Mensa Otabil - Naaman's Restoration

Watch
Donate

2 Kings chapter 5, verse 14. So he went down and dipped seven times in the Jordan according to the saying of the man of God. And his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean. Naaman almost missed God. He almost missed his healing. He stomped out from the house of Elisha, very furious, very angry.

But one of his servants spoke to him and reasoned with him, and he listened to his servant. And it’s a measure of the man’s character that, as high as he was, he could also come down and listen to a servant. Because remember, his maid is the one who recommended that he go to Israel for his healing. And when he was going back to Syria without a healing, it was a servant who told him, «You’ve come too far to miss this.» And he listened to his servant and made the right decision. May God give each one of us people who can help us get on the right path, because it happens to all of us where we are, uh, angry in an emotional frenzy; something is really upsetting us, and we are making bad choices. At that time, you need somebody to help you reason and come out of that emotional state and see logically the things that you must do.

So, with a little nudging, Naaman went to the Jordan River as he was instructed by the prophet, and he dipped seven times in the waters of the Jordan, and he came out clean. The passage says he was restored like the flesh of a little child. And that is symbolic language to say that when God restored him, he didn’t take him back to how he used to look before he had leprosy. God took him back to the beginning. It’s a sign that God was giving him a fresh start, a fresh beginning, and a new lease on life. When you look at the passage, he was instructed to dip seven times.

In the Bible, seven is the number of perfection or completeness. In other words, his obedience had to be complete. His faith had to be total. It had to be absolute. When we’re obeying God or doing what God wants us to do, it doesn’t have to be half and half. It doesn’t have to be partial. It doesn’t have to be that I obey a little and disobey a little. I can’t just go in one dip and hope to be healed or go in six dips and hope to be healed. The obedience has to be complete. It has to be total. And when we’re obeying God, we need to do it totally.

So Naaman received the healing he was desiring for. There in the river, he received healing. But he received more than healing. He received restoration. He received self-esteem. He received the restoration of his confidence. Because remember, this disease could cost him his job. This disease was eating him up. It was destroying him. And when God cleansed him, God restored to him his sense of confidence and self-esteem. May the Lord bring you total healing that touches your body and your self-esteem at the same time.

Today I just want to pray for everyone who is bound in any situation that is destroying them. It could be alcoholism. Maybe you can’t get rid of the alcohol. May God deliver you today. May God deliver you from drugs. May God deliver you from an addiction to gambling. May God deliver you from wrong relationships that are seeking to destroy you. May God deliver you from every habit that is pulling you down. It may be a secret habit. I speak the power of God to touch you wherever you are, to be made whole and be made restored. And may the Lord restore you not to where you used to be, but better than you used to be, because He is a God of full, complete, absolute, and perfect restoration. And the Lord will do it for you in Jesus' name.

Let’s pray. Say with me, «Heavenly Father, help me to obey You completely. I trust You for a full restoration and a new beginning in Jesus' name. Amen.»