Speaking Of Life 1032 | A Better Idea
Greg Williams
One of my leadership gifts is strategic planning. I can spend hours upon hours running ideas through my head, working things out on paper, and talking to others. I love when a plan seems like it is coming together. You can imagine how easy it is to get frustrated when someone I love and respect tells me the plan won’t work or they have a better plan.
Don’t get me wrong, I usually have an affinity for my plans, but I’ve learned to hold them loosely and realize my plan is not always the best. In my earlier years I more fully embraced my own ideas and plans and presented them to my Heavenly Father for his blessing. To my surprise I came to learn that my plan didn’t always match up with God’s will or his blessing. Even in our relationship with God, we can convince ourselves we have the better idea, a better way, than God’s way. Because, God’s way may not make sense to us, we convince ourselves it may not be from God. And we come up with “a better idea.”
There is a story in the Bible about such a situation. There was an army commander named Naaman. His position was very prestigious, and he was accustomed to being treated with importance. Naaman’s ideas about his life took a turn when he discovered he was sick with leprosy.
Help for Naaman came through a young, humble servant in his home. She told Naaman’s wife that the Lord’s prophet Elisha had the power to heal.
Naaman used his position to ask for help. His country’s King sent a letter and a large treasure to the king of Israel asking that Naaman be healed. Long story short, Naaman went to the prophet, and Elisha sent a messenger who told Naaman:
“Go, wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored and you shall be clean.” (2 Kings 5:10)
Naaman got angry. His plans involved meeting with Elisha, who would make a big show of healing him. After all, he was an army commander and a great man.. The least Elisha could do was tell him to go wash in a bigger, nicer, cleaner river. He had a better idea than God’s.
Because Naaman did not agree with God’s plan, he went away unhealed.
Fortunately, Naaman had some good servants. They told him to let go of his idea of how things should be and let God have his way.
Naaman was healed! And according to scripture, “his flesh was restored like the flesh of a young boy, and he was clean.”
Even though we may not always understand it in the process, God always has you and your best interests in mind. Just like his prophet had a better idea to heal Naaman . The Father sent his son Jesus to heal a hurting humanity. Jesus humbled himself and put on flesh to make a better way for us.
God’s way is for you. He wants the best for you. His way is the better idea, every time
I’m Greg Williams, speaking of life.
