Finding the Right Cure
Where do you go to find the right cure for a problem these days? If you visit a doctor, you get a prescription. If you visit a lawyer, you get a lawsuit. If you visit a judge, you get a judgment. If you visit a counselor, you get an analysis. If you visit a pastor, you get a prayer. If you visit a businessman, you get a business plan.If you visit yourself for a solution, then you get the limited perspective of a fallen human being. So often, we seek our own way of solving our problems and end up making things worse.
In a small village in the Bornes jungle, health workers decided to spray the straw huts with DDT in order to control the mosquito population responsible for the spread of malaria. The lizards that normally inhabit the walls of the huts consumed large doses of the DDT and died. The village cats, in turn ate the dying lizards and they themselves died. The cats’ demise resulted in an infestation of rats into the village. The lizards’ death left the straw-consuming caterpillars free to multiply (the lizards feed on the caterpillars) and eventually they gobbled up the straw thatched roofs of the village huts. [1]
What a roofless, ratty mess! These health workers were looking for a cure but did not get a big enough perspective, nor did they get the right cure.
Our Scripture passage today looks at a man named Naaman who needed a cure. His story is one of finding the right cure.
Scripture: 2 Kings 5:1-27
Main Point:
God has compassion to heal you, to heal everyone, but He focuses on the right cure – to heal you from the plague of sin through faith in His Son. Physical healing is important but spiritual healing is by far the most important. You can live and die with disease but live forever with Jesus. But you cannot live without disease and without Jesus.
Outline:
1. The right cure is available in only one place. 2
2. The right cure will work only if you follow the directions. 3
3. The right cure cures completely. 5
4. The right cure is faith in the one true God. 6
Conclusion: God has compassion to heal you of your most significant problem with the right cure. 7
1. The right cure is available in only one place.
1 Now Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded, because through him the LORD had given victory to Aram. He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy.
2 Now bands from Aram had gone out and had taken captive a young girl from Israel, and she served Naaman's wife. 3 She said to her mistress, "If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy."
4 Naaman went to his master and told him what the girl from Israel had said. 5 "By all means, go," the king of Aram replied. "I will send a letter to the king of Israel." So Naaman left, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold and ten sets of clothing. 6 The letter that he took to the king of Israel read: "With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman to you so that you may cure him of his leprosy." (2 Kings 5:1-6, NIV)
Can God use great men – that is men the world considers great?Naaman commanded the entire army of the area we know today as Syria. He was considered to be a great man because of victories he had won – or so he thought. The Bible tells us that “the LORD had given victory to Aram” (v1). From the account of Naaman’s life, he appears to have believed in his own reputation and become a bit prideful.
This is the danger in our own successes when we do not realize that God is at work in our lives and it is to Him that we owe all praise and gratitude.
Naaman’s position was sort of like that of Donald Rumsfeld, current Secretary of Defense for the United States. Naaman was a man of great courage. Like Rumsfeld, Naaman was in charge of many men, used to giving orders, used to being in charge. Like Rumsfeld, he enjoyed a close relationship with the king (or President as the case may be). So Naaman was a man of great influence who was used to being in charge.
Can God use such a man? Yes, God can use anyone who will humbly follow His leadership.
Can God use a man who charts his own course? No, God must break us of self-will and self-reliance to lead us to the right place. For Naaman, it was the place where he could find a cure.
You see, Naaman was a leper. The word is used of various skin ailments that had no cure in Old Testament times. The worst of these is what we think of when we hear the word “leprosy” – today it is also known as “Hansen’s disease,” an ailment that causes deterioration of the skin and the ligaments that hold the joints together. Untreated it is fatal. Today there is treatment that can cure this kind of leprosy. But God had not yet provided this knowledge to the world in Naaman’s time.
So God provided Naaman with “captive a young girl from Israel, and she served Naaman's wife” (v2). This young girl had nothing to offer her great master, Naaman, except for one thing: knowledge of the living God. This young girl knew where to look when she had a problem.
