Lessons from History: The Challenger Disaster

This post is a departure from my norm, but important to me just the same.  You may or may not know that I love history.  I have a social studies teaching degree, yet God has not seen fit to give me a traditional teaching job.  My children, however, get the occasional free history lesson from mom.  J  Recently, my sixth grade son decided to participate in his school’s fine arts competition.  His category is Patriotic Reading.  I helped him search for possibilities (which gave me a few mini-lesson opportunities) before settling on President Ronald Reagan’s speech to the nation on January 28, 1986—the day of the Challenger disaster.

Before he began working on the speech, I gathered the children around to talk to them about that day.  I wanted him to understand the context and importance of the speech he would be memorizing. 

First, I explained about space shuttles.  Having the privilege of growing up in North Alabama near the Space Flight Center, I grew up in the center of space news.  We heard about the space program all the time and many people that we knew worked in and around the space program in some capacity.  We sometimes saw huge space-related parts floating on barges down the Tennessee River.  I think every kid in N. Alabama goes to Marshall Space Flight Center on at least one field trip in their lives.  We think it is absolutely normal to drive down the road and see rockets standing on the side.  My point is that the space program was familiar and dear to us.  I loved watching space shuttle launches!  It was just amazing to imagine what it would be like to actually go into space and see the vastness of God’s universe.

I looked up video of how space shuttles launched like rockets and landed like airplanes….the kids were amazed.  Then, I showed them the Challenger launch.  I was amazed at how all the emotion I remember feeling came rushing back.  I was 11yrs old and in the 6^th grade….just like my son is now.  We didn’t see it live, but as soon as it happened, school pretty much stopped while we watched the coverage on TV.  We were in shock.  There’s no way to know how many times I’ve seen that video.  It looks SO perfect:  the sleek white shuttle in the clear blue sky.  You watch that knowing what’s going to happen next and it is heart-wrenching. 

My kids watched—speechless.  I sat there with tears streaming down my face.  You might be wandering why I would show them/tell them about something so traumatic.  I think it’s important to teach them about real life.  They handled it very well, and asked lots of great questions.  It’s so important to know these things.  It’s important to know that God is still loving and caring, even when bad things happen.

We talked about the astronauts and Christa McAuliffe.  As I read to them about McAuliffe, I realized that she was 37 years old – the same age I am now.  Wow.  That put a whole new perspective on it for me, too.

Then we watched President Reagan’s speech.  I get chills every time I hear it.  I remember that night, watching it in my grandparents’ living room.  We all sat glued to his words.  What a great president!  I wanted my kids to see and experience what it was like to hear him.   They sat there quietly listening—it’s not very long.  When it ended, I asked my son, “Does that help you know more about your speech?”  He nodded in awe. 

I want him to do his best.  He’s never done a speech before, so I don’t want him to be scared about it.  Whatever happens at Fine Arts is really not important.  The important stuff already happened.  I was able to share with my children how God and historical events are inevitably intertwined.  I was reminded just how grateful I am for my life:  Where I’m from, what I’ve experienced, that I’m able to pass on something meaningful to my children.  God has given me a tremendous classroom – my own home.

Tomorrow is the 26^th anniversary of that fateful day.  It’s one of those “I remember exactly where I was” moments in life.  What can you learn from it?

It is important to take opportunities to weave spiritual lessons into every day life.

What lessons have you learned from history?

A New Year - A New Look at My Way of Life

Resolutions.  I’m not really big on New Year’s Resolutions…..probably because I make a continuous habit of it all year long.  I am constantly “resolving” to do or change something.  It used to make me constantly overwhelmed with life because I had way too many resolutions to follow; therefore, I constantly felt like a failure.

Now that I have a new perspective on things, I find that I can keep my “resolving” in check—for the most part.  There is one thing in particular that I’ve been thinking on for several weeks---How does my life advance the gospel? 

For the past weeks/months I have become increasingly weary of hearing, seeing, reading all sorts of debate and arguments over peripheral issues.  Debate and discussion have their place, but what is most important?

