Many of the miracles talked about in the Bible are all about healing. But today, a lot of people seem to take these stories for granted. Or worse, they don’t think much of it since a little fever or headache goes away by just popping the right pills.
Modern medicine is all well and good, but there is more to being healed than just fixing your body. The spirit needs healing too! How many times have you read about wealthy people, with all their access to healthy options and gyms, yet they still get all depressed or talk about something missing in their lives?
The stories of healing in the Bible teach us that God is still the ultimate doctor, whose miraculous touch reaches deep into our mind and soul as well as our bodies.
So today, let’s take a look at two well-known Bible stories about healing and what God is trying to tell us through them.
The Healing of Naaman
This first story can be found in 2 Kings 5 of the Bible. It tells us about Naaman, a commander of the army who served the great king of Syria. He was described as a very honorable man, thus the Lord blessed him by giving victory to his nation.
Despite this, Naaman was also a leper, and even those who have only skimmed the Bible will know that leprosy was a terrible disease that ate away its victims.
One day, Naaman returned from a raid with a slave girl from the land of Israel and had her serve his wife. The slave girl then claimed that a prophet from her homeland could heal him.
Desperate for a cure, the mighty commander set forth with treasures to pay this prophet tribute in exchange for his healing.
It turns out that this prophet was none other than the great Elisha, the successor of Elijah after he was brought up to the Lord.
But rather than meet Naaman, Elisha sent his servant with instructions on how Naaman can receive his cure. Specifically, this was when he was told to bathe in the River Jordan seven times.
At first, Naaman was pretty put off by this and would rather meet the prophet face-to-face, see him wave his hand, and cleanse him of his leprosy. He also didn’t think a wash in the Jordan, of all places, would do anything. Being from Syria, he had seen cleaner rivers!
Still, one of his own servants talked a bit of sense into him. Naaman did as he was told, and he came out of the River Jordan leprosy-free!
Of course, this didn’t mean that Jordan was some magic river. It meant that God would always heal those who would let go of their egos and their assumptions and receive His healing spirit. It is not so much what you do but what you allow God to do for you!
Jesus Healing on the Sabbath
Jesus healing a man on the Sabbath is a very popular Bible story found in most of the Gospels. In all accounts, it spoke of Jesus encountering a man with a crippled hand on the Sabbath.
Since the Sabbath was holy, Jesus’ enemies watched to see if He would heal the man (so that they could charge him with breaking the commandments).
Jesus would then go on to chastise these people, asking them if it was lawful on the Sabbath “to do good, or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” (Mark 3:4).
A lot of people often interpret this story to talk about doing urgent things on a Sunday. However, it can still be bigger than that. It can also mean that God’s healing power is still greater than any burden or restriction placed by one’s fellow man.
Like with the story of Naaman, it’s all about setting aside the things that get in the way of our healing and letting God do His work.
One last thing…
Remember, when God heals, he does more than cure a little sickness. He cures a deeper sickness within us, and it’s important to let Him do that work. Let’s remember to always be open to it and not try to cover it up, thinking we can just pop a pill to make the pain go away.
Of course, you can also find more nuggets of wisdom on God’s healing power straight from my book Spirit Superfood: 37 Days of Biblical Wisdom Broken Down and Easy to Understand – Like a Daily Superfood Smoothie for your Spirit. Just check it out on either Amazon or Barnes & Noble.