Ordinary Time

Pause

Things can get better, things must get better, and things will get better.

In the craziness and uncertainties of the world around us, we have this hope that things are not how they will always be. It is an active hope — a hope that recognizes that we have a part to play.

Christ is empowering us to make a difference. Yes, even you.

Listen

But Naaman went away in anger. He said, “I thought for sure that he’d come out, stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the bad spot, and cure the skin disease. Aren’t the rivers in Damascus, the Abana and the Pharpar, better than all Israel’s waters? Couldn’t I wash in them and get clean?” So he turned away and proceeded to leave in anger.

Naaman’s servants came up to him and spoke to him: “Our father, if the prophet had told you to do something difficult, wouldn’t you have done it? All he said to you was, ‘Wash and become clean.’” So Naaman went down and bathed in the Jordan seven times, just as the man of God had said. His skin was restored like that of a young boy, and he became clean.

2 Kings 5:11-14

Think

There is a Liberian proverb that says “little drips of water eventually fill the bucket.” In other words, you don’t have to wait for a heavy downpour of rain to get the water you need. Naaman was expecting an extravagant miracle fit for his position as general. He was so set on the spectacular that he almost missed his opportunity to be healed.

Hope is alive in us. It is not a flashy hope, it is a hope that is present in the little things we do that eventually make a difference. Do not be like Naaman and get frustrated because hope does not look like what you expected. Value the little that you do in Christ, because it ultimately makes a big difference.

James Blay

Pray

God of hope, may I recognize today that hope is alive in the little things I do. Help me not to hold back and wait for the enormous but to value the little things that make a difference, day by day, by your grace. Amen.

Go

With hope as your guide, guiding your thoughts, words, and deeds, go out into the world and bring hope to all whom you encounter.