Preparing For A Miracle!

"Preparing for a Miracle"

By Pastor Bob Hunter

Miracles rarely just happen. They are the work of God’s constant intervention in our lives. So how can we prepare ourselves to receive one?

Turn with me to 2 Kings Ch. 5. I want to read you a story today about man named Naaman. He’s not a believer, & he doesn’t live in the Holy Land. In fact, when it comes to spiritual things, he’s on the outside looking in. The story begins in verse 1. (read 2 Kings 5:1-14)

Namaan is a desperate man, seeking answers to an incurable problem. He has leprosy. Which is a disease that affects the skin. A person with leprosy didn’t have much of a future. It’s a very painful disease to say the least, that has serious physical and social consequences. A Leper finds himself alienated and ostracized from the rest of society. All the while, his body aches from a process of deterioration that occurs from the inside out causing the loss of limbs and legs.

Namaan needs a miracle! He’s got a problem, a big problem. He has an issue that can’t be resolved. That’s the first thing you need to know about miracles. All of God’s miracles have one thing in common, and you know what that is? They all start with a problem. Namaan has a enormously big problem in his life! Now, how many of you here tis morning have a problem? Maybe, your problem is sitting right next to you? Don’t tell! Truth be told, You have problems, I have problems, all God’s children have problems!!! If you have a problem your candidate to receive a miracle.

All the miracles you read about in the Bible have this one thing in common. They all start with a problem or a need. That’s the starting point for God’s action. If you don’t have any problems then you don’t need God.

Namaan wakes up one morning and realizes that if he doesn’t get help with his problem, it’s all over. He’s going to lose his career, his family, his fortune, his position. He’ll forever live in isolation and alienation. So he’s got to do something about it.

The first thing that Namaan did with his problem was this: He admitted it. Namaan was willing to look at things for what they were, not what he wished they were. He was willing to bring his problem into the light.

STEP ONE. ADMIT YOU HAVE A PROBLEM.

Now for many of us, this is a very difficult step to take. We don’t like to admit some of our problems do we? We would rather pretend our problems don’t exist. We falsely think, that If we don’t talk about them, maybe they will go away. And when we’re confronted with them, we have all kinds avoidance strategies like blaming others, getting defensive, or just plain denial.

Namaan, however, was far more realistic. He was beyond the denial stage. His problem was so bad, he couldn’t escape it. It changed his appearance, threatened his career. Who could deny it? Everybody knew that Namaan a problem. Realizing his predicament, Namaan resolves to do something about it.

That’s the second step in the process of preparing yourself to receive a miracle.

STEP TWO: BE WILLING TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!

You see, Namaan was not only willing to admit his problem, but he was willing to do some radical things to get the problem fixed. So I’m going to walk you through some of the radical steps that Namaan took toward getting his problem solved and receiving a miracle from God.

The first thing he did, was take advice from a woman! That’s a miracle in itself! You know it’s a pretty big miracle when a man listens to a women don’t you? And it wasn’t his wife, Namaan had a little jewish girl as a servant/captive that knew some things about God. She had some wisdom, so Namaam receives everything she has to say. This is an enormous step for a man to take in the ancient world, because to great extent the ancient world was Patriarchal. But as you know, the Bible breaks the mold when it comes to men knowing it all, sometimes women emerge to play the more prominent roles in scripture. So the first thing Namaan does is take some good advice. He’s willing to listen to what others are saying and entertain their advice.

As it turns out, Namaan likes the advice that’s given to him and he acts upon it. From there, he starts moving up the chain of command to secure permission to leave the country and visit the prophet Elisha. His request makes it all the way to the Commander in chief, to King of Aram. And when the King receives his request, he jumps at the chance to have Namann healed. Being the valuable soldier he was, the King jumps at the chance to write a letter to advocate for Namaan.