Taking a dip in dirty water!

This is the time of year that people are closing up their swimming pools. If they haven't already done so, they are in the process. Fall and Winter is definitely not a time to take a dip in the pool, well not here in the south. During the summer months, swimming pools are very inviting with their crystal clear waters. There is nothing like a dip in the pool on a hot summer day. But even on the hottest of days, if a pool has been neglected, there is no way I am enticed to jump in for a swim.

I remember one summer, we went out of the country for a missions trip. We cleaned the pool before we left, but because nobody tended to it while we were gone for over 2 weeks, it looked alittle different when we came back to it. Twigs and leaves were the remains of a thunderstorm that swept thru while we were gone. The dust and dirt that blew in from the high winds left the waters dark and murky. There was NO WAY any of us were going to set foot in that water until it got cleaned.

We have this same kind of thinking spiritually sometimes.

If there are dark, murky waters, we want to stay clear and not step foot into it. But often times, God asks us to go places that may seem dark and do some things that may seem dreary. He may even ask us to step our foot in places that we may seem uncomfortable with or that we may think there is NO WAY we would go there or do that.

When God asks us to step into the water, He is not worried about the condition of the water as much as He is our obedience.

I am reminded of Naaman. He was sick in body and he had to step into the water to be healed. But not just any water. Back in Damascus, he had clean water. But that water would not suffice. Elisha gave specific instructions to Naaman, and Naaman had a choice to make. To receive healing he would have to step into the dirty river of the Jordan.

I wonder how many of us would have done what Naaman had to do?

Would we turn our nose up to the dirty water or would we be obedient? Stepping into the dirty water was just the first step for Naaman, obedience soon followed when Elisha said for him to immerse in the water not once, not twice but seven times!

II Kings 5:14 "Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child and he was clean."

Don't you know that Naaman's healing had nothing to do with the condition of the water? It had everything to do with the condition of his heart and his obedience. Sometimes in order to receive our healing or answer to our prayer, God may ask us to take a little dip in some dirty water.

Naaman had to dip seven times.. how many times would you be willing to dip for your answer?