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!”
This chapter is great. We get to see a doubting man be healed before his own eyes. It’s a whole thing, check it out.
What’s very interesting about this is Naaman’s reaction to Elisha when he heard Elisha’s instructions. “Wash yourself seven times in the Jordan River,” he said. Easy peasy. But in verse 12, Naaman has this wicked overreaction, wondering why Elisha won’t just wave his hand and do the thing and send him on his merry way! Naaman sorta realizes his arrogance when his servants remind him just how easy it is to wash himself. “Dude, it could be so much worse; just do what he says!” So Naaman follows Elisha’s instruction, and it worked! He was healed.
Bottom line here: when God tells you to do something, do it! Having faith (and exercising obedience) sometimes means acting in spite of your feelings.
-Noah