“Behold, I thought”

October 1, 2023

In 2 Kings, chapter 5, we find an encounter between a Syrian captain Naaman and God’s prophet Elisha. Naaman has leprosy and desperately wants to be cured of this dreadful skin disease. His servant girl tells him about a man of God in Israel named Elisha who could heal him. Naaman loads his chariot with gifts for the man of God and makes the trip from Syria to Israel to see him. When he arrives, Elisha doesn’t even come out to meet Naaman, he sends a messenger to do the talking. The messenger tells Naaman that he needs to dip seven times in the Jordan River, to be healed. This simple cure doesn’t sit well with Naaman and in verse eleven of 2 Kings, chapter 5, Naaman makes an interesting comment. Naaman says, “behold, I thought.” Naaman THOUGHT he would meet Elisha, the man of God, but he didn’t. Naaman THOUGHT Elisha would tell him to do some great thing to “earn” his cure. Turns out Naaman was wrong. As I think about this phrase, “behold I thought” I realize I can apply that phrase to my life as well, and I’d be willing to bet you could too. When I was a boy, I thought when I grew up, I was going to be a vet, then a weatherman, and then a band director. On the other hand, I NEVER thought I would spend twenty-three years as a fast-food manager. When I moved to California in 1984, I thought I was going to get an apartment on the beach and in a few months, be married to the girl I was dating at the time (we met and dated while in college). Three months later, not only did I not have a beach front apartment (they were $1,500 a month in 1984), I also didn’t have a fiancé (she decided to marry someone else), so once again, “behold, I thought” turned into “behold, I was wrong”. This has played out many times in my life, and you know what I have discovered? I am so thankful that so many things in my nearly sixty years of living haven’t turned out the way I THOUGHT they would! Turns out, God has a better plan for my life than the one I had for myself. If you are a Christ follower, He has a better plan for your life too. Aren’t you glad the “behold, I thought” moments in our lives are really reminders that God is in control? Wouldn’t we be better off to just say, “Lord, whatever you have planned for my life is fine with me” and then just let Him take care of us?

Be blessed and then go be a blessing . . . Bro. Andy