The king of Aram had great admiration for Naaman, the commander of his army, because through him the Lord had given Aram great victories. But though Naaman was a mighty warrior, he suffered from leprosy.
At this time Aramean raiders had invaded the land of Israel, and among their captives was a young girl who had been given to Naaman’s wife as a maid. One day the girl said to her mistress, “I wish my master would go to see the prophet in Samaria. He would heal him of his leprosy.”
So Naaman told the king what the young girl from Israel had said. “Go and visit the prophet,” the king of Aram told him. “I will send a letter of introduction for you to take to the king of Israel.” So Naaman started out, carrying as gifts 750 pounds of silver, 150 pounds of gold, and ten sets of clothing. The letter to the king of Israel said: “With this letter I present my servant Naaman. I want you to heal him of his leprosy.”
When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes in dismay and said, “Am I God, that I can give life and take it away? Why is this man asking me to heal someone with leprosy? I can see that he’s just trying to pick a fight with me.”
But when Elisha, the man of God, heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes in dismay, he sent this message to him: “Why are you so upset? Send Naaman to me, and he will learn that there is a true prophet here in Israel.”
So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and waited at the door of Elisha’s house. But Elisha sent a messenger out to him with this message: “Go and wash yourself seven times in the Jordan River. Then your skin will be restored, and you will be healed of your leprosy.”
But Naaman became angry and stalked away. “I thought he would certainly come out to meet me!” he said. “I expected him to wave his hand over the leprosy and call on the name of the Lord his God and heal me! Aren’t the rivers of Damascus, the Abana and the Pharpar, better than any of the rivers of Israel? Why shouldn’t I wash in them and be healed?” So Naaman turned and went away in a rage.
But his officers tried to reason with him and said, “Sir, if the prophet had told you to do something very difficult, wouldn’t you have done it? So you should certainly obey him when he says simply, ‘Go and wash and be cured!’” So Naaman went down to the Jordan River and dipped himself seven times, as the man of God had instructed him. And his skin became as healthy as the skin of a young child, and he was healed!
Then Naaman and his entire party went back to find the man of God. They stood before him, and Naaman said, “Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel. So please accept a gift from your servant.” (2 Kings 5:1–15 NLT)
Desperate. Naaman must have been desperate to go before his king on the word of a foreign servant girl. No doubt he – like the woman with the issue of blood in Mark 5 – had tried every alternative. So far, however, despite his wealth, status, and accomplishments, he continued to suffer from this disease. But a glimmer of hope had emerged! His wife’s servant girl, in a remarkable display of loving her enemies, told him that in Israel there was power to restore his life!
After receiving the King’s blessing, and loaded with hundreds of pounds of precious metal and fine clothing – for what wouldn’t you give in exchange for your life? – he traveled again to Israel, not as an assailant this time but as a seeker. Initially, he was offended by Elisha’s simple command to wash in the Jordan – expecting something more grand – but thankfully, he again accepted the care and wisdom of his servants. They were right; he was desperate enough to have done anything Elisha asked, so why not simply, “Wash and be clean?” And by taking this step of desperate faith, he was restored, and the holiness of the Lord was revealed in his life.
We see throughout the Gospels that it is those who are desperate for Jesus who receive from him what they are asking for (and more!): the woman with the issue of blood, Nicodemus, the two blind beggars, the Canaanite woman asking for her daughter to be healed, the friends who lowered the paralyzed man through the roof, etc. Their dogged pursuit of Jesus led them to experiencing his Kingdom on earth.
Are we desperate for Jesus? Do our souls ache for him? Sometimes it takes tragedy and suffering to make us long for Christ like that, but during Lent we intentionally position ourselves to notice the longing in our souls. During Lent, we are not seeking to change God’s attitude toward us with fasting but to change our attitude toward him – giving up lesser comforts so we might become more aware of our thirst for Jesus and turn only to him.
Naaman longed for his physical body to be restored. And because our God is found by those who earnestly seek him, Naaman found healing, wholeness, and the joy of knowing the one true God.
Where in your life are you desperate for Jesus to bring restoration? Where in your life are you seeking satisfaction or comfort outside of Jesus? Is there someone in your life – perhaps an outsider or even someone who has wronged you – whom God is calling you to love with genuine concern today?
Jordan Crawford is part of the Next Gen team at Grace Community Church in Detroit, Michigan.
