Why do we always try to complicate things? Why can’t a simple direction mean exactly as it sounds? We find ourselves following unnecessary steps or skipping the direction to get the solution because we’ve added in perceived ideas of how the journey is supposed to look.
Look at Naaman for instance. In the bible, it was said he was captain of the army of the king of Aram. He was highly regarded and a “valiant warrior.” But he was also a leper. Back in those days, leprosy was no joke. They usually separated you outside the city, and when you saw people coming from afar, you had better be shouting ‘UNCLEAN!’ so as to warn them not to get close to your flesh-eating zombie self.
Upon recommendation, Naaman went to Elisha, a prophet of God, to seek healing from the bacterial nightmare. Elisha sent a messenger to him advising to go wash in the Jordan seven times and he would be cleaned. That’s it. End of discussion. Go dunk in the Jordan, not once, not twice, but seven times and the leprosy will be gone. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.
But the dude needs to complicate it! Naaman gets angry and beings to leave shouting how there are better rivers than the Jordan to do something like that in! Why can’t Elisha just wave his hand and do a little hocus pocus and cure him?!
Thank goodness for the faithfulness of his servants who reminded him in 2 Kings 5:13, “My father, had the prophet told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?”
And so that’s exactly what Naaman did. He went to the Jordan, dipped himself seven times and saw the miraculous healing of God through the words of His prophet, Elisha.
Our Christian walk doesn’t have to be so difficult, an elaborate and legalistic 27-step process to know Him better. Salvation isn’t some intricate series of steps we think we need to do in order to have full fellowship with Him. He says Believe in Me, Trust in Me, Follow Me, and Go. The rest comes with faith and devotion. The Holy Spirit comes to live in you and helps you in your walk with our Heavenly Father.
If you haven’t accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior, there’s never a time like right now. Speak to Him, confessing your sins, admitting you’re a sinner, and asking Him to live in you and make you whole. If you’ve turned your relationship with Jesus into a tricky maze of do this, do this, do that, and you’d like to renew that desire to let go of “steps” and just fall into His arms of grace and listen to what He’s telling you, now’s the time. Ask Him to renew your faith and allow you to trust Him wholly and with abandon.
He’s right here, waiting for you.
~Erin
Iron Porch 
Amen. He’s right here waiting for you. 🙂 Have a blessed day!
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