Taking The But Out----

II Kings 5:1b
.............But he had leprosy.

The verse refers to a man named Naaman.
Commander of an army.....
Military tactician......
Man looked on as honorable and worthy by his superiors and those who held power in his country.
God had placed victory in his hands in the defeat of his enemies.
Naaman showed great courage and tenacity during times of war.

But..................
There is that little word....one word......."But"....
But Naaman had leprosy.
That one little word connects another thought and changes everything.
It breaks down everything that has built Naaman up in the eyes of his countrymen.
That one little word, "but", brings down every good thing that could be said about Naaman.....
Imagine the conversation that went on.
"Naaman is such a fine man."
"Yes, he is......but you know he has leprosy, don't you?"
Or maybe it went like this....
"I really would like my children to grow up to be like Naaman."
"He is a man to look up to.....but it's a shame he has leprosy."

I hear these kind of conversations every day.....
"My son is such a good boy. He's smart and did well in school.....but he has a drug problem."
Or
"We couldn't ask for a better son. He loves his family. He goes to church, but he has these legal problems because of his using."

The but will kill you every time. It will undo every good thing anyone has ever said about you. Only God can interject himself into the but and bring good out of it.
Only God can lay hold of the but and use it for His purposes.
Naaman found himself at the house of one Elisha the prophet.
When told what he needed to do to be healed from the leprosy, Naaman went into a rage. First off, Naaman felt that Elisha had "dissed" him by not even coming out to have a face to face meeting. Even with all the stomping and shouting by Naaman, the but was still there. But he had leprosy.
What was the cure? Go to the Jordan river and dip in the water 7 times.

 Now I'm not a medical genius but this solution doesn't make much medical sense. Just like the idea that Jesus is the answer to our addiction problems. I can't tell you the number of men who come to treatment all bent out of shape because they have been sent to a Christ-centered treatment program. They have come to my office, red-faced and angry...."I'm here but you better not think that I'm going to turn into some Holy Joe. I don't want to hear about Jesus....don't talk to me about Jesus....no one is going to shove Jesus down my throat." Part of me wants to respond..."Are you through, Naaman?" Actually what these men don't know is that they have set themselves up for a real encounter with Jesus.

What usually happens is that over the course of the 7 weeks...(Hmmmm. same number as how many times Naaman was to dip himself in the Jordan.) Jesus usually impacts them in such a way that they turn their will and life over to His care. Nothing is more wonderful than when God heals a man then removes the but from his life. Better than that, it is tremendous when God changes the but.
"You know....ol' so and so use to be an addict. He was a liar, cheat and thief. But he had this encounter with God and was changed. It's amazing. I knew him when...."

God on you...
mb