2 Kings 5:1-19 (New American Standard)
1 Now Naaman, captain of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man with his master, and highly respected , because by him the LORD had given victory to Aram. The man was also a valiant warrior, but he was a leper.
2 Now the Arameans had gone out in bands and had taken captive a little girl from the land of Israel ; and she waited on Naaman's wife.
3 She said to her mistress, "I wish that my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria ! Then he would cure him of his leprosy."
4Naaman went in and told his master, saying, "Thus and thus spoke the girl who is from the land of Israel."
5 Then the king of Aram said, "Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel." He departed and took with him ten talents of silver and six thousand shekels of gold and ten changes of clothes.
6 He brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, "And now as this letter comes to you, behold, I have sent Naaman my servant to you, that you may cure him of his leprosy."
7 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 is sending word to me to cure a man of his leprosy ? But consider now, and see how he is seeking a quarrel against me."
8 It happened when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, that he sent word to the king, saying, "Why have you torn your clothes ? Now let him come to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel."
9 So Naaman came with his horses and his chariots and stood at the doorway of the house of Elisha.
10Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, "Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh will be restored to you and you will be clean."
11 But Naaman was furious and went away and said, "Behold, I thought, 'He will surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper.'
12 "Are not Abanah 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.
13Then his servants came near and spoke to him and said, "My father, had the prophet told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, 'Wash, and be clean '?"
14 So 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.
Everyday, people live under the curse of defeat, which takes on many different forms. It could be recurring disease, depression, one financial problem after another, family problems passed down from generation to generation.
For the Christian, there is always hope. Jesus came to reverse every curse and give us power to conquer anything that might hold us down. God specializes in making the impossible possible.
In 2 Kings 5:1-19 is the story of Naaman, a valiant warrior who led his country to victory. Cursed with leprosy, an incurable disease that left its victims sick and social isolated, Naaman sought help from the prophet, Elisha. After dipping seven times in the Jordan River at Elisha's command -- Naaman initially scoffed at - the Syrian warrior was healed. Naaman turned his heart to worship God of Israel, the reverser of the curse.
Like Naaman, commit to see your cleansing through. God will redeem what you thought was impossible to restore. Let today be the day that you reverse the curse in your life. The thing that holds you back the most, let it go, and let God restore your life.
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