Journey to Fullness: Lecture 2

Scripture Passage

2 Kings 5:1-14

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Today, I would like to reflect on this scripture passage that we read. As you read the scripture, you will find many examples where God works in unexpected way.

Samuel came to Jethro, Katie’s father, and he wanted to choose the king and Jethro, David’s father had many sons, but he never expected that David will be the once. So the father told David, you, go to the field and tend the sheep because your brothers will have important time with Samuel. He never expected that David would be the one. So he sent David to tend the sheep and it showed all the brothers as he expected. But Samuel saw them all no. Don’t you have any other or other son? Yea there’s another son in the field but he’s tending the sheep breathing. And then when David came, Samuel said this is the one that God has chosen. God is working many times in unexpected way. Galilee was not a known place. It was small village. Especially. Nazareth was a small town. You don’t see that in the Old Testament.

And Jesus Ministry began in that small village, a very unexpected place. God accomplished his work, not in the temple, nor in the palace but on the cross nobody. Nobody expected that God will accomplish his ministry and his world for humanity on the cross. Very unexpected. We see today Naaman the chief commander of the army of Arab Naaman was a man of great power and influence in today’s scripture you see very powerful people Naaman the King of Aram and the King of Israel. They were all powerful people. But none of them played an important role in today’s story. Actually, the main character of today’s story was a little servant girl who had no name, no one expected this insignificant no name person could help out Naaman that is god of the Bible, the Bible teaches us God who works beyond human expectations. Paul said, “but God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong God chose what is low and despised in the world things that are not to reduce to nothing. Things that are.”

Meditate on that. This is how God works, God does not work with all these people, all this power, God works with those who are very very unexpected. God will use that to do his work. We human beings, live with expectations we defend the power that we have accumulated, we depend on our good circumstances and we depend on our ability and capability. We expect things to happen with our own power. When we don’t have these things. We feel kind of insecure and we experience despair when the king of Israel heard about the news of Naaman coming to his country and then asked him to heal him from leprosy. He was angry because he doesn’t have power and the capability and ability to be able to kill Naaman. He tore his clothes and said, “am I God?” he knew he didn’t have power to kill him.

His anger and despair, we all understand very well, but one thing that king did not know that king did not know, that there was God in his own country God’s servant who work beyond human expectations. Naaman was also angry with the prophet because his expectation was, “if I come here, the prophet will do something wonderful kind of raise his hand and then touch his leprose part and then do something, something dramatic but, prophet said, go to Jordan river and dip yourself for seven times. “Are you kidding me? Are you joking with me? Don’t we have great rivers in my own country. I came all the way here for you to tell me to go into the river Jordan. You want me to go there and dip myself seven times, are you kidding me? He was angry because the prophet did not work as he expected.

That’s what human beings are like, how often we are slaves to our own expectations. We even expect God to work in our way in the way we want. God. I want you to do this. That is what I expect of you to do, If you don’t do that, I’m not sure whether you’re god. You know, we want even God to work according to our expectation, our schedule and our way and when our lives do not turn out as we expect, we get disappointed, upset, frustrated, and sometimes we even give up. We think our expectations are the best way for our lives and there is no other way better than that. We don’t even know sometimes whether what we ask for ourselves is the best thing for us. We pray for it, but we don’t even know that that’s the best thing. Even Jesus shared that human weakness.

Jesus prayed, let this Cup away from me. He thought that that was the best way for me, but soon he realized that God’s way was different from what he expected then he said, not by my will, but by your will and he accepted the cross which he did not really want to take. Our wishes and our expectations are not always the best way. Of course, we human beings cannot live without any expectations. We always live with some expectations, but when our life does not turn out as we expect, don’t get so disappointed and give up. Don’t give up your journey because the journey does not turn out as you expect it.

Just because life did not turn out as expected. That does not mean that my life is over. Maybe that’s when new life may begin. The new life which is very very different from your own life, so from now on, don’t be so rigid. My like should be this way. Your life may turn out very differently, accept that. May be very different, accept that and live out there may be new life. The world that we don’t know and the world we have never experienced may open up for us. We’ll encounter God who works beyond our expectations, demanding that our life should be this way, can be another form of bondage.

What is important is not to make and shape our life according to our expectations, but to know and sense the movement of God in our lives and following. God does not lead our life as we expect you are not God. Let God be God we are not God, be still and know who God is. Sometimes God leads us in a way that I don’t want. I never imagine we’ll do our best in our life but let us not forget. Let us never forget, the key to our life is not in our hands. The key in our life is in God’s hands who works beyond our expectations. Let us not be enslaved and let us not enslave each other with our expectations. Let us entrust our life in God’s hands and then experience the freedom. Why do you worry? you entrust your life in God’s hands. D’on’t limit God’s power to your expectations. Don’t let the size of your expectations be the measure of God’s power, the size of your expectations much smaller than the size of God’s power, God’s power goes beyond that. Famous psychologist and philosopher he knew that, this is what he said, “let your mind start a journey through a strange new world, leave all thoughts of the world you knew before. Let your soul take you where you long to be close your eyes. Let your spirit start to soar and you will live as you have never lived before.

I’m not sure whether Christian or not. I don’t know him that well, I just know him as a scholar, but he sensed that and that’s what our Bible teaches us. That’s what our God does. Your journey, an exciting journey. Our theme was journey to fullness this year, and your journey will be exciting journey to fullness. It may not be easy journey. It may not be what you expected. A lot of strange things may happen in your life, but entrust yourself in God’s hand and you will experience the guiding hands of God. You’ll be shaped as God shapes you. If you have shaped your life all this time on your own, from now live in God’s hands and see how God shapes your life. Just because things did not happen as you expected, don’t get angry, don’t get frustrated, don’t get disappointed. Just sit down. Listen, God, why trying to do that through this? Listen and God will show you the insight and God will shake you and God will show you and God will pave a path for you to walk along and then God, will never leave you alone. God will always be with you along that journey.