SPIRITUAL MATTERS
The general and the housemaid
There are so many great stories in the Old Testament. The story of creation. Moses parting the Red Sea. My namesake Judith chopping off the head of Holofernes. God uses all of them to reveal His great love for us and His unfolding plan for our salvation. One of my favorite stories is about Naaman and how God cured him of leprosy. I’m drawn to his story, not because it makes me feel good to read it, but because it makes me feel uncomfortable. It’s a good bet that when a story from Scripture makes me uncomfortable it’s because God is trying to get something through my thick skull. And with Naaman, I think I know what it is.
You’ll find the story of Naaman told in II Kings, chapter 5. Here’s the gist of it. Naaman is an army general in ancient Syria. He’s got everything going for him—he’s rich and strong and powerful. His career is going great. The only downside to anything about Naaman is the fact that he has leprosy, which in those days was devastating both physically and socially. Even so, he was a big deal in Syria. Living in his household was a little Jewish girl who had been captured in an army raid and who served as a maid to Naaman’s wife. She wanted her master to see the prophet Elisha whom she knew could cure his leprosy. So Naaman wrote to the king of Israel and was invited to come and see the prophet. After the long journey, Naaman arrived in court and Elisha sent word to him telling him to wash 7 times in the
Jordan River and he’d be cured.
This really made Naaman mad. To begin with, he was a great general and this prophet couldn’t even be bothered to come outside and greet him personally? Naaman thought he’d get his cure when Elisha would pray for him and lay his hands on him. But no. Elisha had the audacity to tell him to bathe in this muddy, filthy little backwater creek they called the Jordan. Weren’t the mighty rivers of Damascus more beautiful, more powerful and more suited for a general like himself?
So in his anger Naaman got ready to leave. But his servants stopped him from going. They said if Elisha had asked Naaman to do something really difficult or extravagant that he’d have done it. Naaman agreed. Really sir, they told him, all you’ve got to do is go wash in the river. Naaman thought it over and did as he was told. And sure enough, his leprosy disappeared. He got the cure that he’d desperately longed for, but the way he went about it is what reminds me of my own sins and shortcomings. Sometimes when God blesses me I still find a reason to be unhappy with it. With Him. I think, “God, this isn’t the way I thought it would be.” When I had imagined Him answering my prayer, I had imagined Him doing it MY way. And when I do that, I limit God. Even though God alone can know what is best for me, I want him to bless me on MY terms. I want the prophet to come meet me personally, like Naaman did. I want God to bless me in the way that I expect to be blessed, in a way that will honor and exalt me. I don’t want to bathe in a muddy creek even though that’s exactly what I might need to do in order to be blessed. Me and Naaman? We understand each other.
Naaman and I are proud. We want to be treated like we’re important. We want a showy cure, something we think is “worthy” of us. What we have
to learn is humility. For me, this is a daily lesson. Sometimes the greatest healings and most profound blessings come to us in the simple, straightforward “stuff” of our daily lives: our jobs, our families, our friends, and all the small ordinary challenges of every day. Too often we expect the Lord’s blessings to be big and dramatic: we win the lottery, we find a cure for cancer, we are awarded the Nobel Prize. But God uses the most mundane things and ordinary processes to perform His great miracles. He creates the universe with His word. He uses spittle and mud to cure a blind man. His breath imparts the Holy Spirit. Water cleanses us of sin in Baptism. Bread and wine become His precious Body and Blood.
Naaman reminds me not to try and put God in a box. My prayers (and my life) should reflect humility and gratitude. When God blesses me every moment my heart and my hands must be open to accept His gifts. Naaman’s little housemaid knew that. She knew that if her master asked, he’d be cured. May my heart be like her heart.
“Cast all your anxiety on Him because he cares for you.” — I Peter 5:7
Glenda Smiley, Pleasant Valley Baptist Church
Pleasant Valley Baptist sends a special invitation for you to worship with us each and every week. It would be our honor to have you join with us.
Pleasant Valley Baptist has resumed normal in-person service meeting times, Sunday at 11 am and 6 pm with Wednesday Bible study at 7 pm. All services will be available on Facebook as well. Continue to act
wisely and be safe.
Pleasant Valley Baptist will be recognizing and celebrating all Veterans on this Sunday, November 14, 10:30 AM. All veterans are extended a special invitation to this service. Come and worship the Lord and honor all who have served our nation. Spend the day with us and stay for a delicious dinner after the morning service. Special guest speaker will be Sgt. James Bode, Vietnam Veteran and Purple Heart Recipient. Our other special guest, will be you. We look forward to seeing you.
Pastor Flood brought a wonderful message from God during the morning service. It was powerful and insightful. The message was based on Luke 8, the woman with the issue of blood for 12 years. She had tried everything and exhausted her means. She came in faith believing Christ alone would heal her if only she could but touch the hem of His garment. She followed behind Christ broken, poor, and humble. She saw her unworthiness. She had to press through the crowd, who was there for various reasons. She was hindered but was determine in her pursuit of getting to Jesus. Reaching Jesus she touched the hem of His garment. Jesus immediately ask who had touched Him because He knew virtue (power) had gone out of Him. Many in the crowd had touched Him but nothing had happened. Their reasons for being there had impaired the working of God. This woman had come in faith believing Christ was the only source for her healing. The woman had probably kept her problem secret for many years but realized with this blessing she could no longer remain hidden nor did she want to hid.
Pastor pointed out this passage also relates to us today. The power of Christ is unlimited to us just as it was in this healing. And the example of this woman’s faith is the faith necessary with salvation. We
must come broken, poor, and humble. We must understand we are nothing and can do nothing to have the hope of eternal life. Apart from faith in the sacrificial death, burial, and resurrection of Christ in our stead, in our place, we have hope. All are sinners from birth and all need Christ as our Savior.
Whosoever will repent of their sin and receive Christ will be saved. Pray, confess your sin, by faith, believe and accept Jesus and His finished work of grace on the cross as payment for your sin. The saying, “sin will take you farther than you meant to go, keep you longer than you meant to stay, and cost you more than you meant to pay”. Sin in life has natural consequences, but Christ has paid our debt for sin with God that we can know and have the hope of eternal life and peace with God. We need only to believe and receive in faith.
Pray for our country. We are living in a time never experienced before. Living in last days before return of Christ for all who have placed their trust in Christ, the true church. Pray for God’s mercy, wisdom, and help. Pray for our President and other leaders God has allowed to be in these positions. God raises men up and puts men down. America is experiencing the results of choosing to turn away from God, the principle of reaping what has been sown. Our hope is God and as a nation we must repent. America, indeed the world, needs for God to send revival. Let revival begin within each of our hearts. Pray for revival and souls to be saved.
Continue to pray for members Mike Cross, Denise Pitts, Betty Pitts, Larry Armstrong, Pastor and his family, myself, Glenda Smiley and all who need our prayers. Pray for our shut-ins Dot Mcallister and Lula Petty, health needs. Pray for those who have recently lost loved ones. Pray for our churches, missionaries, and evangelist. Praise the Lord for improvement in Covid cases and continuing to exercise caution.
Join us Sunday mornings at 11 am and evenings 6 pm for inperson services. Sunday services are available on Facebook and Youtube with Wednesday Bible study on Facebook at 7 pm.