Thoughts: I Thought!

THOUGHTS! Sermon Notes Pastor Brad Myers

I Thought! March 23, 2025

Today: I Thought!

Everyone has a “thought!”

Means:

• “I believed,” “I assumed,” or “I was under the impression”
• Based on what’s on my mind at a certain time.
• past mental judgment, assumption, or expectation – right or wrong.

Examples:

• Expressing a past belief: “I thought you were coming to the meeting.”
• Confused: “I thought today was Saturday!”
• Disagreement: “I thought we agreed to finish by Friday?”
• Seeking clarification: “I thought you said you were leaving early?”
• Implying regret: “I thought I was doing the right thing.”

Biblical Examples: NIV: 104 references

Jonah’s Anger at the Lord’s Compassion

Jonah 4:1-2

“I thought Nineveh didn’t deserve mercy.”

Peter denying he knew Jesus

Matthew 26:33-35

“I thought I would never deny Jesus.”

David’s rise toward kingship and the tragic decline of King Saul

1 Samuel 16–31

“I thought the anointing would mean instant success.”

Story of Naman:

• Commander of the Syrian army (or Aram).
• Highly esteemed by the king of Syria because of the many victories
• Bible calls Naaman “a valiant soldier.”
• Healed of leprosy by Elisha the prophet.
• Elisha, means “God is salvation,” successor of Elijah as prophet in Israel.
• Elisha’s ministry lasted 60 years, spanning the reigns of 4 kings.

Have you ever approached a situation, a person, or even God, and whispered in your heart, “I thought it would happen this way…” If we’re honest, life rarely unfolds according to our thoughts. And nowhere is that tension more clear than in today’s passage — the story of Naaman.

2 Kings 5:1-19 (NIV)

Now Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram (Hebrew for Syrian). He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded, because through him the Lord had given victory to Aram. He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy.

² Now bands of raiders from Aram had gone out and had taken captive a young girl from Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife. ³ She said to her mistress, “If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.” (Elisha)

⁴ Naaman went to his master (king) and told him what the girl from Israel had said. ⁵ “By all means, go,” the king of Aram replied. “I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” So Naaman left, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold and ten sets of clothing. ⁶ The letter that he took to the king of Israel read: “With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman to you so that you may cure him of his leprosy.”

• ten talents of silver: Unit of weight = 1 talent 75lbs X 10 = 750lbs of silver!
• Today: $277 per lb = $207,750 (A BIG DEAL!) (Parable of 10 Talents)
• 6,000 Shekels of gold: Unit of weights
• 1 Shekel = 11-14 grams; 6,000 shekels = 66,000 to 84,000 grams
• Pounds: 145-185 lbs of gold
• Today: 1 lb gold = $31,000 X $4.5m – 5.7m in gold!
• $207,750 silver; 5million in gold
• 10 sets of clothing: Years wages: royal-level gift to show honor and wealth.

⁷ As soon as the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his robes and said, “Am I God? Can I kill and bring back to life? Why does this fellow send someone to me to be cured of his leprosy? See how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me!”

• King never thought of Elisha and fretted over his own lack of power.

⁸ When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his robes, he sent him this message: “Why have you torn your robes? Have the man come to me and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel.” ⁹ So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha’s house. ¹⁰ Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, “Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.”

¹¹ But Naaman went away angry and said, “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. ¹² Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?” So, he turned and went off in a rage.

• Naaman thought rivers of Damascus were cleaner, more prestigious, or superior.
• Implies the Jordan River was less impressive—likely muddy, smaller, and less clear than the cleaner mountain-fed rivers of Damascus.
• God chose the Jordan not for its purity or beauty but as a place where people humbled themselves.
• Jordan was a symbol of obedience, repentance, and cleansing.

¹³ Naaman’s servants went to him and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’!” ¹⁴ So, (re-thought it) he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy.

Naaman’s prideful thinking almost lost him a healing.

