TOTAL OBEDIENCE will bring HEALING to our lives!
April 15 Bible
Reading: 2 Kings Chapters 4-6
TOTAL OBEDIENCE will bring HEALING to our lives
"So he (Naaman) went down and
dipped seven times in the Jordan, according
to the saying of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a
little child, and he was clean. And he returned to the man of God, he and
all his aides, and came and stood before him; and he said, "Indeed, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, except
in Israel..." (2 Kings 5:14-15)
The story of
Naaman in 2 Kings 5 gives us many
valuable lessons that we can use in our practical life:
- Even though Naaman was the Syrian
General, through him God had given victory to Syria (v.1a). He was a great and honorable
man in the sight of the Syrian King due to his accomplishments. When we are
sincere and passionate in our profession, God will surely prosper us.
- Even though Naaman was a mighty man
of valor to others, he was a leper (v. 1b). As Rick Warren has once said: “No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something
bad that needs to be worked on…and no matter how bad things are in your life,
there is always something good you can thank God for.”
- Even though the young girl was a
captive in a foreign country, she was a witness of the God of Israel who would
heal through His prophet in Samaria (v. 2-3). We need to be a witness of the saving knowledge of
God wherever we are placed – even in hostile territory.
- Even though Naaman knew that his
healing will originate from the prophet in Samaria, he went with the letter
from the King of Syria to the King of Israel – falsely assuming that the king
of Israel will heal Naaman (v. 4-6). Naaman got sidetracked in his desire to get healed – we need
to go directly to our Lord Jesus Christ only, by “whose stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5).
- Even though the king of Israel knew
about Prophet Elisha who had done so many miracles and healing, he forget about
him and got dismayed at the strange request from the Syrian King (v. 7). When troubles confront us, it
is so easy to forget that we have a God who still hears our prayers and who
still delivers us.
- Even though the instruction from
Prophet Elisha was simple – to dip in the river Jordan seven times – to get
healing (v. 10), Naaman became furious as things did not happen as he had
anticipated and he felt that the rivers in Syria were of better quality for
cleansing (v. 11-12). Even though God tells us to do something out of the ordinary and simple,
we should not feel offended and get distracted by doing ‘what we have always done before’.
Naaman took
the excellent advice from his servants, went down and dipped seven times in the
Jordan River. When Naaman completely obeyed the word of God, he received
healing and his flesh was restored to the flesh of a little child (v. 14). When we obey God, the blessings we receive
are more than we can normally expect!
On a final note, the biggest lesson that we can take from this story is that God uses ordinary people to carry out His extraordinary plan! God used a lowly servant girl to bring healing in Naaman’s life, and brought him to realize that Jehovah was the ONLY God on earth (v. 15). Let us never dismiss anyone as insignificant – for we never know whom God is using to speak to us today!