It really struck me a few weeks ago when I was listening to a NFL analyst talk about Tim Tebow.  There has been so much sports debate about whether or not Tebow will make it in the NFL, but this guy was different.  He was completely amazed at Tebow’s testimony.  Of course, he didn’t use the word “testimony”, but he talked on and on about how Tebow reacts to adversity, how he treats those who say mean things about him, etc.  This analyst said that he considered himself to be a spiritual person, but whatever it is that Tebow has, he wants it.  Personally, I like to watch Tim Tebow play football, and I hope he succeeds.  If you ask Tim Tebow, I’m pretty sure that to him football is a tool that will give him a platform to advance the gospel.  Football happens to be the platform God has given Tim Tebow. 

What has God given me?  We easily fall into the trap of thinking, “If I were famous….,  If I had lots of money…., If I lived in a certain place…..then it would be easier for me to live for Christ.”  That’s not how it works.  We are to live for Christ and advance the gospel from wherever we are right now.

For those of you who have read earlier blog posts, you know that I love Philippians.  Recently I sat down and read through Philippians twice in one sitting.  I was struck by just how much Paul addresses the topic of advancing the gospel.  Paul was usually “on the run” or in prison, yet look at what he has to say about how we are to live to advance the gospel of Christ. 

Paul says in 1:12-14, I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ.  And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.  He goes on to say in verse 16, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel.

In verses 18-21 he continues, I will rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.  For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

Verse 27:  Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel,

Chapter 2:1-8 – These verses speak for themselves.  What an example of humility Christ is for us!  Following this example would transform our lives.

So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.  Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.  Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.  Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men, and being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

2:16 – Holding fast to the Word of Life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.

The above verses from chapter 2 are a huge rebuke to me.  I struggle constantly with the tendency to defend myself and others close to me.  If I have been wronged, it is easy for me to feel like that I deserve to put them in their place.  I don’t.  It’s not up to me.  I don’t have to have the last word.  I need to show Christ.

3:12-17 – Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me His own.  Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own.  But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

I, too, have not arrived and am far from perfect, but I do strive to press on daily.  Don’t get hung up on past failures.  Assess where you are now and press on!

I’ll close with my favorite verses from chapter 4…

Verses 4-9 – Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.  Let your reasonableness be known to everyone.  The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding; will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

Verse 13 – I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.

Verse 19 – And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

We tend to quote verse 19 with physical needs in mind:  food, money, clothes, etc.  I don’t think I’ve ever heard it explained any other way, but of course we have more than just those physical needs.  Well, I do, anyway.  I need comfort, security, strength, patience, wisdom, grace…..God supplies those needs too…in abundance!

Am I living in such a way that my very way of life advances the gospel?  It’s possible.  Following Christ’s example of humility, having my mind/thoughts on track, trusting wholly in God for what I need both physically and spiritually…..those things will enable me to reflect Christ to others every day.

Happy New Year!

A Really Personal Relationship With God

Personal relationship with God….we toss that phrase around so flippantly.  Have you really thought about what that means?  Think about your other personal relationships:  parents, siblings, spouses, children, friends.  You know these people.  You rejoice when they rejoice.  You hurt when they hurt.  You would move heaven and earth to do something for them in most cases.  What about God?  You know the term relationship implies reciprocal affection.  As believers, we are not just “fans” of a great God; we have a relationship with Him.  He is our Father.  It’s hard for me to fathom that, really.

Lately, I’ve been meditating on what it really means to have a personal relationship with God.  Sadly, I haven’t always lived in that reality.  This may seem a bit disjointed but I wanted to highlight a few “a-ha” moments for me. 

As I’ve thought about this, I recall the first time it really hit me that God cares about me, Kelly, personally.  I was in high school working on an assignment for Bible class.  We were studying through the gospel of John.  John 17 is known as Jesus’ “High Priestly Prayer”.  This is just before Judas betrayed Him.  (I encourage you to go read the entire thing….you’ll find yourself backing up a couple of chapters just to get context.)  The verse that jumped out at me was John 17:20.  Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word.  Do you see that?  He (Jesus) was praying for His disciples and those believers that would remain, and for them also which shall believe on me through their word.  We are those that believed through their word!  God’s divine plan is for His gospel to be spread personally.  He was praying for you and me that night!  Doesn’t that just give you chills all over??  Maybe it’s just me, but it makes me want to shout or something! 

