Is This Really Going To Work Lord?

FOCUS SCRIPTURE: 2 Kings 5:9-15.

This week I've been reading through the book of 2 Kings and I remembered when God spoke to me through the story of Naaman. It was February 2013, I knew God was calling me to go to Fiji to do missions work but I was VERY apprehensive about going; I had never taken such a huge step of faith and was fearful about stepping into the unknown. I didn’t know how I was going to raise the £3,000 I needed for the flights, accommodation, food etc., so one evening after work, I decided to go and sit inside McDonald’s and spend some quiet time with God to get clarity and direction. As I was looking through my Bible, Holy Spirit directed me to the story of Naaman in 2 Kings 5.

Naaman was a commander of the army of the king of Syria, and a man of valor but he was a leper and was told that if he went to the prophet in Samaria, he would heal him of his leprosy. “So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and waited at the door of Elisha’s house. But Elisha sent a messenger out to him with this message: “Go and wash yourself seven times in the Jordan River. Then your skin will be restored, and you will be healed of your leprosy.” 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!  2 Kings 5:9-11 NLT.

Eishhh! Naaman was not pleased, he went to Elisha with preconceived ideas about how his healing would come; 1) He expected Elisha to come out to him. 2) He expected Elisha to wave his hand over his leprosy, call on the name of the Lord his God and be healed. But instead Elisha redirects him by giving him different instructions and this angered Naaman. He was required to take a different approach, walk by faith and believe that he would be healed as Elisha had said. Let’s be honest, how would we respond if a prophet told us to go and dip 7 times in our local river, would we have faith and obey?

Naaman then goes on to suggest that other rivers would be better in order for him to be healed. He said, “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. 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, and he was healed!” 2 Kings 5:12-14 NLT. 

Naaman had contempt for God’s solution and plan; to him it was foolish, notice human reasoning when he suggests washing in other “better” rivers.  This reminds me of the scripture in 1 Corinthians 1:27-28 NKJV that says “but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not to bring to nothing the things that are”. The world’s standards and ideas of salvation seem so much more logical in comparison to God’s, which seems foolish and so simplistic.

If the officer had not intervened, Naaman would have walked away from his breakthrough because the method required did not match up with his expectations, it looked too simple for him. Also, Naaman’s pride and opinion was getting in the way of him being healed. To go and dip in the Jordan River was a very simple thing to do, he was unwilling to humble himself and obey a very simple command. The officer challenged Naaman by asking him if he was required to do something difficult would he not do it?  Do we have faith to believe and obey God when He tells us to do things that are simple even when it does not make sense to us?

My goodness! God was speaking to me through this story. He told me to set up a Facebook page and He said that by doing that I would get the money I needed for the trip. When He said that I didn't believe it. I didn’t believe that a simple step of obedience would lead to me receiving what I needed for my trip. I was struggling with unbelief. I’ll be honest; I was expecting God to tell me that the money would miraculously and instantly appear in my account, or that it would slip through my letterbox! My thoughts lol! But God had other plans and He was teaching me a few things along the way. I was learning to take Him at His word, walk by faith and obey His instructions.

Naaman’s brashness and pride was surfaced, but his obedience and submission opened the way for his healing. 1 Peter 5:5-7 Amplified Version says, “for God is opposed to the proud [the disdainful, the presumptuous, and He defeats them], but He gives grace to the humble. Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God [set aside self-righteous pride], so that He may exalt you [to a place of honor in His service] at the appropriate time, casting all your cares [all your anxieties, all your worries, and all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares about you [with deepest affection, and watches over you very carefully]. The word presumed stood out to me when I read this. I presumed that I knew better than Almighty God, the One who is all-wise. I didn’t take God at His word; instead I tried to apply human reasoning.

Like Naaman, I too had to put aside my pride and humble myself by choosing to submit to God’s instructions and ask people for help. I had to be willing to step outside of my comfort zone and be bold. So I did it, I took a step of faith. I felt fear as I thought to myself what would people think but then I realise that I needed to be courageous and just do it! By following God's ways, people did donate and I had the money I needed. God was right!!! His ways worked and it changed me in the process. After Naaman was healed, he went back to find the man of God, Elisa and said, “Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel” 2 Kings 5:15 NLT. This is my testimony too; I can say that there is no God like Yahweh, I AM, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in all the earth. Little did I know that this would be the beginning of my adventure of living by faith and knowing God.

