Have you ever wondered what you would do to be whole? It is a question worth asking. God might ask you to do something that may sound ridiculous to heal you. There is a story in 2 Kings chapter 5, of a man named Naaman. He was a great and honorable man and the commander of the Syrian army. Whenever Naaman went to battle, God gave him victory. Therefore, the king had great respect for Naaman. Naaman was indeed a mighty man of valor, but he was also a leper.
When the Syrian army invaded Israel, among the captives was a young girl who Naaman gave to his wife as her maid. One day the young girl said to Naaman’s wife, “There is a prophet in Samaria who can heal my master of his leprosy and make him whole again.” When Naaman’s wife told him what the young girl said, Naaman went to the king and asked the king for permission to go see the prophet. The king wanted to see Naaman made whole, so he permitted him to go to the prophet so that he might heal him.
With God, expect the unexpected
Naaman arrived with a company of horses and chariots and stood at the door of the prophet Elisha’s home. But Elisha did not come out to meet him. He sent a messenger out to tell Naaman to go and wash in the Jordan River seven times to cure his leprosy.
Naaman was livid. “I thought the prophet would at least come out and talk to me!” he said. “I thought he would come out and wave his hand over my leprosy, and pray for God to heal me. Doesn’t he know who I am? If all I have to do is wash in a river, I will go home and wash. Are not the Abana and Pharpar Rivers of Damascus cleaner than all the rivers of Israel put together?”
So Naaman went away in a rage. He thought, ‘Elisha has lost his mind if he thinks I’m going to take a bath in the dirty old Jordan River. Naaman’s officers tried to reason with him. They said, “Sir if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would not you have done it? You should obey the prophet and go wash in the Jordan River!” After thinking about what his officers said, Naaman went down to the Jordan River and dipped himself seven times, as the prophet had told him to. When he came out of the river his flesh was as healthy as a child’s; his skin looked young again.
What are you willing to do for your healing?
Naaman would have remained leprous if he had not been obedient to the prophet. Naaman had to humble himself; he had to get rid of his pride to receive his healing. How badly do you want to be healed? Are you willing to humble yourself and do the unthinkable? If you asked God to heal you and He told you to bathe in muddy water would you do it?
The Bible said, “Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people” (Matthew 4:23). That same Jesus is going throughout the world today, preaching, teaching, and healing all kinds of disease among the people. But, He does not always heal the way we expect Him to.
I remember how badly I wanted to be free of my addiction. For thirteen years I was a slave to crack cocaine. I had asked the Lord numerous times to deliver me, but He did not answer. One day, I went to the cemetery to visit my brother’s grave. While there, I cried out to God from the bottom of my soul to deliver me from my addiction. He answered with these words: “If you want to be whole, gather all of your drugs and paraphernalia, and wrap them in some newspaper. Outside your kitchen door, you will find a cinderblock. Drop the cinderblock on the newspaper, pick it up, drop it in the garbage can, and walk away.”
It doesn’t have to make sense, if God said it, do it!
‘Is that all I have to do?’ I said to myself. ‘I thought God would at least send someone to lay hands on me and pray for me. This is absurd! Doesn’t God know that I threw away my drugs at least ten times already? I immediately started rebuking the devil. ‘This can’t be God,’ I thought. When I left home, there was no cinderblock anywhere in my yard. I laughed as I started home. Along the way, the Spirit of the Lord asked, “Do you want Me to deliver you?” I answered, “Yes, Lord.” He replied, “Then go home and do as I have commanded you.”
When I returned home, to my surprise, there was a cinderblock outside my kitchen door. The hair stood up on my arm because I was certain that it was not there when I left home. I hurried inside; I wasted no time gathering my drugs and paraphernalia, about $400 in powdered cocaine, $80 in crack cocaine rocks, and two crack pipes. I did exactly as the Lord had commanded. and I was delivered from a 13-year crack cocaine addiction. That was in 1992; I have not smoked crack cocaine since that day, nor have I craved it.
Your faith will make you whole
A woman who had been hemorrhaging for twelve years sought healing from Jesus. She said to herself, “If only I may touch His garment, I will be healed.” When Jesus saw her, He said, “Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well” (Mark 9:20-22). When Bartimaeus told Jesus that he wanted to see, Jesus said, “Go your way, your faith has made you well” (Mark 10:46-52). The Bible says two blind men followed Jesus, hoping to receive their sight. Jesus asked them, “Do you believe that I can do this?” They answered, “Yes Lord.” Jesus touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith let it be done for you.” And their eyes were opened.
On several occasions when Jesus healed people, He told them that their faith healed them. In essence, Jesus was saying, your faith in My power caused the power of My Father to flow through Me into you to heal you of your infirmities. We limit God when we believe God has to use physical means, like doctors and medicine to make us whole. Although He sometimes does, He does not have to. The Bible says Jesus Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed (1 Peter 2:24). Friends, God paid an indecipherable price to make you whole.
Don’t limit God by putting Him in a box. God is not bound by physical or biological laws. What would you do to be whole? If you asked God to heal you, and He told you to do something improbable, would you do it? Remember the words of Jesus: “According to your faith, let it be to you.”