Fast forward a few years….ok, ok, a lot of years!  A couple of summers ago, we had the awesome opportunity to visit the Creation Museum in northern Kentucky.  (It’s actually very near Cincinnati, OH.)  I know that’s not really “on the way” to anything for most of you, but if you ever have the chance to go, GO.  It is AMAZING!!  Anyway, they have a very, very nice planetarium there.  They show different things, and I don’t even remember the official name of what we saw, but I’ll do my best to describe it to you.  It was life-changing.  In case you’ve never seen something like this, let me explain briefly.  It’s like watching a space movie on the ceiling.  They had really comfy chairs that reclined all the way back. Before it even started, I told the kids that no matter how much it felt like they were moving, they were going to be sitting in these chairs the whole time.  My little pep talk did not keep Zane from leaving marks on my arm from his holding on for dear life!  Anyway….we started out seeing an aerial view of the Creation Museum.  The camera would zoom out farther and farther explaining how earth relates to the atmosphere, moon, solar system, galaxies, universe, etc.  Of course, it didn’t take long before we couldn’t even see earth anymore.  Then our solar system disappeared….then the Milky Way…..you get the idea.  All I could think about while watching this was how the God that spoke this vast expanse into existence loved ME enough to send His Son to die for ME.  Tears streamed down my face as the reality of just how personal my great God is hit me.

Fast forward to now.  These past few months, I have really been struck with just how necessary it is to maintain that personal relationship with God.  Yes, He saved me, but it doesn’t stop there.  I need Him to be involved in every thing I do.  Every decision. Every hurt. Every question. Every joy. Every thing.  I often think of the Elizabeth Elliot quote that I’ve shared before:  “How to keep a quiet heart?  Put your whole trust in a God who is rational, personal, loving, and completely in charge of the whole universe and every tiniest detail of our lives.”

There is nothing about my circumstances that God doesn’t know.  He orchestrates each of our lives and circumstances together.  Loving and caring for each of His children personally. 

I find that I look at everything so differently.  I get so excited when I read passages from the Bible or hear messages that illustrate how personal God is.  I know that often I am guilty of categorizing the people that I read about in the Bible as “different” or somehow “special”.  These dear people whose lives are recorded for us, are just that – people.  I’m sure that they never thought of themselves as “ultra-spiritual”.  I wonder if any of them even know what God wrote about them.  The personal God of the Bible is the very same personal God that we serve today.  That is so exciting to think about!

It’s Christmas.  Think about the Christmas story in light of how personal God was to Mary and Joseph, the shepherds, Simeon, Anna, the men from the East, even King Herod.  Think about how the coming of Jesus to earth has affected you personally.

Galatians 4:4-7 - But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

Merry Christmas!

I've Got a Plan....Is It God's?

I just love it when a great plan comes together!  Seriously.  I LOVE to plan things.  I am addicted to lists.  I will make a list of lists that I need to make—yes, it’s bad.  When life is crazy, list making gives me some sense of being in control.—remember, I’m a control-freak.  There is nothing more disconcerting for someone like me than when a plan fails.  Over the last few years, I have learned to be more flexible.  I have learned that the world won’t end if things don’t go as I have them planned.  How important are my plans anyway?  If my plan is not in line with God’s plan, then my plan is no good at all.

Think about this….for hundreds of years, the Jews watched and waited for their promised Messiah.  They imagined that He would deliver them from earthly oppression.  When Jesus was on earth, they expected that if He were truly the Messiah that He would overthrow the Romans and set up His kingdom.  Of course, that’s not what happened.  Jesus came without earthly “pomp and circumstance” and ministered to those who were rejected by society, yet He was the promised One.  Because the Messiah did not come in the way they expected, and He didn’t perform the function that they expected, He was largely rejected.

Does God ever provide for me in ways that I don’t expect?  Using means that I’ve not thought about?  I am often guilty of figuring out a plan that I think God should follow.  How foolish!  When I figure out the plan and wait for God to follow it, I miss out on watching God work.  Since the beginning of time, God has illustrated to us that He knows what is best, and His timing is perfect.  Why do I continue to fight that?