Naaman must have been desperate because he listened to the word of a young slave and took it all the way to the King. There is an important lesson here for us:
You see, the right cure is available in only one place.
It was Jesus who said, “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28, NIV).
Naaman, the second most powerful man in Aram (Syria), began his search for the right cure in the right place because of the witness of one young girl. She was a slave who “bloomed where she was planted” as some have said.
Is there someone in your life today who needs a cure? Perhaps you can point that person to the right place for the right cure? Or maybe you yourself need a cure?
2. The right cure will work only if you follow the directions.
7 As soon as the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his robes and said, "Am I God? Can I kill and bring back to life? Why does this fellow send someone to me to be cured of his leprosy? See how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me!"
8 When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his robes, he sent him this message: "Why have you torn your robes? Have the man come to me and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel." 9 So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha's house. 10 Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, "Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed."
11 But Naaman went away angry and said, "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. 12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than any of the waters of Israel? Couldn't I wash in them and be cleansed?" So he turned and went off in a rage. (2 Kings 5:7-12, NIV)Leave it to the king of Israel to forget about God … But God again bears witness to the king through His prophet, Elisha: “Why have you torn your robes? Have the man come to me and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel” (v8).
Now we have some insight into the right cure for Naaman. While he thought his biggest problem was leprosy – and surely it was a critical problem – he did not realize his greatest need was about to be cured.
Naaman arrived at the prophet’s house with great fanfare – after all, he was a great man. There were horses and chariots, goods, and many people to carry the load. Yet look at the response of Elisha to the arrival of this great man: “Elisha sent a messenger” (v10).
Naaman the great was at Elisha’s door and all the prophet did was to send a messenger. How rude! Yet the message was very simple. Naaman was to go wash in the mudd00y Jordan River to be healed.
The word of the LORD is to be obeyed to be effective in our lives.
22Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror 24and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it--he will be blessed in what he does. (James 1:22-25, NIV)
We need to be obedient like Neil’s friends:
"Parliament's equivalent of the U.S. Speaker of the House is called the 'Keeper of the Woolsack,' who wears resplendent gold-and-scarlet robes topped with a ceremonial wig. At the time of this incident ... the office was held by Sir Quentin Hogg, Lord Hailsham.
"After Parliament adjourned, Lord Hailsham strode into the corridor, passed an American tour group, and saw an old friend, the Honorable Neil Marten, an MP with whom he wished to speak. 'Neil!' Lord Hailsham called, 'Neil!'
At once, the entire tour group promptly fell to their knees. [2]
Do you desire to know the presence and power of God in your life? Are you yearning for God to be real? Then have the daring courage to kneel before God to obey His word, whatever He says. That is what He required of Naaman and that is what He requires of you and I today.
11 But Naaman went away angry and said, "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. 12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than any of the waters of Israel? Couldn't I wash in them and be cleansed?" So he turned and went off in a rage. (2 Kings 5:11-12, NIV)
Magic. That is what Naaman was expecting. Some magical hand-waving and the leprosy would be gone. Even as he considered the word of the prophet, he began second-guessing God. He was right in the first part of what he said – the waters of Damascus were highly extolled for their purity and coldness. [3] But the second part was totally wrong – the waters of Damascus would not cleanse his disease.
The right cure will only work if you follow the directions.
A doctor’s visit that results in a prescription does no good at all if you throw away the prescription. And God’s cure will only work if you follow His directions.
3. The right cure cures completely.
13 Naaman's servants 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'!" 14 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 and became clean like that of a young boy. (2 Kings 5:13-14, NIV)
Someone once entitled a sermon on this miracle, “Seven ducks in a puddle.” [4] That’s a good synopsis of the directions. But Naaman was a proud man used to doing things his own way. Pride is what separates us from God and causes such agony and misery in the world – far more agony and misery than any physical disease.
12 … Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." (Matthew 9:12-13, NIV).
