Skin like a Child...

2 Kings 5: Naaman, commander of the army of the King of Syria, was a great and honorable man in the eyes of his master, because by him the Lord had given victory to Syria.  He was a mighty man of valor, but a leper.

A young captive told him to go to Prophet Elisha and he’d be healed of his leprosy. 

Vs. 10 ¹⁰ And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored to you, and you shall be clean.” ¹¹ But Naaman became furious, and went away and said, “Indeed, I said to myself, ‘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 heal the leprosy.’ ¹² Are not the Abanah^[a] and the 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 And his servants came near and spoke to him, and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do something great, 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 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.

Restoration requires:

·         Humbling ourselves and admitting we need restored

·         Asking for help

·         Willing to be obedient and do it God’s way (We’re not in charge).

 

Notice, GOD DIDN’T RESTORE HIS SKIN TO THAT OF A MATURE MAN OF BATTLE, BUT OF A LITTLE CHILD!

Restoration is making us better than we were before.  It isn’t just about the physical, but the emotional and spiritual as well.  Leprosy is a disease that causes numbness.  Many of us have leprosy of the heart in one way or another.  God will restore you, if you’re willing.

Know that it will take obedience – it may take doing things you don’t want to do – like forgiveness – of yourself and others; it may require confessing your trespasses and those who have trespassed against you.  It may not be convenient and it will require bathing in the river of living water (Jesus).  It is then, and only then, that true restoration will take place.

Hoping we can all receive restoration - that we may have both the skin and the heart of a child.  Be blessed!