What is Jesus leading you to do? Are you trying to work things out in the flesh like I did? Let us be open to the various different ways that God may want to answer our prayers and perform miracles in our lives. Us having our own preconceived ideas can limit us and cause us to miss out if we are not willing to try something different and new irrespective of how unconventional, unorthodox, radical and unusual it may appear. God’s ways are truly higher and better than our ways, the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

I pray that God will help us to lean on Him more, trust Him with our whole heart and walk by faith as without faith, it is impossible to please Him, in Jesus name, amen.

Love Josie

Xxx 

Week 29-Father, Make Me Better...

So this week I officially started counselling the police officers woop woop! I love the fact that I’m getting back into the routine of work and although it’s been a bit nerve wrecking for me to adjust to a new setting which is male dominated, I see how God is using me to be the light within the work place.

Praise Him Regardless

This week I have been learning that whether or not God meets my ‘needs’ I must continue to praise Him and boy let’s just say it hasn’t been an easy lesson to learn. Daniel’s friends Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego faced the prospect of being burnt to death but in spite of this they still trusted God and remained faithful. In Daniel 3:17-19 they said  “If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and He will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if He does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up”. They were such faithful men. The word faithful means to remain loyal and steadfast and this is what God calls us to be.

Because He Loves, He Disciplines

Apart of me still gets frustrated when things don’t go my way. Like the other day I started complaining and questioning God’s character when I asked Him to provide something for me and He didn’t. God spoke to me and said,  “Josie, a father doesn’t give their child everything they ask for every time and you need to understand that”. I was like wow! I made the mistake of coming to God as if He was a genie or something when He’s not! He’s our heavenly Father who loves us and demonstrates His love by chastising and disciplining us (Hebrews 12:6).

Don’t Be A Conditional Praiser

The book of Habakkuk has been encouraging me greatly through this season of my life. God called Habakkuk to embrace what He called him to endure and the prophet did just that with joy. God calls us to do the same thing, we will have our trials but He wants us to embrace it with joy and thanksgiving. Habakkuk 3:17-19 certainly puts things into prospective. Like lately I have been feeling like I'm in a dry place, a place of lack not only financially but-spiritually and emotionally too but God has been challenging me to be like Habakkuk, who, being in a place of want still chose to say “yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. This is true faith. God wants us to still make the decision to read our Bible, pray, to go to church and to do whatever else He has called us to do even when circumstances change for the worst.

Master Your Emotions

What else has been happening in my world? Oh yes so God used a friend to expose to me a weakness of mine-my emotions! Like situations lately have made me realize that I have been allowing myself to be ruled by my emotions and this is something that I need to work on. Joyce Meyers once said that “an emotional person is defined as: one easily affected with or stirred by emotions; one whose conduct is ruled by emotion rather than reason. With the help of the Holy Spirit I’m now on the path to learning how to exercise self-control more and not allow my emotions to make my decisions. A quote I came across said “wisdom says wait; emotions say hurry” and this is sooo true.

Thank you for taking the time to read what I’ve been up to this week. I’m praying for you all.

Much Love,

Miss Josie Jo

Xxx

Week 24-28-The End Of A Thing Is Indeed Better Than It's Beginning...

So after 2 months of being away from the base I just couldn’t believe that 6 months was up already! I had so much to reflect on. Like I felt like a completely different person to the one that arrived in Fiji in March. I’ll be honest with you, when I arrived I was a confused, immature London girl with braids down to my back + a whole lot of issues and baggage.  But over the past 6 months so much has changed. God has indeed rebuilt me (Jeremiah 31:4). My countenance, skin colour, hair, mind and above all my relationship with God has changed. God has truly taken me on a journey and a half and renewed my mind.

He Is My Source

Being a missionary=TRUST GOD and this in itself was a big test for me. Before I became a missionary, I was in full time employment and got paid every Friday. I would freely take out cash, go to restaurants and shop whenever I desired. I was not as disciplined as I thought I was.  The majority of my paycheck would go on me, myself and I. I thought me tithing and serving in church was enough, but people it’s not! Looking back I see that although I had converted and become born again, I hadn’t allowed God to transform my mind and way of thinking.

God has been teaching and is continuing to show me that my security comes from Him and not my bank balance. Looking back I see that I was someone who was very very materialistic. I loved the labels and brand names and would only shop in certain places but God being God knew that I had to be humbled. He has stripped me and has shown me that my identity is in HIM and not in the things of the world. Just the other day I went shopping in a second hand shop and brought a few items which made me even realize even more how far God has brought me.