Of course, God knew we would struggle with this.  Over and over throughout scripture He encourages us, instructs us, and gives us examples to follow.  Here are some that immediately come to mind:

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8-9 

As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him.  Psalm 18:30

Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him:  Psalm 37:7

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.  Isaiah 26:3

Even when life seems upside down and there is no “plan”, God has one.  He is not surprised by anything.  He, our loving heavenly Father, graciously provides what is best for each of us.  God doesn’t need me to plan for Him.  He just needs me to be willing to wait, watch, and follow. 

I have purposed to watch expectantly for what God is doing every day.  It’s amazing what you’ll see, if you just look!

Encouragement to keep following...

In our church's evening service this past Sunday, we sang 2 songs that were such a tremendous encouragement to me.  I love to really think about the words to songs as we sing them, and these two go right along with my most recent post.  Singing these brought tears to my eyes.  Another wonderful way to rehearse truth about God is through song.

I first learned I Will Follow (by Mac Lynch) when I was in high school.  Our tiny Christian school had an ensemble that traveled around to minister in local churches.  One of the songs we sang was I Will Follow.  I can't tell you how many times I've sung this since then, but it never gets old.  As a matter of fact, it's message grows sweeter.

I will follow Thee, my Savior, Where'er the pathway may go:

Thru' the storm or thru' the valley Or thru' great trials so low.

I will live for Thee, my Savior, Tho' war and strife mark the way.

I'm so weak, but Thou art mighty, So live thru' me day by day.

I surrender all, my Savior, I hold no thing back from Thee;

Every part is Thine to use, Lord, Thy living sacrifice be.

Refrain

I rest in Thee, trust in Thee, I place my life in Thy hands.

I will follow Thee, my Savior; Lead on, my Shepherd, lead on.

The next song was Trust His Word (by Ron Hamilton).  It's a beautiful reminder of how our great God, the Creator of the universe is interested in our personal lives.

Jesus made each star in Heaven; He created earth and sea.

He's the keeper of all knowledge, What is past and what will be.

Yet He offers His great wisdom So you will not lose your way.

Like a lamp it glows; ev'ry step it shows.  You can know His will each day.

He is not a distant stranger; He can be your closest friend.

And He'll always listen closely When you share your heart with Him.

Jesus walks the path beside you; He has been there all along.

And He'll guide your feet when your step is weak, And your strength is almost gone.

Refrain

Trust His Word!  Trust His Word!

All God's promises are true.  Trust His Word!

When your pathway disappears,

When your joy gives way to tears,

When your plagued with doubts and fears, Trust His Word!

What songs have encouraged you lately?

Following….One Step at a Time

What a month!  I haven’t posted anything new in a couple of weeks, but it’s certainly not because I haven’t been learning anything!  As a matter of fact, I have visited my own blog several times reading over and over again the things that I know to be true about my God.  Over the past weeks/months God has been doing some radical things in my family.  I can’t possibly go into all the details here, but I do want to share something that keeps coming back to my mind over and over again.

When we think about our lives, I’m sure that each of us can pinpoint several major milestones or crossroads--points where we experience life-changing direction.  I know that in my own life, I’ve thought many times, “This would be so much easier if God spoke to me through neon signs in the night sky.”  What I’m really saying is that I could follow so much easier if I just had clear, indisputable direction.  Is that really true, though??  Is it easier to follow clear direction?  I don’t think so….at least not right now, it’s not.  God has clearly directed in our lives, and we are now standing at one of those crossroads.  It’s like we are waiting in the middle of the intersection without a clue as to which direction to take.  We didn’t just happen upon this place.  God brought us here—I have no doubt about that.  But what now?

I’ve been rehearsing truth about God.  God is sovereign.  He makes no mistakes.  He loves me.  He is good.  He wants to be glorified in every circumstance.  He gives grace for every trial.  He has a solution before I even know I have a problem.

