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Just do it
Monday, February 29, 2016
Third Week of Lent
2 Kings 5:13-14
Naaman’s servants said, “If the prophet had told you to do something extraordinary, would you not have done it?” So Naaman went down and plunged into the Jordan seven times at the word of the man of God. And his flesh became again like the flesh of a little child. He was clean.
Life is not as complicated as I think it is. And we are not as strong as we think we are.
The Jordan River was full of bugs and scum. But Naaman took off his shoes and waded in there, and he was healed of his leprosy. How can that be?
Clear-eyed children of the Enlightenment that we are, we are mostly skeptical about that story. Or on the other hand, the pendulum of our thinking swings wildly over to the other side and we claim Naaman’s miracle for ourselves.
What about the idea that the servants had? Just do it. It doesn’t have to be logically probable, nor does it have to be spectacular. When you hear the word of God, just do it. See what happens next. Don’t be afraid.
This story is about healing, but it’s even more about listening. One of the worst mistakes I can make when I listen to you is jumping to conclusions, or jumping to cause. When I jump like that, I finish your sentences in my head. And I stop listening. I know what is going to happen next before it happens.
But I’m wrong more often than I’m right. My expectations about the future are based on my experience of the past … oh, such a mistake! God’s creativity knows no bounds.
This is Monday. It is a good day to be alive. I think I know what’s going to happen today, but I don’t. I just don’t. Instead, I can spend some time in the pregnant silence and listen. Then, when I hear the strange words, “Go jump in the lake!” I just might do it.
Oh, the water!
Living water you are for me today, my Lord. Pour it all over me. I want to catch it on my tongue and drink what’s there to drink. Thirsty is my soul for you, living God. Let me go into your sanctuary, God of my gladness and joy, and give you thanks. (from Psalm 42)
http://www.christiancounselingservice.com/archived_devotions.php?article_id=1452
