Naaman Is Healed
5 Now Naaman, captain of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man [a]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 [b]waited on Naaman’s wife. 3 She said to her mistress, “I wish that my master were [c]with the prophet who is in Samaria! Then he would cure him of his leprosy.” 4 [d]Naaman 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 [e]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 [f]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. 10 Elisha 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 [g]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 [h]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. 13 Then 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.
Ever made a mountain out of a molehill? Yeah, me too, and so did Naaman. He wanted to be healed, he had journeyed all this way on the word of a servant girl. He would have done anything, but to be asked to bathe in the inferior waters of a foreign country? It was too much.
Fortunately, Naaman had servants that cared about him, that were honest with him, and kept Naaman’s pride from robbing him of this blessing. When we get out of line, we need good people around us to keep us on track. Don’t take lightly the people God has put in your life. And if you find yourself in bad company, go find some better, or start raising the bar in your own circle. God can and will use His family to build each other up, but we have to be willing to say the hard things sometimes, and be willing to hear the hard things at other times. All the while, keep pride from having its way in your life, it can cause a world of hurt in either situation. But God can do amazing things when we lay it down at His feet.