Good morning! It’s Friday, June 20th, 2025. We all have expectations—about who God should use, who He should bless, and how His power should show up. We expect God to work through those on the inside—the faithful. The deserving. But today’s story flips that. It reminds us that grace doesn’t follow our rules. We think we know how the story will go… until it takes an unexpected turn—the twist of grace.
Today's Reading:
2 Kings 4,5; Psalms 83; 1 Timothy 2
Scripture
“So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, according to the word of the man of God; his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.” (2 Kings 5:14)
Observation
Naaman was a national enemy. A commander from the very army that raided Israel, kidnapped its people, and terrorized its borders. And yet—God healed him. Not because he deserved it. Not because he earned it. But because God is merciful.
That’s the twist of grace: it doesn’t follow our expectations. It disrupts the storyline we think we’re in. Naaman came as a warrior—but left as a worshiper.
And yet, while grace transformed Naaman, Gehazi twisted it. He turned a miracle into a moneymaker. He chased what was never his to claim, and missed what God was trying to give freely. Grace is meant to be a plot twist—not twisted. It’s meant to surprise us into worship, not be shaped to our advantage.
Application
I see myself in both men. Sometimes humble like Naaman—other times calculating like Gehazi. But God’s grace isn’t something to manage or manipulate. It’s something to marvel at.
Grace doesn’t follow our outline—it rewrites the story. But it only works if we don’t try to edit it ourselves. I want to live openhanded—surprised, humbled, and transformed by the grace I didn’t see coming.
Prayer
Jesus, thank You for the grace that found me when I didn’t deserve it. Keep me from twisting what You meant to be freely given. Help me rejoice when You bless even those I didn’t expect—and keep my heart from bitterness, greed, or control. Rewrite my story with grace, again and again. Amen.
—Chris Kiriakos