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How Much More?
How Much More?
And his servants came near and spoke to him, and said, My father, if the prophet had told you to do something great, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, Wash, and be clean ?” (2 Kings 5.13).
The story of Naaman dipping seven times in the Jordan is packed full of lessons for us to apply to our walk with Christ today. In this article I want to focus on one question, if we say we are willing to do great things for the Lord, how much more should we be willing to do small things for the Lord?
In 2 Kings 5 we read about Namaan who was the commander of the army of the King of Syria. Namaan had leprosy and needed to be healed. The king of Samaria sent a letter to the king of Israel asking that he might heal Namaan. King Jehoram was upset at this, tearing his clothes and asking, “Am I God, to kill and make alive, that this man sends a man to me to heal him of his leprosy?” (2 Kings 5.7). The prophet Elisha hears about this and tells the king, “Please let him come to me and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel” (2 Kings 5.8). Elisha tells Namaan that to be healed of his leprosy he must wash in the Jordan seven times, but this infuriates Namaan, “Indeed, I said to myself, ‘He will surely come out to me, and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place, and heal the leprosy’” (2 Kings 5.11). He goes on in verse 12 to complain that he had to dip in the Jordan specifically, saying that the rivers of Damascus are better waters than any waters in Israel. Namaan’s attitude seems unbelievable. He has sought a solution to his problem and been given an explicit answer from the prophet, but because it is not the answer he expected he is upset about it.
I would like to say if I were Namaan that I would be joyfully running to whatever I was told to do to heal my leprosy, but I am afraid I would be making similar complaints. A prevalent problem in my life is worrying. As I struggle with worry, I often think to myself, “I would do anything to make my worry go away.” Yet the tools that have been made so readily available to me are ones I do not use as I should. God has told me to cast all of my anxiety upon Him because He cares for me (1 Peter 5.7) and to let my requests be made known to Him and His peace will guard me (Philippians 4.6-7). Instead of following what God has told me to do I find myself worrying instead of praying and complaining about my problem instead of joyously seeking the solutions God has given me. Often, I handle my biggest problems like Namaan with complaint and complacency.
Similar to Namaan I am usually able to find my way with the right encouragement. The narrative continues when one of Namaan’s servants respectfully points out that Namaan’s response to Elisha does not make sense. He says to Namaan, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do something great, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” (2 Kings 5.13). Remarkably, this encouragement
The narrative continues when one of Namaan’s servants respectfully points out that Namaan’s response to Elisha does not make sense. He says to Namaan, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do something great, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” (2 Kings 5.13). Remarkably, this encouragement from his servant gets through to Namaan and his leprosy is healed. Namaan then proclaims that he now knows there is no God in all the earth except in Israel (2 Kings 5.16).
Luke 16.10 comes to mind when I think about the encouragement of Namaan’s servant, “He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much” (Luke 16.10). It can be easy to justify being unfaithful in small things when we are convinced we will be faithful in the biggest of moments. Like Namaan, I believe I would be willing to do something great if the Lord asked me to. I believe I would be willing to stand up for the name of Jesus even at the threat of death. If I am truly convicted to do something great like that, how much more then should I be willing to do the small things? How much more should I be willing to pray to Him every morning when I wake up? How much more should I be willing to share Jesus to everyone in the safe environment we live in?
If God asked you to do something great wouldn’t you do it? How much more then should we be willing to do the small things God has asked us to do?
- John Guzzetta
