Consumed by Opportunism

But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha, the man of God, said to himself, “My master should not have let this Aramean get away without accepting any of his gifts. As surely as the Lord lives, I will chase after him and get something from him.” – 2 Kings 5:20

Some people are entrepreneurial to the point where they never let an opportunity get away without seizing it. I supposed that sometimes that works, but probably more often it doesn’t. When it doesn’t, they have to cut their losses.

Behind the scenes, something more the entrepreneurial nature can kick in. We’re sinful after all, right? Perhaps some opportunities should be left alone.

Today we’re breaking our six month rule to share a devotional with you from Pastor Jack Jacob, who writes at Meanderings of a Minister. Click the link in the title below to read this where it first appeared. (There’s a movie monster pic waiting for you if you do!) You’ll also find a link to listen to the devotional on Spotify. We’ve linked a recommended second article if you’d like to read more of his writing.

If you’re unfamiliar with today’s story, or just want to dig deeper, as I did this morning, it’s from 2 Kings 5.

The Monster Within

I used to really enjoy the old monster movies as a young boy. No, not the Dracula, Frankenstein or Mummy movies. I enjoyed the old Godzilla movies and others that were imported from Japan and badly dubbed. I am not sure what I liked about watching them as they were usually cheaply made, badly acted and the mouths never lined up with the words, but I did. Looking back psychoanalytically, I guess it might have been the fact that the monster supposedly came from a little normal looking creature and, after exposure to nuclear waste, high voltage, chemicals or a volcano (depending on the movie), they turned into an incredibly powerful monster that was super-powerful and mostly misunderstood. I mean, Godzilla didn’t MEAN to crush the tiny model cars, he just couldn’t see them! He couldn’t even turn his head without turning his whole body. But I digress.

As I was reading 2 Kings 5:20-26, I began to think about how this same situation lies within all of us. No, we will probably not grow to tower over a fake Tokyo, but there lies within all of us a monster that would love to get out and wreak havoc on our world. How did I get that from 2 Kings 5:20-26? Glad you asked.

Gehazi was the servant of Elisha. Elisha had just passed God’s healing along to the commander of the forces of Israel’s enemy, Aram. The man’s name was Naaman. Naaman came back after being healed of leprosy and offered to pay Elisha, but Elisha refused to accept payment because it was God Who healed and not Elisha. That is when the monsters within Gehazi started to rise.

First was the monster of pride. Gehazi even refers to Naaman as “this Aramean”. Gehazi’s pride rose up and was upset that Elisha did not make this foreigner pay, so he went after him to make some money for himself. The monster not only leads Gehazi to look down on Naaman, but also causes Gehazi to invoke the Name of the Lord in a way that takes that Name in vain. Gehazi didn’t care that he was doing wrong because the monster of pride was large and in charge.

Next, the monster of deception began to rise. Fueled by the monster of pride’s success, the monster of deception next became active. Gehazi ran after Naaman expending more energy to deceive than it would have taken to trust God to provide for him as he continued to serve Elisha. This monster arose in Gehazi’s heart and caused him to not only leave his station of service, but to lie as well.

Next, the monster of relative morality reared its ugly head. Seeing the other two monsters had been successful, relative morality became active. The nuclear waste of sin caused him to grow. What is relative morality? It is when we feel like others should do right, but we feel free to define what that is based upon what we perceive we are entitled to or need. In this case, Gehazi lied, deceived, stole, left his post and said, “All is well!”

We are not finished with these monsters yet. The last monster to arise was hardness of heart. Being called on the carpet for his actions, Gehazi, instead of confessing to his wrongdoing, felt so justified in his actions that he then lied to Elisha. The thing about this monster is its ability to cause us to forget what we know and become ignorant. Gehazi had seen Elisha raise the dead, heal the sick, call down the armies of heaven and had even been witness to Elisha being able to read the minds of foreign kings. Normally, Gehazi would have known he would be found out, but this monster had grown so rapidly that he had been left in a moral stupor.

The story ends with Gehazi being given the leprosy that had been removed from Naaman. A foreigner is healed and changed and a person that should have known better is cursed and made sick. That is how these monsters work.

How about you? Are any of these monsters being fed in your life? If so, why not turn away from that, confess your wrongdoing to God and ask Him to help you to put them to rest? He will listen and He will help.

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Second Helping:

Originally, this article, Godly Wisdom vs. Worldly Wisdom was my first choice from Jack Jacob for today. It reminds of two key scripture passages, and gets into the more 201-oriented issue of “ministry envy;” or being jealous of someone else in ministry. But I decided to go with the story of Gehazi, despite the absence of embedded scriptures, because I thought some might be less familiar with the passage after Naaman is healed.  Now that you know that, I encourage you to read Godly Wisdom.

The Connection Between Miracles and Humility

We didn’t intend to run two back-to-back devotionals on pride, but maybe God orchestrated that for a reason. We wanted to share with you the ministry of Andy Elmes who is better known in the UK, Australia and New Zealand than in North America. His organization is called Great Big Life and he hosts a weekday radio feature called Breakfast of Champions (hence the reference to ‘this morning’ in what follows). You can also get the Breakfast devos by subscription (click the above link) which is where we borrowed this one, which originally ran over two days.

