LITTLE "BIG" THINGS

Hi there! 

How doth thou fare this fine day? Tis mine utmost desire that thou farest well. 

Welcome to today's converse. 

So last week, we were gisting about Uncle Naaman and I was wondering if you'd like to go with me on another voyage through his life. 

When you continue reading 2 Kings 5, you'd see that a servant girl he had captured during one of his raids to Israel has spoken to Mrs Naaman and told her that if only Naaman would go to the prophet in her town, he would surely be cured of his ailment. There's a long series of events that took place before Naaman found himself at Elisha's house, you should read about it, but when he gets to Elisha's house, Elisha didn't even come out to meet Naaman, he just sent word to Naaman to go wash himself in the Jordan River 7 times and he'd be healed. 

Naaman was outraged! 

This Israelite who, probably in Naaman's opinion, was no stronger than other Israelites that Naaman had gone to battle against and defeated was asking him to go and wash himself in River Jordan 7 times? ‭‭He had thought "...Elisha would surely come out and stand before me. I thought he would call on the name of the Lord his God. I thought he would wave his hand over the place and heal the disease!" (2 Kings 4:11, ICB) In fact, "‭‭Are not the Abanah and the Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel?..."(2 Kings‬ ‭5:12‬, ‭NKJV‬‬) Why couldn't Elisha have sent him to more pleasant waters? So he turned and set to go back home since the so called Man of God was evidently not serious. 

And as he turned to go, his servants asked him "...if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he has said to you, ‘Wash, and be clean?’ ” (‭‭2 Kings‬ ‭5:13,‬ ‭AMP‬‬) Finally persuaded, Naaman decides to go and wash in the Jordan and when he washed himself 7 times as instructed, he was healed! 

As I thought about Naaman's story, the one thing that kept resonating in my heart was that sometimes the issue isn't in the bigness or littleness of the instruction God gives me but in my willingness to actually obey the instruction. God doesn't need grand gestures, all He needs from me, and you, is to obey.

 

They've been times when I set my heart on doing a big act for God to 'prove' my devotion to Him and then God will require something really simple and seemingly negligible instead. In all honesty, sometimes the command seems too simplistic to be what God would expect from me so I ignore it and go ahead to do the 'grand' thought that comes to mind as being more like what God would expect me to do. What I've learnt, which was a rude awakening for me, was that God didn't even look at my grand gesture because no be Him send me work: so no matter how big the act is, it is still an act in disobedience and all disobedience is sin! Imagine actively sinning because you're attempting to 'prove' yourself to God!

 

My part is not to attempt to do what I think God should be asking instead but to do what He in actual fact has asked of me, no matter how small, simplistic, negligible, or even foolish, the instruction seems after all, "...to obey is better than sacrifice…" (1 Samuel 15:22). 

My encouragement to you today is to obey! Don't attempt to explain away your reasons for thinking your own plan or approach would be better, follow the one God has said you should follow, that's all He expects you to do –to obey Him completely because any obedience that is not 100% is actually disobedience, like my father would say, so let your obedience be complete and lacking nothing!

May God help us not to be too caught up in the ideas of what we think we should be doing for Him thah we neglect to do what we should actually be doing.

NLS HOT GIST: Few days into Chambers attachment and what I've learnt the most is to believe in myself and trust my instincts; we've been getting drilled by the Principal of the Law Firm I'm attached to, he'll just throw a question and have you answer, and almost every time, I'll say the correct answer then change my mind because it would then feel like something else would be more correct. "Achenyo, learn to trust your instincts, your first instincts are almost always right" don dey turn refrain. Sha help me pray make I no do that kind mistake for Bar finals ooo!

Well that's that about that as far as that is concerned, see you next week!

Love,

Achenyo.