Namaan Takes The Plunge

Forge 9/26/18
Our story this week was an Old Testament man named Namaan who was a popular, respected battle hero but had a terrible skin disease called leprosy. The cliff notes version of the story is his wife’s servant girl said he should go to Israel and see a prophet who could heal him. He talked about this with his king and his king have him money and sent him on his way. The King of Israel got angry and thought this was a trick but the prophet Elisha sent for Namaan. When Namaam arrived at Elisha’s house, a messenger was sent out to Namaan and told him to wash seven times in the Jordan river and your flesh will be restored! Namaan got angry about this since the prophet didn’t even come out to greet him and he also complained about the dirty Jordan river! Namaan’s servants convinced him to do as the prophet said and as a result he was healed! Here are a few lessons from the story that we discussed:
1) God uses available, committed messengers. The servant girl was small, humble, obedient, insignificant to men and living in dire conditions but used her position for God’s message to an unwilling listener.
2) The Grace of God can’t be purchased. The king wanted to help by paying the King of Israel to help heal Namaan rather than relying on God’s healing through the prophet.
3) God is contantly at work to lead people to himself, no matter how dark their condition. Elisha says “Let him come to me” and this is a symbol of God’s love for all of us.
4) Pride can cause us to miss out on God’s blessings. Who can experience God’s grace? The humble. Who are the proud? Those who are indifferent to God’s plan. There are many verses on the destruction caused by pride.
5) Opinions can also cause us to miss God’s blessings. Verse 11 begins with “I thought” whereas following God’s plans as laid out in His Word is usually a pretty clear path to follow. Opinions shouldn’t take priority over God’s Word.
6) God has the power to change lives if we follow His commands. Just as Namaan stubbornly followed God’s plan, it healed him and changed his life. The same can apply to our lives and those we affect.

Questions We Discussed
1) Are we open to God’s message? Do we even remember what our preacher preaches or what our devotions are about?
2) Do we sometimes ignore certain people with God’s message because of their “condition”? Family members, angry people, people different from us.
3) Are we too proud? If we were sure God was telling us to do something seemingly ridiculous, would we do it? Are we humble enough to be open to God’s plan?
4) Do we let our “opinions” about God’s word cloud the message he is trying to send? My preacher friend said he often heard from people, “I know the Bible says this but…” Are we guilty of saying that or at least thinking it in some situations?
5) Do we really believe God still changes lives? Have we “given up” on certain people?

Thanks for the guys attending and hope to see you next week.