2 Kings 5:11

I thought. Naaman had his own thoughts, but these were not the thoughts of God. He had heard of a man who could cure him of his leprosy, and immediately he came to his own conclusions as to exactly how this should and would be accomplished. He made a plan of his own, and then expected that God would work according to that plan. But man’s preconceptions as to what should be the Lord’s mode of action are often erroneous. When we map out beforehand the path of Providence, we may expect disappointments. God chose to lead Israel out of Egypt by a passage through the Red Sea, but that was not the thought of man. God sent His Son to be born in stable and cradled in a manger, but that was not according to the ideas of the great and mighty of earth. God had His Son live among men as a servant to those in need, but that was not in accord with the thoughts of the Jews concerning the Messiah who was to come. The man who would be saved and walk in the ways of the Lord must learn that God’s ways are infinitely higher and better than the ways of men (Isa. 55:8, 9).