As I’ve thought about these things, I remembered Abraham.  In Genesis 22, God told Abraham to take his only son Isaac and offer him as a burnt offering to the Lord.  God audibly spoke to Abraham—you really can’t get direction any clearer than that!  How hard that must have been for Abraham!

As I read through this chapter several things jumped out at me.  God’s initial instructions to Abraham were, “Take your only son to the Land of Moriah and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”  God told him enough to get him started on his journey, but He also says “on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”  I don’t think Abraham knew yet exactly to which mountain he would be going. 

He got up early the next morning and chose two young men to accompany him and Isaac on this journey.  They traveled for three days.  Don’t you imagine that with every step of that long journey Abraham was rehearsing what he knew to be true about God?  God keeps His promises.  God miraculously gave me a son.  God said that a nation would come from Isaac’s offspring.  God has told me to kill my son.  These thoughts probably went around and around in Abraham’s mind, yet he obeyed God…one step at a time. 

The Bible tells us that on the 3^rd day “he (Abraham) lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar off.”  I’m not sure how he knew, but when it was time, God let him know the place.  At this point, he left his servants with the donkey and continued on with Isaac telling them, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.”

Do you see that?  Abraham has been told to offer his son up as a sacrifice, yet he basically tells his servants, “We’ll be back later”.

Abraham didn’t know exactly what God was going to do, but he did know God.  He trusted that somehow God would spare his son.  BUT here’s what is important to see here….He’s not questioning God.  He’s not saying, “Ok…where’s the catch?  I need to see the end result before I can obey.”  He is obeying each step of the way.

Abraham and Isaac continued on.  Isaac even asked Abraham, “Where is the lamb?”  Abraham’s answer, “God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering.”

They finally came to the place, but Abraham did not waiver.  He prepared the altar, bound Isaac and placed him on the altar, raised the knife to kill him….obeying every step of the way.  THEN the Angel of the Lord spoke.  “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son from me.”  There in the thicket was the ram that God provided for the offering.

Abraham named that place The Lord will Provide.  Doesn’t that just give you chills? 

 
The same God that clearly directed and provided for Abraham is the same God that is directing and providing for you and me.  He is our personal God.  Abraham was not a superhuman, but he had the same personal God.

Do we withhold things from God?  Do we hesitate to obey because we don’t know the end result?  It is hard to obey when we can’t see the end, but we trust an all-knowing, all-wise God.  We have to literally rest in the knowledge that He knows our end.  He is directing us to that end.

We have no choice but to follow Him…one step at a time.

Rest For The Weary Mind and Heart

Wow….this post is long overdue.  Finding time to put my thoughts in order has been difficult lately.  Today, my goal is to just barely scratch the service of an unending topic – The Sovereignty of God.  Take a moment to think about that.  God is sovereign over ALL things.  NOTHING surprises Him.  I’ve been meditating on this for months…

When I am physically and mentally weary, I long for rest.  I have found sweet rest in mediating on the sovereignty of God.  As I’ve mentioned before, I struggle a lot because of my tendency to control situations and solve problems.  I can be easily overwhelmed by situations and circumstances that are beyond my control.  Constantly reminding myself that God is in control of everything—especially when I am not—gives my mind rest.

Why am I spending so much time meditating on something that is seemingly obvious?  Because, we tend to skim over the obvious.  We fail to personalize something so profound.  When you personalize the fact that God is sovereign over all things, it will change the way you live.

A few weeks ago, I was listening to Elizabeth Elliott speak about having a quiet heart.  She said this, “How to keep a quiet heart?  Put your whole trust in a God who is rational, personal, loving, and completely in charge of the whole universe and every tiniest detail of our lives.”

I don’t really have trouble remembering that God is in charge of the whole universe, but I do have trouble remembering that God is in charge of every tiny detail of my life.  Think about that for a minute.  Every detail….  Every. Single. One. 

Wow.  That puts a whole new spin on things, doesn’t it? 

