The Bottom Line

Jimmy Tucker

 

The Bible is full of accounts where God spoke to people and told them to do things that didn’t make sense. For example, the Old Testament tells us that Naaman had leprosy and Elisha, God’s prophet, told the king of Israel to send Naaman to him. So, in 2 Kings 5:9-14 we read the details of Naaman‘s predicament. In order to receive his healing, Naaman had to obey what he was instructed to do. And that’s where the temptation to doubt and disobey came into the picture. Naaman was expecting Elisha to come out and meet him, wave his hand over the leprosy and call on the name of the Lord and heal him. But no, Elisha sent a messenger out to him and the message was: “Go and wash yourself seven times in the Jordan River. Then your skin will be restored, and you will be healed of your leprosy.”

Naaman didn’t want to wash in the muddy Jordan River. However, he did want to be healed. His officers convinced him to do as the man of God had instructed him. So Naaman obeyed and went down to the Jordan River and dipped himself seven times and his skin became healthy again. I don’t know if Naaman was having doubts by the sixth dip, but he obeyed explicitly — even if it didn’t make a lick of sense to him.

Another time in 2 Kings 6:1-7, we find a bunch of prophets cutting down trees and an ax head came off the handle and fell into the river. This was very disturbing to the wood cutter, because the ax was borrowed. Elisha asked the man where it fell into the water, and he showed him the place. Elisha cut a stick and threw it into the water at that spot. Then the ax head floated to the surface so the man could grab it. That didn’t make sense as far as I understand ax heads and water. But it worked because that’s what the Spirit of God told Elisha to do.

The wedding feast at Cana wasn’t a disaster because the servants obediently filled some jars with water. That didn’t make a lick of sense, but it worked because that’s what Jesus said to do. The blind man washed the mud from his eyes in the pool of Siloam and could then see. That didn’t make any sense, but he was healed because he used his faith and obeyed.

When we come to the end of our time on earth, all the challenges we faced will be forgotten. But before we enter eternity, we’ll want to be sure that we didn’t get distracted from obeying God and fulfilling our assignment.

The Bottom Line: When you need a miracle, do what God tells you to do — even if it doesn’t make sense.

Pastor Jimmy Tucker

620-223-1483

Diamond Community Church

10:45 a.m. Worship