Message Follow Up | God’s: Part 2 – God’s Provision
By Zack DeBerry
One of the things that keeps us from being faithful stewards is the desire to be in control of everything we have. This desire to be in control is driven by fear and it reveals that we think we know better than God how to use what we have.
The truth is that God gives us everything we have and calls us to manage it and enjoy it as we bless others. But the reality is that we struggle to truly believe that God knows better than us how to use what we’ve been given.
“God gives us everything we have & calls us to manage it & enjoy it as we bless others.”Click To Tweet
In my reading this week I ran across an interesting story that I had never really paid attention to before. In the Old Testament there is a guy named Naaman that had a disease and was in need of God’s help. The story is found in 2 Kings 5.
As I read it, I became aware of the fact that God has given me the directions of how to use what I have, but I often think that I know better.
Naaman hears about a guy named Elisha and that his God has the power to heal him. Naaman immediately got his posse together and headed to meet Elisha and have his need met. When he arrived Elisha didn’t even come out to meet him, but he sent a servant and told him to go take a bath in the Jordan River.
Naaman had painted a picture in his mind of how this should all go down, and was immediately upset at what actually happened. Naaman thought he knew better than God how to handle this situation. 2 Kings 5:11-12 give us Naaman’s response:
“11But Naaman got angry and left, saying, I was telling myself: He will surely come out, stand and call on the name of Yahweh his God, and will wave his hand over the spot and cure the skin disease. 12Aren’t Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean? So he turned and left in a rage.”
Isn’t this how we think sometimes?
We think we know how a need is going to be met only to see God do something totally different. If we are truly honest, there are times when we just get plain angry like Naaman did. We all struggle to truly trust that God knows better than us.
As the story continues Naaman is persuaded to do as God has commanded through Elisha. Naaman bathes in the Jordan and finds his need is met. Then we see Naaman get it. In verse 15 Naaman comes back to Elisha and declares, “I know there’s no God in the whole world except in Israel.”
The truth is that everything we have is God’s.
We have to truly believe that His ways are better than our ways. God has given us everything we have to manage and enjoy, but ultimately to use as we bless others. The next time you find yourself thinking you know better than God, remember Naaman’s story AND trust that God truly desires to meet your needs according to His plan and His unending resources.
“The truth is that everything we have is God’s.” – @zackdeberryClick To Tweet