Healing and obedience

There seems to be a direct correlation between healing and obedience in the Scriptures. As we are obedient, God heals.

Let me give you the story of Naaman, found in 2 Kings 5:1-5:

1Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and in high favor, because by him the LORD had given victory to Syria. He was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper.[a] 2Now the Syrians on one of their raids had carried off a little girl from the land of Israel, and she worked in the service of Naaman's wife. 3She said to her mistress, "Would that my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy." 4So Naaman went in and told his lord, "Thus and so spoke the girl from the land of Israel." 5And the king of Syria said, "Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel."

So he went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels[b] of gold, and ten changes of clothes. 6And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read, "When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you Naaman my servant, that you may cure him of his leprosy." 7And when the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, "Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Only consider, and see how he is seeking a quarrel with me."

8But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent to the king, saying, "Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come now to me, that he may know that there is a prophet in Israel." 9So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stood at the door of Elisha's house. 10And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, "Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean." 11But Naaman was angry and went away, saying, "Behold, I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper. 12Are not Abana[c] and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?" So he turned and went away in a rage. 13But his servants came near and said to him, "My father, it is a great word the prophet has spoken to you; will you not do it? Has he actually said to you, 'Wash, and be clean'?" 14So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God, and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.

Why was Naaman so upset about going and "dipping" in the Jordan River?

Perhaps he thought that plunging into the muddy Jordan River was beneath his dignity; after all, he was a four star general. It could have been a pride thing.

I've seen pride in worship services, where people have been reluctant to go forward to receive prayer for healing for whatever reason, but the root cause is pride.

They are thinking, "what if people know that I am sick?" "What if someone knows that there is something wrong with me?"

I know of people who have thought while sitting in the audience, "If the person praying for the sick comes down to me and prays for me personally, I know that it is God's will for me to be healed."

That's pride! Some are reluctant to let someone anoint their head with oil (symbolic of the Holy Spirit) others baulk at kneeling down in prayer.

Also, Naaman objected to the impersonal procedure. He was expecting some big deal, an elaborate ceremony instead of simple obedience. He was looking forward to having a famous prophet give him a big show.

Again, I know of many people who travel miles to be prayed for by a big-name evangelist, yet they will never go to the altar in their home church.

Now, please don't misunderstand me, many are healed in large crusades, but sometimes the Lord wants to teach us that HE is everywhere present and that He answers believing prayer without "respect of persons or places."

So why did God require Naaman to dip seven times? To test his obedience and show him his pride. Even more than the end result (physical healing) God is interested in the process of us maturing in our faith and character.

God is much more interested in our holiness than he is our healing.

And here's the point for today:

There is no substitute for continued obedience to God.

I mean, even when we can’t see success we must obey and obey and obey and obey.