Healing God’s Way

 II Kings 5: 1-14

 Naaman is a man who wants to be cured from leprosy. He finds hope in the words of his wife’s slave girl – a young girl captive from Israel. She says her prophet Elisha could cure him. So, he goes to the one in authority over Israel – the King hoping to pay for this miraculous healing with silver, gold, and ten garments. God’s miracles are not for sale though. The king who may have earthly ruling power doesn’t have power over life and disease. He thinks the King of Aram is making a quarrel with him by showing his helplessness and he tears his clothes in defeat. When Elisha gets wind of this, he tells the king to send Naaman to him.

Now Naaman arrives at Elisha’s house in quite a fanfare showing his riches and power coming with horses and chariots. Does Elisha come out to honor him as a powerful man? No, he sends out his messenger with the simple instructions: “Wash yourself seven times in the Jordan and your flesh will be restored.

Now Naaman does want his leprosy cured, but is he willing to do it God’s way? He is upset. He was expecting a grand performance – Elisha waving over him and saying a prayer. Not only that he questions the choice of the river – couldn’t I have done it in a cleaner river closer to home?

Sometimes the Lord chooses to heal us in ways we may not like and through people we may not like.

I find it interesting God’s use of servants here. The servant girl, the servant giving him the message, and his own servant who approaches him with wise words. “If he would have asked you to do something more difficult, wouldn’t you have done it? How much more when all he asked you to simply wash yourself.” What will it hurt to follow his instructions?

Sometimes God chooses the simple to solve our problems. We make mountains out of molehills and feel that something complicated is necessary.

Thanks to the servant’s reasoning, Naaman finally follows Elisha’s instructions and goes to the Jordan, washes seven times, and his flesh is restored to the flesh of a young boy.

God communicated through low on the social scale servants to relay the information to cure Naaman. May we be open to all when we are searching for solutions, knowing God can provide answers and healing through the most unexpected people in the most unexpected ways. Amen

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