What Would You Do to Be Healed? Faith, Obedience, and Naaman

Naaman’s Journey to Healing

What would you do to be healed if God asked you to do something unexpected first? That question sits at the heart of this message on faith, obedience, and healing.

In the Bible, God does not always bring healing the way people expect. Sometimes He calls for humility, trust, and obedience when His instructions seem unreasonable. In 2 Kings 5, we see this in the story of Naaman, a respected Syrian commander who desperately needed healing from leprosy.

How Naaman Heard About the Prophet

When the Syrian army invaded Israel, they took captive a young girl and gave her to Naaman’s wife as a maid. One day, she said, “If only my master would see the prophet in Samaria, he would heal him of his leprosy.”

When Naaman heard this, he went to the king and asked for permission to see the prophet. The king agreed because he also wanted Naaman healed. That raises an important question: what would you do for healing if you were given an opportunity like this?

Elisha’s Unexpected Instruction

Naaman expected the prophet to make a grand gesture. Elisha shocked him by not even coming out to speak to him. Instead, Elisha sent a messenger to tell Naaman to wash in the Jordan River seven times so God would cure him of leprosy.

The instruction was simple, but it tested Naaman’s faith and obedience. It also raises the question: what would you do to be healed if it required that kind of humility?

When Obedience Challenged Naaman’s Pride

Naaman was livid. “I thought the prophet would at least come out and talk to me,” he said. “I thought he would 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 can do that at home. Aren’t the Abana and Pharpar rivers of Damascus cleaner than all the rivers of Israel?”

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.” But 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.”

Naaman’s Healing in the Jordan River

After considering their words, Naaman went down to the Jordan River and dipped himself seven times, just as the prophet had instructed him. When he came out of the river, God restored his flesh and made it like that of a young child.

Obedience and Healing: A Lesson in Humility and Trust

Naaman would have remained leprous if he had refused to obey the prophet. To receive his healing, he had to humble himself and overcome his pride.

Are you willing to humble yourself and do the unthinkable? What would you do to be healed if it meant going against your pride? If you asked God to heal you and He told you to bathe in muddy water, would you do it?

Biblical Healing Through Faith in Jesus’ Ministry

The Bible says, “Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and disease among the people” (Matthew 4:23). That same Jesus is still at work today—preaching, teaching, and healing. But He does not always heal in the way we expect.

My Story of Freedom from Addiction

I remember how badly I wanted freedom from addiction. For thirteen years, crack cocaine enslaved me. I asked the Lord many times to deliver me, but nothing changed.

One day, I walked to the cemetery to visit my brother’s grave. While there, I cried out to God from the depths of my soul to deliver me.

If you struggle with addiction or a medical condition, seek prayer and trusted spiritual support, but also consider professional medical or recovery help.

When God’s Instructions Seem Unusual

He answered with these words: “If you want to be whole, gather all your drugs and paraphernalia. Wrap them in newspaper and take them outside your kitchen door. There you will find a cinder block. Drop the cinderblock on the newspaper, pick it up, put it in the garbage can, and walk away.”

“Is that all I have to do?” I asked myself. “I thought God would at least send someone to lay hands on me and pray for me.” It sounded ridiculous. I even began rebuking the devil. “This can’t be God,” I thought. When I left home, there was no cinderblock in my yard. I laughed as I started back. Then 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, I saw a cinder block sitting outside my kitchen door. The hair on my arms stood up because I knew it had not been there when I left.

I rushed inside and gathered my drugs and paraphernalia: about $400 in powdered cocaine, $80 in crack cocaine rocks, and two crack pipes. I did exactly what the Lord told me to do, and He delivered me from a 13-year crack cocaine addiction.

That was in 1992. I have not smoked crack cocaine or even craved it since that day.

Stories of Faith in Action

Faith That Receives Healing

A woman who had hemorrhaged 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” (Matthew 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 also tells us that two blind men followed Jesus because they wanted to receive their sight. Jesus asked them, “Do you believe I can do this?” They answered, “Yes, Lord.” Then Jesus touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith, let it be to you,” and their eyes opened.

Healed by Faith: Trusting God for Wholeness

On several occasions, Jesus told people that their faith had made them whole. He showed that faith in His power opens the door for God to release His healing power.

We limit God when we assume He must use doctors, medicine, or other physical means to make us whole. God sometimes works through doctors, but He does not depend on them.

The Bible says that Jesus Himself bore our sins in His own body on the cross so 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?

What Would You Do for Healing?

Do not limit God by putting Him in a box. Physical and biological laws cannot bind Him. What would you do to become whole?

If you asked God to heal you and He told you to do something unexpected, would you obey? What would you do to be healed if God required great faith, as He did with Naaman? Remember the words of Jesus: “According to your faith, let it be to you.”