice about this verse a few years ago before I had the chance to visit Israel and see the Jordan River in person. But now, I get why Naaman was so confused by Elisha’s instructions. 

When I went to Israel, I fully expected the Jordan River to resemble the Chattahoochee River in North Georgia - big, wide, and blue. But that wasn’t the case at all. When we got to the Jordan River, I can remember asking out loud, “This is it?” The river was pretty unremarkable. It was narrow, calm, and had a murky, brown color. As soon as you stepped into it, you couldn’t even see your feet. So if I had been Naaman and I was told to go dip myself in this muddy river to clear up my skin disease, I probably would have had the same reaction he did. 

But again, God rarely answers our prayers the way we think He will. Thankfully though, we see from Naaman’s story that once he submitted to Elisha’s instructions, he was completely healed of his leprosy. Even though those instructions didn’t make sense, and even though the healing didn’t happen immediately, Naaman’s prayers were answered. And in the same way, your prayers can be answered too. Sure, it might not be in the way or in the time you hoped, but we serve a very intentional God. He knows what He’s doing. And He can give you the relief and the healing you’re hoping for if you can trust Him to do so, even when His methods or His timing don't make any sense.