If the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? II Kings 5:13

 

It is my hearts desire to give you a 'fresh' word and to do that I must have His direction. He never ceases to amaze me, I can sit here with nothing to write and then he will show me what to share, I love that about him; here is what I believe he wants me to share today.

 

I received a call from a friend of mine this morning; she said 'God called me Naaman, what's that about?' I had to laugh, you see, my friend is a praiser, she loves to praise God. She is loud and loves loud, fast music. And just the day before the Lord had me give her some worship cds and tell her to play them continuously in her home. He told me that she wouldn't like it, but do it anyway. Sure enough, she called me and said she hated this 'elevator music.' I just laughed and said 'keep it playing.' Apparently the next morning she was complaining to God about the worship music and He called her Naaman. Isn't that hilarious?

 

You see, Naaman was this very important, wealthy man who we read about in II Kings 5. He needed something from God, so he went to the prophet of God. He expected the prophet to come out and lay hands on him and the leprosy would disappear. But what happened was that the prophet didn't even talk to him, he sent his servant to tell him to dip in the dirty, muddy river seven times and he would be made whole. This infuriated Naaman and he said he was going back home. But his servant stopped him, and said 'if the prophet had told you to do something great, you would have done it, so give this a chance.' And he did, and he was made whole.

 

This should be an 'aha' moment for all of us. So many times God will tell us to do something that within ourselves we don't want to do. It may not make any sense to do it and it may seem beneath you.

 

I recently read a story about a woman, a Christian woman, waiting to board her plane. She was sitting near this very dirty looking, homeless man. She kept feeling the Lord prompt her to minister to him. But he smelled bad and people were staying away from him for that reason alone. His hair was nasty and matted. Then the Lord told her to brush his hair. She asked God to just let her tell him about Jesus, but God told her to brush his hair. She struggled with how it would look, and how he smelled and that people would look at her like she was crazy, yet, she obeyed. She walked over to him and told him that she wanted to brush his hair but she had no brush. He told her he had one. He went on to tell her that he hadn't seen his wife in awhile and he was about to go see her and he hated to see her looking this way. So the woman brushed his hair, and was extremely blessed to be chosen for such a task.

 

This story touched my heart. This woman refused to be a Naaman, although she still had the same doubts and the same feelings, she obeyed this seemingly small thing that God asked her to do. Could you have done that? Could I have done that?

 

Luke 19 tells us that if we are faithful in little things, God will make us ruler over much. For many, many of us, we are waiting on God to tell us this big thing to do and we are ignoring all the small things He is telling us on a daily basis. But the Bible is clear, if we don't obey in the small things, we will never even get to the big things. The Song of Solomon tells us that it's the little foxes that spoil the vine. And it's the little things that often keep us from getting what we need from God.

 

My friend that I mentioned earlier, she was seeking intimacy with God. Therefore God was having her set the atmosphere for intimacy, soft music, love songs to Him. That went against everything she liked; but it's not about her, it's about Him. If you want to be intimate with someone, you are going to have to romance him, right? Of course!

 

What is it that you are seeking? Are there seemingly small things that the Lord has been prompting you to do? Are you waiting on Him to tell you something of magnitude to do? Until you obey in the small things, He will not tell you anything else, you must first do the small things.

 

It may be something so small and it may not make any sense to you. It may have nothing to do with what you are believing God for. Dipping in the water for Naaman seemed to have nothing to do with receiving his healing. And dirty water at that. But God was dealing with something in his heart, he had to overcome his pride and do what the man of God said. The results were exactly what he asked for - only the process was unexpected.

 

Search your heart today; ask the Lord if there is something seemingly small that He wants you to do. Perhaps it's asking someone to forgive you. Perhaps it's forgiving yourself. Perhaps you simply need to treat your spouse like the treasure they are. Maybe you need to bake a cake for a friend. Maybe you need to get up and pray for a few minutes. Maybe you need to love the unlovable. Whatever it is, just do it!

 

I often teach people that small things really matter, for instance, if you are asking God to give you a new car, you need to make sure that the one you have now is clean. The same for a house, if you want God to provide you with a new home, take good care of the one you have. If you want your marriage be better, make yourself irresistible. If you want your children to respect you, treat them with respect. Small things matter.

 

When you obey in the small things, God will make you ruler over great things...but the small things come first. On your job, if you don't do what you are given to do in excellence, you will never be promoted. It is the same in the spirit. Do what you know to do now and do it in excellence and you will be promoted to bigger things.

 

Don't be a Naaman; don't despise anything God tells you to do. Do it and do it quickly and do it expecting God to do all He said He would do. He will. He did for Naaman and He will for you.