Pride ain’t no friend of yours

Proverbs 16:18 (The Message)

First pride, then the crash – the bigger the ego, the harder the fall.

A real sobering thought this morning is that pride can actually keep you from the miracles that God has for you!

 2 Kings 5:11-12 (NKJV)

But Naaman became furious, and went away and said, “Indeed, I said to myself, ‘He will surely come out to me, and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the place, and heal the leprosy.’ Are not the Abanah and the Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage.

 We read here of the pride-filled response of the Commander of the Syrian armies, a man by the name of Naaman. Yes, a very important man but one with a big problem: he had leprosy!

 He may have been a high-ranking army commander but he was also a man dying on his feet with an incurable, body-eating disease which meant, just like anyone else with leprosy, he needed a miracle from God.

 This much-needed miracle was not a problem. He sent for Elisha to come help and Elisha sent a note (prescription) for him from God concerning what to do to get healed. When he read the prescription he got offended instead of excited! Why? Simple: because of his pride.

 • He was offended that Elisha did not come but sent a note.

 • He was offended at what God expected him to do.

 • He was offended at where he was expected to do it, and felt he knew better.

 Read it again and listen to the tone of pride that may have made him feel important but sadly left him separated from the God-intended miracle for his life. Pride always has a distinctive sound and a tone to it, always be careful when you hear it and be sure to deal quickly with it when you do.

  He turned away in a rage – why? Because he felt what God had asked him to do violated him in some way. Can you see how pride can keep you from things that God has for you? God did not want to violate him but make him better. But God also had a plan to heal him of his unhealthy pride at the same time which, like leprosy, was not doing him any good.

2 Kings 5:13-14 (NKJV)

And his servants came near and spoke to him, and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do something great, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” So he went down and dipped seven times in the Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.

Humility always wins!

 After storming off in a huff a servant helped him to reason what his pride would equal in his life, which was basically a very painful and embarrassing death. Naaman responds this time with a humble heart and does what was prescribed, and the result was exactly what had been originally promised.

 Notice that God did not play or barter with Naaman’s pride, but simply waited for his response to change. As soon as it did, the promised miracle was released.

 What was the problem with the Jordan? The problem was that it was a public place, which meant this great commander had to de-robe himself to get what God had promised. When he took his robes and armour off a couple of things would happen:

1. He would be the same as everybody else. There would be no uniform to separate him. But that is how we are isn’t it? We all stand before God the same, needing Him to do something for us?

2. He had leprosy which meant people would have seen he had a need, but maybe he did not want people to know he was needy?

 We need to understand that we are all the same and God does not regard the uniforms or titles of men. Secondly, we all have needs and everyone of us are depending on God for something.

 I am so glad he dealt with his pride and did not leave and die, but rather humbled himself and lived. He learned that day that his pride may have made him feel important but it could not get him what he needed from God.

One Foot in Front of the Other

Our guest today is Rick Apperson who, with his wife Sarah are missionaries in British Columbia, Canada. This appeared at his blog Just a Thought recently; to read at source click here.

^{ESV II King 5:13} But his servants came near and said to him, “My father, it is a great word the prophet has spoken to you; will you not do it? Has he actually said to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” ¹⁴ So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God, and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.

Perseverance.

I see that word and it brings up a lot of different thoughts.

Hard work.
Two steps forward, one step back.
Falling down…a lot!
Blood, sweat and tears.
Failure…more than once.
Christianity!

The Bible talks about perseverance and endurance often but there is a story I was reading in 2 Kings 5:1-19 that really resonated with me. Maybe it was because I am in a place where the idea of perseverance has become a reality.  We live in a world filled with pain and hardship.  In this world, we get glimmers of grace and hope that can only be found in Jesus Christ.

Recently I have had to persevere through some pretty significant issues.  Like the man in the picture…it feels like a slog up a long path, one foot in front of the other.

It is how I have been living lately.

I won’t lie, I wish our problems had instant solutions.  In this fast-paced, answers now society, we don’t like waiting for anything.  Waiting for answers, healing, guidance, etc does not fit that plan.  Yet that is what God calls us to do.  To wait, to persevere.

So getting back to 2 Kings.  Naaman was a mighty warrior of some renown.  He was also a leper.  Eventually he heard about a prophet who may be able to heal him.  He traveled with many gifts and finally came face to face with Elisha.  He wanted instant answers but was told that he had to dip seven times in the Jordan River.  He got angry, not liking what he heard, and left.

Cooler heads prevailed and encouraged him to listen to Elisha.  He went to the Jordan,  dipped in seven times and came out healed!

I can so relate.

When I come to God, I don’t want delayed answers.  Like Naaman, I have sometimes gotten angry with the answers I did receive. I especially don’t like it when the answer is to persevere.

Yet God’s ways are higher than ours.  He has a plan.

I can obey or kick against it.

I want to obey.

Which means I have to persevere at times.  Times like now.  I don’t know how long it will be before we see the other side of this challenging time, but it doesn’t matter.  God is in control.

In the meantime, I will keep putting one foot in front of the other and keep my eyes on Him!

~Rick Apperson

This is the 7th time (!) we’ve used Rick’s material or provided links to his writing. For more click here. To visit Just a Thought click here.