One thought almost changed everything.
“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” ’!“—2 Kings 5:13
Naaman was a powerful man, the commander of the Syrian king’s army, honorable, respected, influential, a man of valor.
But he was a leper.
Leprosy, a dreaded, contagious, and incurable disease, made its victims social outcasts who suffered disfigurement and death. It is often used as an allegory for sin in the Old Testament.
Being a leper overshadowed all Naaman’s achievements and accolades.
A young Israelite servant girl told Naaman’s wife about a prophet who could heal. Naaman was invited to visit this renowned prophet, Elisha.
And what did Elisha do with this important man? He sent a servant with a simple message: “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times and your flesh shall be restored to you and you shall be clean” (2 Kings 5:10).
Naaman was furious. This so-called prophet failed to greet him properly and gave him ridiculous instructions.
Naaman raged and complained.
Why the muddy Jordan River? Aren’t there better rivers? I thought the prophet would greet me. I thought he would call on the Lord, wave his hand over me, and heal my leprosy.
I thought. I thought.
Naaman feared looking foolish. His pride was wounded. He came perilously close to missing the blessing God had for him. His mind was stuck on, “I thought.”
One of his servants reasoned with him, “What have you got to lose? If the prophet had asked you to do something great, would you not have done it? Why not try this one simple thing?”
So, desperate Naaman surrendered. With each dip in the water, an intense spiritual battle was being waged in his mind. He fought humiliation and the urge to run from this foolishness. Finally, after the seventh plunge, he came up and “his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.”
“Now I know that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel,” he exclaimed (2 Kings 5: 15).
How angry Satan must have been! Naaman was healed, and he acknowledged the One True God.
Just think how close he came to allowing one thought to bar him from a miracle. One thought almost shut the gates of healing. One thought almost kept him from the goodness of God.
One thought of obedience led to the release of God’s miraculous power in his life.
