Suffering Series #1
“BE CAREFUL HOW YOU GET WHAT YOU WANT”
II KINGS 5:15-27
PASTOR BENJAIMIN T. HAILEY SR
“UBC”
Union Baptist Church of Allentown
7-2-2006
“Be Careful How You Get What You Want” – II Kings 5:15-27
Introduction: The person of God must develop a healthy understanding that the process of “becoming” is a process that cannot be completed alone. All of us must come to grips with the fact that God was, is, and shall ever be a relational God. In the process of spiritual growth, there is the rule of relationship. One cannot become without another’s assistance. It is evidenced most clearly upon our entrance into this world. Without the nurturing, compassion, concern, cooperation, and care of a parent, or guardian, no child would grow to become an adult. There is a law of relationship that leads to development. It is the same in the Body of Christ. It is a Body. It is not a group that merely consists of individuals, but it is a collective Body. Therefore when the hands operate, the Body is in operation. When the eyes are functioning, the entire Body is functioning. Where the feet go, the whole Body also goes. The theme of relationship, and unity bode throughout the Scriptures, to remind us that we are not just Christians. For to be a Christian is to be an individual, but we are members of the Body of Christ. A Body that is to be synchronized in its movement, thought, and activity… But the problem is that we still are individuals, with our own thought processes, with our own idiosyncrasies, and with our own desires, and our own methods of living life.
The issue before us this morning that I wish to raise through this text is that within this Body of Christ, and the community of faith lies an undercurrent that will cause us to falter in our faith if we are not careful. In this era of dispensation that we are a part, there is a tendency in the Body to develop a misconception about Body life. That misconception is that members of the Body of Christ are not supposed to suffer, and that our great God is going to allow us to meander through this life carefree and comfortable regardless of our behavior. The Devil is a liar! We must begin to recognize first of all that suffering is a part of Body life. Now, we need to know that there are many different types of suffering that are just as diverse in terms of their causation. For the simple navigation of the vicissitudes of life will sometimes cause us to suffer. The loss of a treasured and trusted friend or love one will cause us to suffer. The loss of a relationship will surely sadden us. The experience of an unexpected and extreme encounter with nature has caused millions to suffer since the catastrophe of Katrina last year. But this morning, I want to focus on a more common cause of commotion, and calamity in our lives. And that is self-induced, or self inflicted suffering because of selfishly directed action.
You see, because the fact is that much of the mess that we must manage materializes because of our inability to become submitted to The Master. Now, if you’ll just give me a few minutes to peruse this passage, I wish to point out some problems that we prayerfully can avoid, and thus preclude some of the suffering in our lives.
The context of this text is found in chapter four and five of II Kings. For it is chapter four that we are introduced to the focus of this message. His name is Gehazi. Gehazi means valley of vision. Now, Gehazi was the servant of Elisha, who was the servant and student of the great prophet Elijah. And in chapter four, we see the unfolding of the ministry of Elisha. There we see the miracle of the widow and the oil. There we witness the miracle of the Shunamite woman’s son. But there is some interesting interaction going on in chapter four between Elisha, and his servant Gehazi. The book says that there was a great relationship between these men. Such a relationship that when Elisha was in need of counsel, he relied on his servant Gehazi. Listen to the text, in verse 12
“And he said unto his servant, Gehazi. Verse 13 “and he said unto him (Gehazi), say unto her”… verse 14 “Elisha asked Gehazi “what then is to be done unto her”. This was a real relationship. There was trust involved. There was understanding involved. There was love involved. So much so, that in verse 27, when this same Shunammite woman came to let Elisha know that her son was dead, it was Gehazi who pushed her away from Elisha. This relationship was one greater than servant / master; this was a relationship of father / son. In verse 29 Elisha tells his servant/son to go ahead and lay his staff of the head of the dead boy, and after Elisha had worked a miracle and raised the dead boy to life, the first person he called upon was not the mother or the father, but he called Gehazi.
There is something to be said about relationship in the Body of Christ… But even with this great relationship, even with Gehazi standing in the midst of and participating in the miracles of the master, he still had some issues that had not yet surfaced, but were about to be manifested. See, I don’t care how close you are to the preacher. I don’t care how much you spend time in the master’s presence. I don’t care how often you are found in the congregation of the believers. You must always remember that there is something on the inside of you, that is trying to get out. And that something is you. It is the you that came out of your mother’s womb. It is the you that no one else can see. It is the you that should be dead, but still has residue in your memory banks, and is just looking for an opportunity to resurface. And that part of you is called your flesh. The Bible calls it the natural man. And we must recognize that the natural man is an enemy of God. He is bent on causing you to do that which is just natural, rather doing what is supernatural.
