And when the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, “Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Only consider, and see how he is seeking a quarrel with me.” But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent to the king, saying, “Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come now to me, that he may know that there is a prophet in Israel” (2 Kings 5:7-8 ESV).

“I can’t. I can’t. I. CAN’T!” This seems to be the motto of our society, especially when we are asked to do something without the influence of politics, economics, etc. We tend to think that politics and such are so important to our day to day lives that we can’t function without thinking about them. Some of us are so far down this trail that when someone asks us to do a task that we don’t know how to do without these topics, we instantly groan. In that situation, our first thought might be, “I can’t. I’m not smart enough or strong enough or brave enough to do that without thinking about politics and other controversial issues.”

The king of Israel in this week’s passage was the same way. He received the letter that said he needed to heal Namaan of leprosy. When he opened the letter, the king was flabbergasted, angry, and confused, but rightfully so. Leprosy was an incurable disease, so it seemed ridiculous that he was asked to heal a man with leprosy. 

Unlike (in contrast to) the king’s response, Elisha was confident that he could heal the man. Not confident in an egotistical way, but confident that he had the One and Only Almighty God on his side. Elisha didn’t use the excuse of the government or military issues to say that he couldn’t heal Namaan. Instead, I could imagine Elisha (with God’s assistance) chuckling and saying, “Who said it was impossible to heal a man with leprosy?” In the end, Namaan is healed of his dreadful illness.

When we have faith in God, we are straying away from the cultural idea of “I can’t do that without politics or economics playing a role.” 

While it is great that Namaan was healed, that is not all we should take away from this event. We all may grumble and groan at the challenges thrown in front of us, especially when we can’t use the things we think we need to succeed. But God is holding out a hand for us to grab. He will pull us up and show us that not everything is impossible, so long as you have faith in Him. Then, we can turn into a faithful, hopeful, community who believes that nothing is impossible. With that belief firm in our minds, we can do anything we set out to do, even if it may be difficult at first.

What challenges in your life seem impossible to overcome? How can you pray to God for His wisdom and guidance? If you aren’t currently facing any challenges, how has the Lord helped you to overcome previous challenges, and how can you share that testimony of the Lord’s greatness with others?