A NAAMAN-LIKE HOLINESS SEEKER
From "The Triumph of Truth,"By James Caughey
A Naaman-like Holiness Seeker had long sought for this blessing,—even for years, but in vain. Two things stood in his way:
1. He shrunk back from the venture of faith.
2. He limited God; and would have the blessing in no other way, than in the extraordinary manner he had marked out for him in his imagination. Naaman-like, he thought God would lay his hand upon him, and fill and overwhelm him with his glory.
But when he did venture upon the veracity of Jesus, in Matt. 21:22, "And all things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive," and trusting in the promise of Jesus, as he would in that of a, friend, he instantly received the blessing. He knew it was the blessing for which he had wept and prayed for years.
And yet he felt no joy; only that he was emptied of sin and self, and prostrated in the deepest humility before God. This man of God was filled with thankfulness many times after, that he did not receive the blessing in the fulness of joy. He said he had no doubt, that after this joy had subsided, he would have fallen into doubt, and cast away the blessing. But that ever after, whether elevated or depressed, it made no difference with his confidence. He rested in Jesus, who was his object and aim, entirely free from agitations and evil reasonings.
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