“Naaman, the army commander of the king of Aram, was highly esteemed and respected by his master, for through him the LORD had brought victory to Aram. But valiant as he was, the man was a leper. Now the Arameans had captured in a raid on the land of Israel a little girl, who became the servant of Naaman’s wife. ‘If only my master would present himself to the prophet in Samaria,’ she said to her mistress,’ he would cure him of his leprosy. Naaman went and told his lord, just what the slave girl from the land of Israel had said. ‘Go,’ said the king to Aram, ‘I will send along a letter to the king of Israel.’ So Naaman set out, taking along ten silver talents, six thousand pieces of gold, and ten festal garments. To the king of Israel he brought the letter, which read: ‘With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman to you, that you may cure him of his leprosy.’
When he read the letter, the king of Israel tore his garments and exclaimed: ‘Am I a god with power over life and death, that this man should send someone to me to be cured of leprosy? Take note! You can see he is only looking for a quarrel with me!’ When Elisha, the man of God, heard that the king of Israel had torn his garments, he sent word to the king: ‘Why have you torn your garments? Let him come to me and find out that there is a prophet in Israel.’
Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha’s house. The prophet sent him the message: ‘Go and wash seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will heal, and you will be clean.’ But Naaman went away angry, saying, ‘I thought that he would surely come out and stand there to invoke the LORD his God, and would move his hand over the spot, and thus cure the leprosy. Are not the rivers of Damascus, the Abana and the Pharpar, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be cleansed?’ With this, he turned about in anger and left.
But his servants came up and reasoned with him. ‘My father,’ they said, ‘if the prophet had told you to do something extraordinary, would you not have done it? All the more now, since he said to you, ‘Wash and be clean,’ should you do as he said.’’ So Naaman went down and plunged into the Jordan seven times at the word of the man of God. His flesh became again like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.
He returned with his whole retinue to the man of God. On his arrival he stood before him and said, ‘Now I know that there is no God in all the earth, except in Israel.’”—2 Kings 5: 1-15ab
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I’ve never read, complete, the First and Second Book of Kings. Having read this Missal now for multiple years, I know I’ve read this story before, but like many things we encounter in life: we don’t notice until we do; and when we do—it’s new, to us no matter the number and times it’s appeared before our mind and eyes.
Reflecting, how many times—in our expectations of God in Faith—do we expect miracles and answered prayers to come in methods and mediums of amazement? Why should the all-powerful God not use his omnipotence to wow us in a method we cannot, without seeing, bring ourselves to believe?
Why should God work in the ordinary, the common and underwhelming?
Which requires more faith: first-hand sight of supernatural act, or working that seems hardly miracle at all—though it addresses and gives answer precisely to our prayer?
Jesus defies a generation and people that demand for a sign? Why should God have been different before? Why should he be different now?
It is not signs of his glory he seeks to manifest within this, His Created World. He seeks to grow our faith, or trust and love and follow-through of what it is he asks—common and simple as the ask may be.
I believe when we pray—often—God’s answer comes in opportunity. We are shown the way and answer to our prayer, but there is a secondary degree—our own faith, action, and follow-through—that brings answered prayer and miracle to become.
We must have Faith. We must follow-through in acts of Faith as God speaks (whatever mystery of means) and our hearts discern. By so, our prayers learn answer and miracles manifest.
God doesn’t work as we expect, and we shouldn’t limit the methods of his miracles to bias of pre-meditated means. That is the whole purpose of Faith—to trust and follow-through in what and ways we cannot understand; especially when sounding overly simple easily actionable. Did not Jesus tell, “my yoke is easy, and my burden is light,”[i] and are not the methods of answered prayers—asking little of ourselves beyond following in faith—affirmation of His words?
Of Naaman’s servants too—when we doubt our own God-guided answers—do we not receive, as well, secondary and follow-on signs to encourage us back to course? God doesn’t abandon and leave us to fail when, at first, we doubt and pause. He affirms, he repeats, reminding and providing further sign until we cannot ignore even if, like Jonas, at first, we deny or run away.
Miracles are miracles, no matter how plain their method, means, and way of appear; and when seen for what they are—manifested in follow-through and answer-act to what it is God asks—are the miracles not made amazing all the more?
[i] Matthew 11: 30