Great Expectations: What Happens When God Doesn’t Work the Way You Think He Should

Have you ever been so certain about how something was supposed to go that when it went differently, you didn’t just feel disappointed — you got angry? Not mildly irritated. Furious. Maybe even furious enough to walk away.

That tension sat at the center of a message Carl brought to our congregation this past Sunday from 2 Kings 5 — a message made all the more remarkable by the occasion. February 8, 2026 marked the 50th anniversary of Carl’s baptism. Fifty years of walking with the Lord, and the theme he chose to bring before us wasn’t a victory lap. It was a confession: expectations have haunted him most of his life. And if we’re honest, they haunt most of us too.

A Warrior With a Problem He Couldn’t Fight

Carl opened the story of Naaman by drawing our attention to something easy to miss. Naaman was a decorated military commander, highly respected by the king of Aram — but the text tells us he was valued not for who he was, but for what he had done. The Lord had used him to deliver military victories, victories that came in part as a consequence of Israel’s own disobedience. Naaman was powerful, successful, and admired. He was also a leper. No amount of battlefield courage could fix what was wrong with his body.

There’s something striking about a man who can conquer armies but can’t conquer his own flesh. Carl let that sit with us before moving forward, and it lingered.

An Unnamed Girl With Uncommon Compassion

Into this story walks one of the most overlooked characters in Scripture — a young Israelite girl, ripped from her home by raiding bands, now serving as a slave in Naaman’s household. She had every reason to be bitter. She had no reason to care about her captor’s suffering. And yet she spoke up: “I wish that my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria. He would cure him of his leprosy.”

Continue reading →