Naaman’s Miracle
2 Kings Chapter 5:1-5:16
Introduction-
2 Kings Chapter 5:1-5:16- Read
Everyone likes a happy ending.
Everyone like the guy who gets the girl.
When justice prevailing over wickedness.
Everyone likes to hear about a miracle.
What I question is do we put ourselves in a position to receive a miracle or be a part of someone else’s miracle?
There are 4 main characters in this miracle.
Naaman
slave girl
Elisha the prophet
God.
These are the people involved for Naaman to receive his miracle.
The story goes on with Elisha’s servant Gehazi being greedy and he himself gets leprosy as a punishment (that is another day)
Naaman has a problem! Naaman needs a miracle!
Naaman is a powerful soldier
He is successful for his King, but the problem he has he cannot fix. He has leprosy.
He is going to die a painful death and there is nothing he can do about it.
Naaman needs a miracle- God specializes in miracles!
God’s miracles happen after we admit we have a problem- no problem- no need of a miracle.
God’s miracles happen after we are willing to do something about it.
God’s miracles happen when people put themselves in position to receive a miracle from God.
Naaman’s past success means nothing to him right now. He knows that his problem is bigger than him and if God doesn’t get involved, he will die.
Let me lay this out-
Naaman is a good soldier and successful and has favor with his king.
Naaman captures and conquers and a obtain a slave girl from Israel (God doesn’t record her name) She serves Naaman’s wife (name not recorded)
She says to Naaman’s wife “If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria he would cure him of his leprosy.”
Naaman hears her and approaches the King about it and the King says to Go!
Loads him up with gifts and a letter to give to the King of Israel. (in today’s money about 1 million dollars)
The king of Israel receives the letter and instead of being honored and grateful, he is angry and intimidated.
He thinks that the king of Aram is picking a fight with the nation of Israel.
The prophet of Israel Elisha hears about this and tells the king to allow Naaman to come to him and see that there is a prophet of God in Israel.
Naaman comes to the home of Elisha and a messenger meets him at the door
“Go wash yourself seven times in the Jordan , and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.”
Naaman is angry because the prophet didn’t even come out to him.
He expected to be cured instantly and he is faced with a decision right here.
Everyone of us that wants to see God do a miracle in our lives or the lives of someone we love is faced with this same decision.
Are you going to do what God asks you to do- even if it does not make sense to us!
A miracle follows obedience.
God requires us to do exactly what he says, not roughly or only the parts that we agree with.
What was the number one thing that would keep Naaman from receiving the miracle he needed?
PRIDE- “pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.”
He was successful.
He did need others.
He was powerful.
Now he was up against something bigger than him and he had to admit that he needed help..
He was desperate and listened to the slave girl. He sought out the prophet Elisha to cure him of this leprosy.
This was an enormous step for a soldier, a man to listen to a slave girl.
To go back into the country he defeated and talk to the eking to get a prophet that could heal him.
To travel to the prophet’s house- only to have a messenger of the prophet come out to him-
“Go wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.”
He was angry. NO, He was ticked! He was livid!
Humility, Humble pie, eating crow, all rolled up into one experience.
Go to the Jordan, this dirty muddy river in Israel.
I could of stayed home and washed in cleaner water in Damascus and he leaves in a rage.
Here is the problem-
Naaman’s expectation of how God was to do his miracle do not line up with the way God was going to do it.
He expected (11) “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy.”
Catch that? Call on the name of his God” he didn’t have faith and make it his God.
“Wave his hand over the spot.”
This magical technique of the prophet rather than the power of God operating in connection to his obedience.
God desired to heal him, but it was not going to be by Naaman’s ways, it was going to be God’s way.
Our expectation don’t always relate to reality.
We see what we want to see, and we don’t take in account what we cannot see.
Example: there is a research survey out that says the four hardest jobs in America are:
President of the United States
A university president
A CEO of a hospital
A Pastor
I don’t know if you agree with that or not- I do know that most people do not know what a pastor does or what a pastor goes through in a course of a week. They have this idea of a dream job because you get to work with people. Praying with them, counseling them, marrying them, burying them, teaching them. I say it is a hard job because of working with people praying with them and knowing all that they are going through, counseling them, sometimes they are not happy with what you have to say to them, marrying them, burying them, and teaching people that a lot of times do not want to be taught anything new.
90 % pastors say ministry is completely different than what they were taught in college.
70 % have a lower self-esteem of themselves because of people.
They don’t see the phone calls at all hours of the day and night.
24/7 with unique challenges.
Don’t get me wrong, I love being a pastor, But it is not for the weak, a whimp don’t make it.
I have not just fell off the pastor truck.
I have learned to watch out for criticism that destroys, to not take rejection personal, betrayal, loneliness, weariness, frustration and disappointment.
And I have learned that if I am calling for God to do a miracle, I am not going to limit Him on how He is going to do it.
Naaman wanted God to work a miracle instantly, and God was going to see how bad Naaman wanted it.
Thank God for people around us when we struggle and are waiting for God to do something amazing.
(13) Naaman’s servant went to him and said:” My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you wash and be cleansed- so he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored.”
Not dipping in the Jordan- no miracle
3 times in the Jordan- no miracle
6 times in the Jordan- no miracle
God said seven times- he meant seven times and you will not see the miracle until you are obedient.
He is the same God that told Joshua and the Israelites to circle the walls of Jericho once for six days and on the seventh day to circle seven times and shout “For the Lord has given you the city.” And the walls came down- Israel saw their miracle.
Naaman was angry because he could not see how he could be cured by the dirty water of the Jordan.
It was not about the water of the Jordan.
It was not in the power of the prophet.
It was not in anything but the power of God and being obedient to what God had told him through the prophet.
Naaman was going by what he expected- Look for the unexpected!
God performs miracles his way, not ours.
God works miracles on His agenda, not ours.
God works His way so that we don’t take any credit for it.
Naaman had to be open for change
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old is gone, the new has come.”
God like change.
God shakes things up, we struggle with change.
Closing,
It takes humility to admit they have a problem. That puts us in a position to receive from the Lord. When we admit we are imperfect.
Good news!
God provides miracles for imperfect people
God uses imperfect people to accomplish His tasks.
God wants to heal your heart diseases.
Un-forgiveness
Anger
Bitterness
Strife
Envy
Rebellion
Jealousy
pride.
Leprosy kills the body, but pride kills the soul!
Isn’t it funny that when we have a serious problem we stop talking to God about it.
Somebody knows what I’m talking about!
When Naaman was obedient. It put him in a position to receive from God. It changed him forever!
God requires us to be obedient. To do exactly , not partially, even if it does not make sense to us.
