Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
The Bible says your faith makes you whole. What would you do to be healed? It is a question worth asking. God might ask you to do something that may sound ridiculous to heal you. In 2 Kings chapter 5, there is a story about 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 whom Naaman gave to his wife as her maid. One day, the young girl told 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 him for permission to see the prophet. The king wanted to see Naaman made whole, so he permitted him to go to the prophet to be healed. This makes one wonder, what would you do for healing, if given a chance like this?
With God, Expect the Unexpected
Naaman, expecting a grand gesture from the prophet. It surprised Naaman when Elisha did not speak directly to him. Elisha’s messenger told Naaman to wash in the Jordan River seven times to cure his leprosy. This unexpected method of healing tested Naaman’s faith and obedience. It begs the question, what would you do for healing if required to show such humility and faith?
Naaman was livid. “I thought the prophet would at least come out and talk to me!” he said. “I thought he would come out, wave his hand over my leprosy, and pray that God would 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 Damascus’s Abana and Pharpar Rivers cleaner than all Israel’s rivers?”
So Naaman went away in a rage. He thought, ‘Elisha has lost his mind if he thinks I will bathe in the dirty old Jordan River. Naaman’s officers tried to reason with him. They said, “Sir, would you not have done it if the prophet had told you to do something great? You should obey the prophet and go wash in the Jordan River!” After giving some thought to what his officers said, Naaman went down into the Jordan River and dipped himself seven times, as the prophet had advised him. 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 Healing?
Naaman would have remained leprous if he had not been obedient to the prophet. To receive his healing, Naaman had to humble himself and override his pride. Are you willing to humble yourself and do the unthinkable? What would you do to be healed, even if it requires going against your pride? 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 walked 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, put it in the garbage can, and walk away.”
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 ridiculous! Doesn’t God know 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, a cinderblock was outside my kitchen door. The hair stood on my arm because I was sure 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 what the Lord had commanded. And He delivered me 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 Heal You
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 I can do this?” They answered, “Yes, Lord.” Jesus touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith, let it be to you.” And their eyes were opened.
On several occasions, when Jesus healed people, He told them their faith healed them. Jesus told the woman that her faith in His power caused God’s power to flow through Him into her to heal her infirmities. Your faith makes you whole. We limit God when we believe God has to use physical means, like doctors and medicine, to make us whole. Although God sometimes uses doctors, He does not have to. The Bible says Jesus Himself bore our sins in His own body on the cross, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed (1 Peter 2:24). Friends, God paid an incomprehensible price to heal you. So ask yourself, what would you do to be healed?
Do Not Limit God
Stop limiting God by putting Him in a box. Physical or biological laws do not bind God. 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? What would you do to be healed if it required a test of great faith like Naaman’s? Remember the words of Jesus: “According to your faith, let it be to you.”
