Now I know that there is no God
in all the world except in Israel.’ 2 Kings 5:10
God wants us to know Him – not just about Him, but by
relating personally to Him. That is why
He sent us Jesus and gives us the Holy Spirit.
He has also provided a number of other ways by which we can continue
this process of getting to know Him:
Scripture, prayer, the testimonies of others. I have also found difficult and challenging
times a wonderful opportunity for getting to know more of God – His grace, His
power and His help, His healing, His love and his transformation.
Joni Eareckson who was crippled
in a diving accident also writes about this:
‘I’ve felt the crunch of decades
of paralysis. The encroachments of my
limitations often feel like the cutting edge of a spade digging up twisted
vines of self-centredness and the dirt of sin and rebellion. Uprooting rights, clearing out the debris of
habitual sins. Shovelling away
pride. To believe in God in the midst of
suffering is to empty myself; and to empty myself is to increase the capacity –
the pond area – for God. The
greatest good suffering can do for me is to increase my capacity for God. Then he, like a spring, is free to flow
through me. “‘He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From His innermost
being shall flow rivers of living water.’” Jn 7:38.
For Namaan, knowing the God of
Israel marked the end of a process which started when the young girl from Israel shared
what she knew to be the answer to her master’s leprosy v3. Namaan is persuaded to go to Israel and
realises that God’s power does not reside in those places we associate with
human power v7. Were it not for his servants, his pride may
have got the better of him; healing would have eluded him and he would not have
experienced the reality and power of the God of Israel. However, he is healed and convinced that the
Lord God of Israel
is the true God. He has a powerful testimony based on his personal experience.
Who in this story do you relate to today?
The little girl who sees a need and knows her God will be the answer to it?
The king of Israel
– whose knowledge of God is
second-hand, helpless, clueless and panic-stricken in the face of Namaan’s
need?
Namaan’s servants – patiently standing by him and encouraging him to
do what is hard – but knowing enough
to sense that it is life-giving.
Elisha – absolutely confident in the power of the God he knows and serves. v8
Namaan – who knows
intellectually what to do to claim his healing but struggles with his pride
to do what it takes.
Pray that whatever your
circumstances today, you will be the means of others coming to know and
experience God’s love – and that you would also come to ‘know this love that surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled to the
measure of all the fullness of God.’ Eph 3:19
(member of women’s ministry)