When we go through trials---no matter what they are, we tend to pray for relief.  “God, please deliver me.”  “Make it go away.”  “I can’t deal with that person.”  We are tempted to think we need to inform God of the solution.  Once we let Him know what we need, then we think it won’t be long before something happens.  We even think up complicated scenarios and solutions to produce our expected outcome.  We are willing to jump through all kinds of hoops.  We could save ourselves a whole lot of time and energy if we just remind ourselves of the simple truth – God is sovereign.  It’s so simple, really.  God knows every detail.  He will use the trials in my life to make me more like Him.  I should really be praying, “Lord, show me how I should respond, so that I will be more like you.”

Simple doesn’t equal easy.  Oh, it is so hard to just let go of self.  My tendency is to preserve self or make myself look good in difficult situations.  My goal should be to reflect Christ.  It’s so easy to think that “reflecting Christ” is reserved for only some circumstances.  No.  No matter how difficult it seems, I should reflect Christ in all circumstances.  Yes, all of them.  Remembering that God is sovereign helps me do that.  I know that I’m not always successful, but I do find that I am more mindful—even in the seemingly mundane things of life.

As I said, I’ve been thinking about these things for weeks—a whirlwind of thoughts swirling through my head.  I’ve been struggling with how to make all of this come together, then I found it!  The story of Naaman.  We talked about this last Wednesday night, and I just sat there jumping up and down inside.  I probably would have made a few people nervous if I had been jumping up and down on the outside. J  To summarize the story (found in 2 Kings 5), Naaman was the wealthy, mighty, Captain of the Host of Syria.   He was also lost (unsaved), stubborn and proud.  In his home lived a slave girl who had been taken from her home in Israel.  This little girl (her name is never mentioned) believed in the true God of Israel.  She was evidently loyal to her master and his family because she was concerned for him and his family.  He had leprosy.  All of his riches, honor, and power could not heal him.  The slave girl wished that there was a prophet of God in Samaria, so that he could be healed.  Since he had no other option, Naaman visited Israel in search of a cure – first going to the king, and then eventually to Elisha, the prophet.  Elisha’s instructions:  Go dip in the muddy Jordan River seven times.  Naaman’s reaction:  anger.  Naaman was prepared for something WAY more grandiose and complicated.  His servants, talked some sense into him…..They said, you know you would do something far more difficult.  He’s telling you to go dip in the Jordan seven times.  You can do this.  When he obeyed, he was healed.  Not only was he healed physically, but he believed on God and rejected the idols of his country.

How does Naaman’s story apply to me today? 

Naaman’s circumstances were beyond his control.  Most things that overwhelm me are beyond my control.  God provided a way for healing even before Naaman knew he needed it.  He found out about the God of Israel through his slave girl.  Think about this….the day that little girl was kidnapped from her family and taken to a foreign country to live, she, too, was placed in a situation out of her control.  God in his sovereignty orchestrated it all!  He placed her in Naaman’s house.  Although she was a young girl AND a slave, she apparently responded correctly to her situation.  I don’t think she was rebellious and wishing evil on Naaman and his family.  She cared enough to tell them about her God.  Because she responded to her ongoing trial (slavery) correctly, Naaman was healed and believed in God.  Oh, and another thing….we don’t know her name.  It doesn’t really matter what her name was, what matters is who her God is.  Self doesn’t matter.  God does.

Back to Naaman….he visits Elisha and gets instructions for healing.  They were simple.  Dip in the Jordan River seven times.  He was rich and powerful, a mighty soldier, he could do anything, BUT how would it look for him to be going down into the muddy old Jordan River?  That wouldn’t be very dignified, would it?  What would others think?  or  Maybe the problem was there would be too little attention there.  Whatever, his reasons, it is clear that Naaman had other ideas.

How many times do I think my ways are better than God’s ways?  I need to simply obey.

Naaman’s obedience brought him healing and new life.  My first step of obedience of believing in Christ alone for salvation brought me new life.  My continued obedience to His Word, brings me healing and joy as I grow to be more like Him.

When I try to break such gigantic truths down into “bite-sized” pieces, I think about Psalm 139 (another great passage illustrating God’s sovereignty).  Ps. 139:6 says, Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain it.  I trust that these simple, yet profound truths will encourage you in your walk with Christ. 

Rest in God’s Sovereignty.  Reflect Christ.