The Struggle with Simple
From Livestream
by Pastor Nave on October 21, 2018
Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honourable, because by him the LORD had given deliverance unto Syria: he was also a mighty man in valour, but he was a leper…So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha. And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean. But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the LORD his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper. Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage. And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean? Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean (II Kings 5:1, 9–14, KJV).
Anything outside of Jesus is going to be more difficult than staying inside Him. We’re told in Scripture to take on His yoke for it’s easy and His burden is light (Matthew 11:28–30). But, even still, people have a hard time following Jesus. Paul told the New Testament churches how he struggled to fight the good fight of faith (II Timothy 4:7). He explained the sinful nature inside of him made him live a complicated, incorrect life. So, then the fight for our faith is because of our poor choices and lack of wisdom.
Scripture has very simple statements we should be able to comprehend and live by: work hard, love your family, obey your parents, etc. Obedience is very simple, but we make it difficult because we interject the perspectives of the world. There is no variableness in Jesus Christ: He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He has always been and will be simple!
We struggle to follow the Word and the simplicity of God because we make it too complicated. We forget to take into consideration the one, simple thing that makes us better: the Holy Ghost! When we have the Spirit of God living inside of us, we are better and can live right and simply.
We know living for God should be simple, but we all struggle with it. Why? Because we all have a little bit of Naaman inside of us. There’s a part of us that’s not completely surrendered to the Lord. Naaman was frustrated with his path of healing. What was a simple way to his miracle became difficult because he thought about it. Naaman had his healing planned out and was upset when God had a different plan. We will never improve the Word of God. His Word is the only thing that will ever work! If we’ve not experienced this, we need to test out the Word ourselves and prove it to be true.
When we interject our thoughts into God’s simple Word, it will become too hard. This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t think about the Word of God to comprehend it. But, Naaman wasn’t thinking to understand the command; he wanted to amend it. He looked upon other rivers as a better place to wash to receive his healing. Be warned: there is a curse that can come when looking for better especially when better is already the best choice.
Selfishness will always fight simple. Adam and Eve had one simple rule: don’t eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But, the simple thing became a problem. Eve thought God didn’t mean what He said because it was too simple. There is a way that seems right to man, but the end is the way of death (Proverbs 14:12). We need to get in the right mindset of obedience. Once we do, we’ll find it’s easy to follow Jesus and His Word very simple.
Naaman’s servants came to him and asked him why he wouldn’t do what God said to do. If asked to do a great thing, would he have done it instead? After reflection, the core issue was revealed: pride. Once Naaman discovered his “why,” he then decided to obey God. He went down to Jordan, washed 7 times, and came out clean. Once he was healed, he learned the God of Israel was the greatest God in all the earth. This was the simple truth God wanted Naaman to learn and follow all along: there is no God like our God and there is no God but Him. And, it’s this great God who wants to see Himself in us and wants us to walk with Him every day that we live.
