Washing in the Jordan

I have a friend who has been battling breast cancer for over 8 years. She has mainly used conventional medicine including surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. Recently, we started using NAET treatments to change her body's response to the cancer and help with pain. Also, I chose a homeopathic medicine to bring the body back into balance.

She started to feel stronger and have less symptoms which were unrelated to the cancer such as stomachaches. Since the little sugar pills of homeopathy and simple accupressure of NAET seemed like magic on the one hand and nothing on the other hand, it made my friend wonder. Why would God have her do this type of simple treatment after years of severe and harsh therapies and prayers to cure the cancer. If God could cure something so easily, why would he not just heal her miraculously with prayer only?

The answer she got came from a story in the bible in II Kings chapter 5....

1 Now Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded, because through him the LORD had given victory to Aram. He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy.[a]
2 Now bands of raiders from Aram had gone out and had taken captive a young girl from Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife. 3 She said to her mistress, “If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.”

4 Naaman went to his master and told him what the girl from Israel had said. 5 “By all means, go,” the king of Aram replied. “I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” So Naaman left, taking with him ten talents[b] of silver, six thousand shekels[c] of gold and ten sets of clothing. 6 The letter that he took to the king of Israel read: “With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman to you so that you may cure him of his leprosy.”

7 As soon as the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his robes and said, “Am I God? Can I kill and bring back to life? Why does this fellow send someone to me to be cured of his leprosy? See how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me!”

8 When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his robes, he sent him this message: “Why have you torn your robes? Have the man come to me and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel.” 9 So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha’s house. 10 Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, “Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.”

11 But Naaman went away angry and said, “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. 12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?” So he turned and went off in a rage.

13 Naaman’s servants went to him and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’!” 14 So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy.


My friend doesn't know why after all these years of medicine she is still battling cancer and why God would now have her do some simple treatments to feel better and hopefully be cured. But she has decided that if this is what she is meant to do at this time, she will do it.

I myself would like to be able to just pray and have people be healed. It would certainly be easier--no continuing education units to fulfill, no reasearch to be done. But for whatever reason, it seems we are meant to understand health and disease and go through a process of regaining health. Sometimes that process includes simple treatments we think are too easy to be effective. Yet when we follow through, good results are acheived.