Some of the most dangerous words in a Christian’s life are “I thought.”
I thought God would heal me at that healing service for everyone to see.
I thought God would restore my marriage by changing my husband's attitude.
I thought God would restore my finances by giving me this new job opportunity.
I thought that this was going to be the trial that God used to bring my child closer to Him.
We read about a man named Naaman in 2 Kings chapter 5 and his struggle with this very topic. Naaman was a well-respected commander in the army of the king of Aram. He was a great soldier, but was tragically stricken with leprosy. Naaman heard about this mighty prophet of God in Israel, Elisha, who could cure his disease.
Desperately in need of a miracle, Naaman traveled to the house of Elisha and received something different than he expected. Instead of Elisha putting on a spectacular display of healing, he didn’t even meet with Naaman. Elisha simply sent a messenger in his place with instructions for Naaman to go wash himself in the Jordan River sevens times. If he did this, Naaman’s flesh would be restored.
But Naaman went away angry and said, “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy”…So he turned and went off in a rage.
2 Kings 5:11-12
All too often, we allow our thoughts and ideas to interfere with God’s plans. We think we know what the best method is to answer our prayer request. Unfortunately, we can sometime miss God’s intervention simply because we expect it to look a certain way.
Naaman’s servants went to him and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’!” So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy.
2 Kings 5:13-14
If Naaman’s servant hadn’t encouraged him to obey these instructions, Naaman would have missed his miracle. How sad!
There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death.
Proverbs 14:12
Ladies, I want you to reflect upon the situations in your life that you are praying over. Are you missing your breakthrough because you don’t like the way God is answering it? We need to stop fashioning God into how we think He should operate and trust that His ways are always best. God can accomplish His purposes through many methods. Stop limiting Him by your own thinking.
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.
Isaiah 55:8
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ We hope that you will be able to join us for the "Taking Every Thought Captive" Conference on Saturday, September 19th from 9:00 a.m. - 3:oo p.m. We expect it to be a refreshing time for all women. Special Guest, Amy Carroll, from Proverbs 31 Ministries, will be speaking that day about her new book, "Breaking Up With Perfect." Tickets are $35. Go to eventbrite.com to get your ticket today.
For more information, go to http://www.womengetreal.org/event/taking-every-thought-captive-womens-conference/