“I Thought” is our predetermined outcome.

¹⁵ Then Naaman and all his attendants went back to the man of God. He stood before him and said, “Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel. So please accept a gift from your servant.”

• How often do we go back??

¹⁶ The prophet answered, “As surely as the Lord lives, whom I serve, I will not accept a thing.” And even though Naaman urged him, he refused.

• Contrast between Naaman and Elisha.
• Naaman came to be healed carrying rich gifts in fine chariots.
• Elisha had no such finery, just the power of God.
• God’s servants don’t do things for financial gain but out of love and obedience.

¹⁷ “If you will not,” said Naaman, “please let me, your servant, be given as much earth as a pair of mules can carry, for your servant will never again make burnt offerings and sacrifices to any other god but the Lord. ¹⁸ But may the Lord forgive your servant for this one thing: When my master enters the temple of Rimmon to bow down and he is leaning on my arm and I have to bow there also—when I bow down in the temple of Rimmon, may the Lord forgive your servant for this.”

• “let me, your servant, be given as much earth as a pair of mules can carry”
  • Deities were tied to specific lands or territories.
  • Sacrifices and worship were most effective when offered on the land belonging to the god you were worshiping.
  • He planned to build an altar on Israelite soil so that, even while living in Syria, his worship would be connected to the God of the land of Israel.
• Temple of Rimmon (sometimes “Ramon”) Syrian (Aramean) god.

¹⁹ “Go in peace,” Elisha said.

We do the same things!

“I thought God would heal me this way.”

“I thought God would heal by now!”

“I thought my life would look different.”

“I thought my breakthrough would come by now.”

“I thought I’d be further along by now.”

“I thought they’d be the one.”

“I thought God would have answered by now.”

“I thought things would have turned out different.”

One of the greatest challenges in our walk with God is managing our expectations versus God’s instructions.

How often have we approached situations, people, or even God Himself, and said: “I thought…” “I thought” exposes how we wrestle between our own understanding and the sovereignty of God.

“I Thought” Can Lead to Missed Miracles

• Naaman expected his healing to come through grand gestures.
• Elisha waving his hand, calling down heaven. But God’s plan was simple: dip seven times in the Jordan.
• Naaman almost missed his miracle because it didn’t look like what he thought.
• How many miracles have we delayed because God’s way didn’t align with our expectations?

Sometimes, God’s answer is simple obedience, not fireworks.

“I Thought” Lowers God to our Mindset

“I thought” exposes the limits of human understanding.

Proverbs 3:5 (NIV)

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.

“I thought” is often a sign that we’re leaning on our own understanding. It shrinks God down to the size of our mind. God is not obligated to fit in the box of our thoughts.

Isaiah 55:8-9: God’s ways are higher than our ways…

We want understanding before obedience, but God wants our obedience before He grants understanding.

“I Thought” Moments Are Divine Setups for Spiritual Growth

• Naaman’s moment of offense became a setup for growth.

Corinthians 13:11 (NLT)

When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things.

Faith isn’t about how we think it should happen, but trusting in the way God wants it to happen.

Isaiah 55:9 (NLT)

⁹ For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.

• Do we think on this scripture any different now

Growth comes when we trade “I thought” for “God Said.”

Luke 5:5 (TLB)

“Sir,” Simon replied, “we worked hard all last night and didn’t catch a thing. But if you say so, we’ll try again.”

Q) I wonder how many of us have had Naaman moments?

• You expected the promotion, but they promoted someone else.

• You thought the healing would come instantly, but it’s sometimes a process.

• You thought a relationship was the answer, but it fell apart.

And now, like Naaman, you’re angry — not because God can’t do it, but because He didn’t do it your way.

Like Naaman, many of us are standing in seasons we didn’t expect, facing situations we didn’t pray for, saying “Lord, I thought it would be different. I thought by now things would’ve changed. I thought the door would’ve opened.”