Divine Connections

Week 2: Connecting People

Perhaps you have heard the story of the man who was stuck on his rooftop in a flood, and was praying to God for help. A rowboat, a motorboat and helicopter all came by and offered help but he declined because he was waiting on God.

Soon the water rose above the rooftop and the man drowned. He went to heaven. He finally got his chance to discuss this whole situation with God, at which point he exclaimed, “I had faith in you but you didn’t save me, you let me drown. I don’t understand why!” To this God replied, “I sent you a rowboat and a motorboat and a helicopter, what more did you expect?”

We are excited about the possibility of a divine connection because of what it connotes – someone at the very top, God himself, is connecting us with the very best things of life! And that is indeed something to be excited about. However, the morale of the story we’ve just read is that the divine connection we are seeking often manifests in the form of people connection. It should be no surprise to us, after all this principle is at the heart of the salvation story; that to provide us with the greatest divine connection of all, God sent us a man. As you seek to access divine connections in your life, remember that the answer may already be with you; in the people that you meet everyday.

Pilot text

2 Kgs 5:1-4,13-15 1 Now Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great and honourable man in the eyes of his master, because by him the Lord had given victory to Syria. He was also a mighty man of valour, but a leper. 2 And the Syrians had gone out on raids, and had brought back captive a young girl from the land of Israel. She waited on Naaman’s wife. 3 Then she said to her mistress, “If only my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria! For he would heal him of his leprosy.” 4 And Naaman went in and told his master, saying, “Thus and thus said the girl who is from the land of Israel.”
13 And his servants came near and spoke to him, and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do something great, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” 14 So he went down and dipped seven times in the Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean. 15 And he returned to the man of God, he and all his aides, and came and stood before him; and he said, “Indeed, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, except in Israel; now therefore, please take a gift from your servant.”

What does the pilot text tell us about connecting with people in fulfilling purpose?

• You must be open to new relationships, sometimes arising from the most unexpected circumstances. The story of Naaman’s healing would not have been possible if they hadn’t had a new addition to their household. Granted, the circumstances of this new addition was not ideal, however that became the vehicle for God’s salvation to come into Naaman’s household.
• You must acknowledge your own need. V 1,3-4 Naaman acknowledged that he was a leper, and that made it possible for the person with the solution to offer it to him. There is no point in offering directions to someone who does not accept that she is lost.
• You must be humble at heart. Naaman was respected his master the king, yet he was humble enough to listen to those around him, particular those deemed by society to be beneath him. First, he listened to what the servant girl said (v4), and then to what his others servants advised him to do after he met Elisha (v13).
• You should remember that there’s always a bigger picture. V15 The story of Naaman was not just about his healing from leprosy. The bigger picture was of salvation coming into that household through the ministry of a little girl and the obedience of a humble leader. 

Questions for Discussion (use scriptures to support your position):

1. We should never fight to keep a meaningful relationship – if God sent them, they will stay. If they leave, then they were never sent by God. Agree/disagree with reasons.
2. It is possible that someone that opposes you, a person who you might even consider an ‘adversary’, is the divine connection that you need [this is referring to a fellow human being]. Agree/disagree with reasons.