I Am What God Says I Am

Also I realise that I failed to embrace who God made me, like I would always wear make up and cover my hair by wearing extensions. Now before any of you bite my head off, I’m not saying that there is anything wrong with wearing make up and wearing a weave or extensions, however I found that with myself I was conforming to the patterns of the world by trying to be someone other than the person God created me to be.

Like for example I became addicted to make up, struggling to leave my house without wearing make up or my natural hair out due to fear of what people would think. Psalm 139:14 declares that we are FEARFULLY & WONDERFULLY made yet I paid more attention to what the world thought of me, trying to keep up appearances and failed to listen to what my creator was saying concerning me. I used to struggle a lot with the colour of my skin, and questioned God about why I was so dark and then when the sun made me even darker I became insecure and no longer felt ‘beautiful’. God kept saying ‘Josie you’ are the apple of My eye’ but I wouldn’t believe it. In Isaiah 29:16 it says how can the clay say to the potter why did you make me like this? I was so convicted and realized I doubted Him. Our identity is in who He says we are and not what we think about ourselves.

Take Nothing For Granted

Something else I have noticed about myself is that I am so particular about people around me wasting food. Like it grieves my spirit. I have experienced times where there was only plain rice and tea or even just noodles for days on end because money was tight. Spending 6 months living in lack has taught me to appreciate and be thankful for EVERYTHING. Like there are families around the world starving and struggling to put bread on the table and yet I used to take it all for granted. I believe that the way we treat things is an indication of how much we value it. In my case, I didn’t value the things God gave me and took the daily blessings like food and water for granted…ouch!

Hearing God’s Voice

I’m a talker, I love to talk, however when it comes to our relationship with God it has to be two way and I needed to allow God to speak through me shutting up and listening. I have learnt that if I do not take the time to listen and hear God’s voice, I will struggle in my walk with God full stop. Over the past couple of months I have been through sooo much and have to make important decisions and choices concerning my future. I have needed direction and confirmations from God and it’s only through hearing His voice that I was able to press on. How can we know the best thing to do if we don’t go to God and seek His counsel? For example a couple weeks before graduation I experienced yet ANOTHER stressful situation.  This time the issue was to do with my visa. So basically there were miscommunications with my visa and I was told my visa would be valid for a year only the immigration told me that the information I was given was incorrect and that I would have to leave Fiji by the 25^th September.

My initial response was “what the heck?!” and then “but God I thought you told me I’m not meant to go back to London now?!”.  A couple of months ago I got a confirmation from God that I’m to stay in Fiji for 6 months so when this happened I was left confused and needed clarity from God. It was only through seeking Him and knowing His voice that I was able to know what to do. In the end, God spoke to me again and confirmed that I was to stay in Fiji through a song I was listening to one morning. My visa issue got sorted and God came through for me yet again. He literally made a way out of NO WAY!

He’ll Never Give Me More Than I Can Bear

I have learnt to trust God and have faith on ANOTHER LEVEL! Like looking back, God taken me through so many valleys and mountains, sometimes I sit and wonder how on earth was I able to overcome all those things-Only God. I have been sick and contracted skin diseases and experienced more changes in the past 6 months than in my whole entire life. I’ve had confrontations and conflicts with people, issues with language and communication and also been a victim of prejudice and racism. YET in spite of it all, God has never left me, His grace has carried me through. I feel like Ruth living in a foreign land with no one but God to fight my corner.

Let The New Season Begin

On the 13^th September I graduated from the Discipleship Training School and I couldn’t wait to leave the base. I met someone in church a couple of weeks ago and shared with her that I wanted to get involved in counseling. She mentioned that her and her friend were talking about how they are looking for a counselor. That blew my mind away…God had opened yet another door for me. So now I’ll be spending the next 6 months volunteering and counseling the police officers and it’s all because of Him. The lines have indeed fallen for me in pleasant places (Psalm 16:6). We can make our plans but it’s the Lord that directs our steps (Proverbs 16:9).  I have now moved to the city and am excited to see how God wants to use me.

Thanks for taking the time to read what I have been up to.

P.s my email address is josieagyeman@gmail.com, feel free to drop me an email.

Miss Josie Jo

Xxx