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The Story of Naaman:
Naaman was a well-respected commander with leprosy. He traveled to find the prophet Elisha, expecting something glorious and magnificent—a dignified healing befitting his status. Instead, he received instructions to wash seven times in the muddy Jordan River.
His response? Rage.
"I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel?" (2 Kings 5:11-12)
What You'll Discover:
God's Deeper Agenda - God wasn't just healing Naaman's leprosy. He was after his pride. He wanted his heart. And He knew exactly what process would get to it.
The Cost of Pride - Naaman was so set on God doing it his way that he almost walked away from seeing God move at all. How often do we do the same?
The Power of Community - His servants stepped in with wisdom: "My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, 'Wash and be cleansed'!"
The Full Testimony - After his obedience through muddy waters, Naaman declared: "Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel." (2 Kings 5:15)
The Heart of the Matter:
Sometimes God calls us to something and the process is not pretty. The muddy waters might humble us. They might put us in our place. They might do to us what we would never choose to do to ourselves.
Why? Because He knows what it will form in us. He knows how to take what is muddy and use it for our good.
"...but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope." (Romans 5:3-4)
A Personal Word from Tiana:
"I've told you all how much I hate Lupus. Yet, God has used this horrid disease to heal parts of me I didn't even know were broken. Somehow God has taken Lupus and turned it around for my good. Is it the route that I would've taken? Absolutely not. And yet in His kindness, He hasn't left me alone in it."
God has used illness to teach vulnerability, to foster intimacy in marriage, to expose and heal pride, to create an urgency to savor every moment. He takes muddy waters and turns them into full-on testimonies.
What You'll Walk Away With:
Trust in God's unseen work - We are not up there with Him, and we cannot see all that He is doing
Understanding that His end game differs from ours - Which means His process probably will too
Freedom from demanding your preferred path - The vehicle God chooses may surprise you
Recognition of what He's forming - If this season is bringing pride, trust issues, doubts, or insecurities to the surface, maybe He wants to heal them
Hope in His redemptive power - What He did in Naaman's life, even though it was protested and resisted, ended up saving him in the end
The Bottom Line:
God wants to do more in us than we know that we need. When He asks us to do something, He's not just giving us a task. He is leading us through a process in which we will be formed by that task. Sometimes obedience will take us through muddy waters—not because He is cruel, but because He knows how to use what seems undignified to produce something eternally beautiful.
The only thing we can do is trust that He is doing something. And that it will work out for our good.
Ready to surrender your expectations to His process?
This devotional will help you trust God's way even when it looks nothing like what you wanted.