Healing came through obedience
 
"Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse;
"A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day:
"And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known." Deuteronomy 11:26-28
 
By CHERYL ROGERS
Do you remember the Bible story about Naaman the Syrian?
He's the guy who balked when God told him -- through the prophet Elijah -- he was to wash in the Jordan River seven times to be healed of his leprosy.
It's a good thing for Naaman that his servants convinced him to do it. (See 2 Kings 5)
Though bathing in the Jordan must have appeared no different than bathing in rivers back home, it was different -- this time -- because God ordered it.
If Naaman didn't obey, he risked losing his healing for disobedience.
It's easy to do.
Sometimes our healing requires extra sleep, bed rest, avoiding stress, even cutting our workload, and we may balk. We may look for some dramatic cure, some potent medicine that will turn things around.
But when we surrender our lives to the living God, we need to listen for his voice, his instructions for our healing.
It may come through a doctor, loved ones, or both. It will be repeated and possibly explained, if you ask.
At least it was for me.
Faced with the prospect of surgery to remove a multinodular goiter, I committed my cause to God and prayed for a natural or supernatural healing. I know all things are possible with him and I wanted to keep my thyroid gland, which blood tests showed was working just fine, thank you.
But after an eight-year wait, God ordered surgery. The thing grew to the point where it was starting to block the airway.
Waiting didn't seem smart.  
The time for storming Heaven with prayers to shrink the goiter was over.
To be sure, I didn't like what I heard, saw and experienced. But God patiently reiterated his orders and explained them.
Although this wasn't my preferred cure, God had ordained it the best one for me.
Sometimes our healing comes, as it did for Naaman, from simple things ... or ordinary, expected things -- done in obedience and faith.
 
 
Cheryl Rogers is a writer and singer/songwriter specializing in Scripture songs and Scripture-based columns, stories, and artwork. Resources are posted at http://www.SongsfromtheWord.com
 
© Cheryl Rogers, Tampa, Florida
This blog/podcast may be redistributed in its entirety, unchanged. Contact the author at songsfromtheword@earthlink.net for all other rights.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Monday, October 1, 2007