The right cure for Naaman required only “seven ducks in a puddle.” And it cured him completely. Naaman’s servants gave him good advice – it seems Naaman had many wise servants surrounding him. What a coincidence! Or perhaps, God was at work in his life in a major way? You know what a coincidence is – when God chooses to work but remains anonymous.
The right cure and the only cure for the human condition is the salvation that God offers to us through His Son, the LORD Jesus Christ. Forgiveness, freedom from guilt, an eternal relationship with God, and a future home in Heaven are all yours for the asking.
The directions for the ultimate cure are simple: turn your sins and believe in the LORD Jesus Christ (Mark 1:15; Romans 10:9-10). To many people, this is too simple. No great and awesome feat is required to enter the kingdom of God, nor can one gain you entrance in any way, shape, or form.
Does faith in the LORD Jesus Christ mean you will be healed of your physical disease also? Maybe, maybe not. That is God’s determination as to what is best for you and for His kingdom.
Story of Joni Erickson Tada
In the summer of 1967, Joni Erickson and her sister rode their horses to the Chesapeake Bay to go for a swim. The result was tragic. Joni dived into shallow water, struck her head on a rock and became a quadriplegic. She is paralyzed from the neck down.
During two years of often painful rehabilitation Joni learned how to paint with her mouth, and what this disability meant for her faith. At times Joni was angry with God, demanding to know why he let this happen, even at times wishing she hadn't survived. But in the years since Joni has learned that it is in her weakness that God's strength can shine through. She has been a source of enormous blessing to people all over the world as she shares the faith that sustains her.
At first Joni found it impossible to reconcile her condition with her belief in a loving God. But one night Joni became convinced God did understand. The catalyst was a good friend who said to her, "Joni, Jesus knows how you feel. He was paralyzed. He couldn't move or change position on the cross. He was paralyzed by the nails." The realization was profoundly comforting. "God became incredibly close to me and eventually I understood that He loves me. I had no other identity but God, and gradually He became enough," stated Joni. "I prayed for healing and truly believed it would come. The Bible speaks of our bodies' being glorified'. Now I realize I will be healed; I'm just going through a forty or fifty year delay and God stays with me even through that."[5]
4. The right cure is faith in the one true God.
15 Then Naaman and all his attendants went back to the man of God. He stood before him and said, "Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel. Please accept now a gift from your servant."
16 The prophet answered, "As surely as the LORD lives, whom I serve, I will not accept a thing." And even though Naaman urged him, he refused.
17 "If you will not," said Naaman, "please let me, your servant, be given as much earth as a pair of mules can carry, for your servant will never again make burnt offerings and sacrifices to any other god but the LORD . 18 But may the LORD forgive your servant for this one thing: When my master enters the temple of Rimmon to bow down and he is leaning on my arm and I bow there also-when I bow down in the temple of Rimmon, may the LORD forgive your servant for this."
19 "Go in peace," Elisha said. (2 Kings 5:15-19, NIV)
This great miracle was used to point Naaman to faith in the one true God. “Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel” (v15). This was the right cure for Naaman. This is the right cure for you and for me.Will you be a Naaman today – have the courage to put aside pride and accept the simple grace offered to you through the LORD Jesus Christ? God does not require you to do great things to have a relationship with Him. Just put away the pride and be willing to follow His leadership in life. You start by trusting in the Savior, the LORD Jesus Christ. Day-by-day, enter into His presence with the perfect prayer for God’s children: “I have come to do your will, O God!” (Hebrews 10:7, NIV)
Conclusion: God has compassion to heal you of your most significant problem with the right cure.
God has compassion to heal you, to heal everyone, but He focuses on the right cure – to heal you from the plague of sin through faith in His Son. Physical healing is important but spiritual healing is by far the most important. You can live with disease and even die with disease but live forever with Jesus. But you cannot live without disease and without Jesus.
© Copyright 2004, Randy Lariscy.
End Notes
