Tear my heart out

This is the story of Naaman. He was a powerful man, valiant and trustworthy, and yet he had leprosy. There are a lot of things to learn in this passage, but we are looking at fabric, so let's go down this road.

A young Israeli captive girl must have liked Naaman, for she told her mistress that there was a prophet that would be able to cure him. He told his master, and the master sent him and a letter to the king of Israel asking for healing...but he missed one part of the story. He asked the king to heal him, and not the prophet.

Imagine that you are the king and this fellow shows up at your throne with a letter pleading for you to heal a foreigner of leprosy. He brings tons of money and ten changes of clothes. Now these were not common everyday clothes, but stuff that was top of the line...highly valued and of fine workmanship. Stuff fit for a king. And of a healer. This was a serious plea for help with the finances to back it up.

Well, not only did the king not accept the clothes, he tore the ones that he was wearing. How could he heal anyone? Who would ask such a thing? Was the other person just trying to pick a fight?

I love his response...sort of ...”Am I God , to kill and to make alive, that this man is sending word to me to cure a man of his leprosy?” At least he knew who it would take to heal the man, and it was not him! Only God could do such a thing! The king did have the power to kill...he could have ordered any man dead in the kingdom and in the lands around through sword or war...but this man that was considered as good as dead because of the leprosy, and there was only separation to keep it from spreading to others, but no healing, of this disease. How could he be expected to make him alive? He was a ruler, not a healer. He didn't think to ask God how to go about using this for His glory or seeking the priests or prophets for help. But the prophet Elisha heard through the grapevine that the king had torn his clothes in great distress. He asked why he did such a wasteful thing instead of seeking God through His prophets. He sent word to have the man sent to him, and after varying events, Naaman was indeed healed.

So what? Do we not respond like the king? He failed to ask God how to answer the problem at hand. He destroyed something in response to the distress. He tore things apart looking for an answer instead of seeking and mending. He reacted with woe and upset instead of looking to find an answer..

My friends have gone through a lot lately, and when news comes of one more piece of distressing news, I fall into bed in tears, wondering how to even pray for them. They are hurting. They are scared. They are facing things I can only imagine would turn their worlds totally upside down. And I wonder how I can possible help. I can't make a dead husband alive, I can't cure cancer, I can't speak words of wisdom that are sensitive and wise and yet not possibly hurt their feelings in the process. I feel totally helpless like the king. It becomes about them and me, and I forget that there is a healer right there who can reassure them of eternal life and revive their crushed hearts, who can heal their bodies or at least their broken emotions in response to the potential of another bad diagnosis, and bring the type of healing that I cannot only not do, but complete understand. The healer is there, and all He has to do is catch wind that I am distressed and He asks me to send them to Him. I don't need to tear my clothes, but if I do, the word gets out to the one the message was originally meant for in the first place. I am not called to be the savior, He is. And He will live up to that name. That name, Savior, Comfortor, Healer, Counselor, and dozens of others, that will meet their needs. I am a willing vessel, but at moments like this I am reminded that I have little to offer but friendship and love and a Healer that is willing and able. And there even when we forget to ask...

That, my friends, is our God.