Abana & Pharpar

Sunday February 12th 2 Kings 5: 11 But Naaman stormed off, grumbling, "Why couldn't he come out and talk to me? I thought for sure he would stand in front of me and pray to the LORD his God, then wave his hand over my skin and cure me. 12 What about the Abana River or the Pharpar River? Those rivers in Damascus are just as good as any river in Israel. I could have washed in them and been cured." I want to be healed, but on my terms, my place and my timing. The trouble with things like arrogance, pride, and self-righteousness is that they are very good gate keepers. They don’t keep us safely within their confines however, within our confines we are stuck with our greatest enemy, ourselves. What these self-imposed gates do is keep others safely away from us, and in the process life changing grace safely out of our lives. Elisha no doubt could have used the Abana or the Pharpar rivers. It wasn’t about the magic of any particular river; it was about the willingness of ones faith to break down our own fences in life, the ones we hide behind thinking we are safe. Our economy has taken many hits, from a long, protracted and unnecessary war in the Middle-east and a long protracted war on the Middle Class at home. The war over there allowed and covered at the same time, a major and unregulated shift of wealth to the top of society at the expense of those at the bottom and middle. Now those at the top are trying to hang on to their wealth while those in the middle and bottom are trying to hand on to their lives. In the process, all are erecting their safety fences which only exacerbate the problem. God calls us into loving and trusting relationships. When we feel insecure or out of control, we erect fences thinking we are safe. But in the end we find that with every fence we erect, Jesus and God’s Grace, are on the other side. What hang-ups do you have that keep that grace at bay?