Several years ago I did a teaching series focusing on marriage and family issues.
Some of the topics reach outside of marriage and family and address problems in friendships, work relationships, and even our relationship with God.
The sermon was titled “The Silent Assassin of Relationships” and addressed the major issue behind relationship problems.
That issue simply put is, unmet expectations. When what we observe is far less than what we expected we become disillusioned, frustrated and angry. The main culprit in that term “disillusioned,” is the word illusion. Usually it is an expectation distorted by feelings and thoughts and put people under pressure to meet our needs, many of which have never been honestly and humbly voiced.
It was this exact circumstance that almost caused Naaman in 2 Kings 5:11 to miss out on his healing. He envisioned in his mind and had an expectation as to how Elisha was going to bring about his healing. It says he went away furious because, “Behold, I thought, ‘He will surely come out to me, and stand and call on the name of the Lord His God, and wave his hand over the place, and cure the leper.'”
In other words, he imagined a much more sensational and theatrical event. Instead, it was a mere servant who came to the door telling him to dip seven times in the river Jordan.
The tell-tale words are, “Behold, I thought…..”.
This is the very reason so many people lived frustrated lives with spouses, friends, bosses, co-workers, children, siblings, and parents. It’s sad, because they too are missing miracles.