Watch this: In chapter four Gehazi is the model servant. Attentive to his master. Attentive to his duties. He is alert, awake and aware. He is offering sagacious suggestions that will bring honor to the one he serves… But just one chapter later, this same Gehazi becomes a reproach, and disgrace, and a dishonorable servant because he allows himself, to be himself. Don’t miss that. See, in chapter 5 there is the great story of the healing of Naaman. Naaman is the captain of the host of Syria, and the Bible says he is a great man, an honorable man because the Lord had given him favor, he was a mighty man of valor… but he was a leper. Meaning he had an issue that he could not get rid of on his own. The story says that Naaman was told about this prophet in Samaria named Elisha who could bring deliverance from his issue. And after Naaman was healed of his issue he wanted to show his gratitude to the man of God. You know its always a good thing to show someone gratitude when they bless you. But Elisha refused to receive Naaman’s gift… But Gehazi, that faithful servant thought to himself, My master may not want the blessing, but I…
Now you got trouble. See, my brothers and sisters, whenever I gets in the way of Thy, you are going to have some problems. Gehazi’s master has given the mandate, and the mandate is not to receive anything from Naaman. My question to you this morning is what has the master mandated that you should not receive? And the next question is what did you do with His mandate? Are you falling under the will of the master? Or have you become Gehazi? See, Gehazi did not follow his master’s will, but the text says that he thought to himself, I… I will go and get what I want. I will do that which is pleasing to me. Regardless of what the master has already told me. This is what I desire. And besides that, I have been faithfully following for far too long. I have not received anything for all the work I’ve done. I am entitled to getting a lil sompin sompin.
My brothers and sisters the first step to self-induced suffering is to think to within yourself about yourself. You see, servant-hood in the Kingdom of God, is doulos in the Greek. That word means not only servant, but slave. Which carries the understanding that you as a slave have no will of your own, but your will is to do that of your master. Therefore, you must take on the posture of humility and obedience. And many of us this morning would have been alright if we had just been obedient. Many of us would not be where we are, which is where we have no business of being, just because we were disobedient. Anybody been there? Suffering because of selfishness? Suffering because you just couldn’t wait. Suffering because your flesh said yes, and your mind just couldn’t say no. Oh yes, whatever we desire always looks better going in then it does coming out. And the reason is that the enemy is cunning, he is crafty, and he is a trickster. He is not going to show you that your desire for fleeting pleasure with leave you in perpetual pain. No, he wont tell you that what you want can and will hurt you. He wants you to notice the natural, and forgo the supernatural. But I hear the Psalmist saying, “wait on the Lord, and be of good courage, and he will strengthen thy heart.” I hear him saying they that wait upon the Lord shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. I hear Peter saying, add to you faith patience. I hear the Proverb writer saying; There are many devices in a man’s heart; nevertheless the counsel of the Lord shall stand. See, Gehazi couldn’t wait, had no patience, and devised a way in his own heart to get what he wanted, and the Bible says that he ended up with the same issue that Naaman had. And not only that, the issue became a generational curse in the life of his family. (verses 20-27) Look at your neighbor and tell them, you better be careful how you get what you want…
But then, watch this because even in the midst of self-induced, self-inflicted suffering, if you are a child of God, in true relationship with him, there is some good news. Because the text says that Elisha pronounced the immediate judgment upon Gehazi, but it was not an eternal judgment.
And the thing that I appreciate most about God is that He understands us better than we understand ourselves. Listen, God is Omniscient, which lets me know that whatever I do, God knew before I did it, and He made a way for me to come out of it… I’m about to help some folk right here. Because many of you this morning are experiencing self-inflicted suffering for something that you did that was not in the Master’s mandate for your life. And the problem is that you are compounding your suffering with self-imposed guilt, that is causing you to become isolated, insolated, irritated, and spiritually incapacitated. You don’t understand that the God you serve knows that your flesh has not caught up with your spirit. You don’t recognize that our God is the God of a second… no third…. No fourth…. No, fifth….no, another chance… Anybody know He’s the God of a second chance? Come here Peter, Peter denied Jesus three times in one night, but when Jesus got up out of the grave, he told the women, go and tell my disciples… and Peter… He’s the God of another chance. Come here Moses. Moses suffered on the back side of a desert for forty years, because He messed up, but I hear God saying, “Go down Moses, way down to Egypt land, and tell ole Pharoah to let my people go! Come here David, David slept with Bathsheba, then killed her husband Uriah the Hittite to coverup some undercover mess. David suffered because of some stuff He did. But I hear God saying that David was a man after God’s own heart. O.K. come here Gehazi. Yes, you couldn’t wait. Yes, you got what you wanted, by usurping the will of your master… Oh, but over in chapter 8 I see something interesting. Yes, Gehazi suffered because of self-induced self-inflicted selfish desires…. But the Bible says that His master did not give up on him. For when the King of Israel was at war with his enemies the Syrians, God gave Elisha revelation to know the plans of the Syrians. And when the king of Syria found out that Elisha was giving intelligence to the king of Israel, he sent soldiers to capture the prophet. The Bible says that the soldiers surrounded the city of Dothan, where Elisha was sleeping…. And early in the morning, Gehazi, The servant of Elisha, looked up and saw the enemy encamped around them. And you need to know that whenever you have missed the Master’s mandate for your life, it seems like the enemy is about to take you out… But thank God, that the master has not given up on you. Gehazi was still the master’s servant. The master didn’t give up on him. The Bible says when his master saw that Gehazi was afraid, He prayed… Lord open his eyes, and Gehazi saw that there was an army of angels surrounding their enemies.. I just want you to know, that God has not given up on you… Even when you messed up. Even when your suffering is your own fault. Just pray, Lord open my eyes… teach me how to tap in to my angelic host. I need to be careful how I get what I want, so Lord, open my eyes… Let me see my enemies… Let me see those who are in relationship with me for the wrong reasons… Lord open my eyes… I need to see you. I need to know that your presence is with me… close
The successful man was asked the secret of his accomplishments, His reply was: “Good judgment!”
“Where did you learn good judgment?” he was asked.
“From experience.”
“And from where did you gain your experience?”
“From poor judgment.”
