The Ordinary Path

So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stood at the door of Elisha's house. And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean.” (2 Kings 5:9-10 ESV). In our reading today, Namaan was guilty of greater expectations than he experienced in life. He had a skin disease and was told of a great prophet who could heal him. He had his expectation of what the healing would be like. In his mind, he had pictured the entire scene of how his healing would come about. I imagine he thought he would meet a quirky, old man who would emerge from the house, pray loudly to His God, make a big show with his hands to create a dramatic presentation and then heal him. As his entourage pulled up in front of the prophet’s house, it was just as he had pictured it. He was giddy with excitement. He was ready for the show. As he stepped out of his carriage, a young man, dressed in servants’ clothes, came out to meet him instead. The servant said, “Go wash yourself seven times in the Jordan River. Then your skin will be restored, and you will be healed of leprosy.” Namaan felt like a balloon whose air had just been let out. All those dreams and expectations just fell flat. Instead of being excited that he was going to be healed, he got angry and upset. He thought it was too simple and too ordinary. Why should he have to come all that way to bathe in a dirty river? Why couldn’t he bathe in a clean river where he would at least be clean afterwards? He was looking for the show more than the healing. I wonder if that’s how we are today? Are we looking for the spectacular moves of God while missing Him in the mundane? God does amazing things for each of us every day. We arrive to work safely; we get a paycheck at the end of the week; that song comes on the radio at just the right time; a friend sends a text at just the right moment. Our God does extraordinary things in ordinary ways. Are we missing it because we are looking for the extraordinary? Namaan almost did. Fortunately, he took a bath at the servants request and was healed. He learned that God doesn’t have to go over the top to do something spectacular. Most of our journey will be ordinary. Our schedules will be relatively the same and at the end of the day there will not have been anything done that would be seen as extraordinary. However, even the most ordinary things of life are designed and overseen by our God for the purpose of our good. Make it a practice to look for the ordinary things in your life today and thank God that He brings good from each of them. I have heard it said that it’s not where you come from that matters, but where you end up that counts. I’m not sure that’s really correct. Of course the end matters; but, Christ has taken care of that. It is the going that matters. Travel your path with the absolute assurance that everything God puts in your path is extraordinary.