The Fourth Wall - Day 25

2 Kings 5

13 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!’” 14 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, and he was healed!

15 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. So please accept a gift from your servant.”

16 But Elisha replied, “As surely as the Lord lives, whom I serve, I will not accept any gifts.” And though Naaman urged him to take the gift, Elisha refused.

17 Then Naaman said, “All right, but please allow me to load two of my mules with earth from this place, and I will take it back home with me. From now on I will never again offer burnt offerings or sacrifices to any other god except the Lord. 18 However, may the Lord pardon me in this one thing: When my master the king goes into the temple of the god Rimmon to worship there and leans on my arm, may the Lord pardon me when I bow, too.”
19 “Go in peace,” Elisha said. So Naaman started home again.

Sometimes, the best thing that you can have is a good friend in your corner. And that is what Naaman had. His officers helped him listen to reason. And the truth is, sometimes, we need help when it comes to this. Leaders, passionate ones in particular, are not always the most rational people. This is perhaps why they can get so much done. But it is also why they sometimes see the world with a myopathy that is unhelpful in certain situations.

Naaman finally listened to reason, and did what was asked of him by the prophet of God. And low and behold, he was healed. In fact, it sounds like he was more than healed, he had the healthy skin of a young child!

This was not just a healing, it seems it was a conversion. He was so convinced that there was just one god after his healing that he offered all that he had brought with him, a sizable amount, as a thanks offering. Which Elisha was not keen to accept.

What Naaman was realizing is that there is a lot more going on than what he had previously thought. This was a very accomplished man, and accomplished people often have a hard time believing that there is anything more than what they have done in the world. Giving themselves over to another reality is pretty difficult, and there is a great deal of frustration when it comes to faith.

However, Naaman was willing to believe because of what he had just experienced. Sometimes, we have to experience the breaking of the fourth wall in order to believe that there is something more. That is what this healing was.

1. Have you ever experienced this breaking of the fourth wall? 
2. What happened, what made you realize there is more going on than what we sometimes think? 
3. Can anyone take that experience away from you?