…grace for the humble.

The king of Aram had great admiration for Naaman, the commander of his army, because through him the LORD had given Aram great victories. But though Naaman was a mighty warrior, he suffered from leprosy. (2 Kings 5:1 NLT)

The king wanted his commander to be healed and he heard that there was a prophet in Israel.  So the king of Aram sent Naaman to find Elisha.  When Naaman went to meet with the prophet, Elisha anticipated his arrival and sent a messenger to tell Naaman what he needed to do to be healed: “Go and wash yourself seven times in the Jordan River” (2 Kings 5:10b).

But Naaman became angry and stalked away. "I thought he would certainly come out to meet me!" he said. "I expected him to wave his hand over the leprosy and call on the name of the LORD his God and heal me! Aren't the rivers of Damascus, the Abana and the Pharpar, better than any of the rivers of Israel? Why shouldn't I wash in them and be healed?" So Naaman turned and went away in a rage. (2 Kings 5:11-12 NLT)

Sometime, we can lose sight of the nature of our relationship with God.  God is not a genie in a lamp.  God is not our servant or slave.  God is not our table waiter or checkout clerk.  God is God.  God is the creator of the heavens and the earth – all that is seen and unseen.  God knit you together in your mother’s womb, brought you into this life with the first breath that you breathed, and still holds together the very atoms that make up every cell of your existence.  God doesn’t need to do things our way.  We need to do things God’s way.  To do that, we need humility.

But his officers tried to reason with him and said, "Sir, if the prophet had told you to do something very difficult, wouldn't you have done it? So you should certainly obey him when he says simply, 'Go and wash and be cured!'" So Naaman went down to the Jordan River and dipped himself seven times, as the man of God had instructed him. And his skin became as healthy as the skin of a young child's, and he was healed! (2 Kings 5:13-14 NLT)

Humility is not about beating ourselves up.  God doesn’t want us to beat up someone made in the image of God.  Humility is about being honest about God, honest about ourselves, and living out our role in life as we allow the LORD to be the Lord of our lives.  When we do, the LORD gives us grace (1 Peter 5:5; James 4:6; Proverbs 3:34).

Then Naaman and his entire party went back to find the man of God. They stood before him, and Naaman said, "Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel..." (2 Kings 5:15a NLT)

How about you?  Have you met anyone who is humble before God?  Do you see God giving that person grace (gifts)?  Are you humble before the LORD?  Do you see God’s grace in your life?