Recovery Christian Center Daily Meditation - 8/4/13 - Step One - Giving Up Control
"The king of Aram had great admiration for Naaman, the commander of his army, because through him the Lord had given Aram great victories. But though Naaman was a mighty warrior, he suffered from leprosy. At this time Aramean raiders had invaded the land of Israel, and among their captives was a young girl who had been given to Naaman’s wife as a maid. One day the girl said to her mistress, “I wish my master would go to see the prophet in Samaria. He would heal him of his leprosy.” So Naaman told the king what the young girl from Israel had said. “Go and visit the prophet,” the king of Aram told him. “I will send a letter of introduction for you to take to the king of Israel.” So Naaman started out, carrying as gifts 750 pounds of silver, 150 pounds of gold, and ten sets of clothing. The letter to the king of Israel said: “With this letter I present my servant Naaman. I want you to heal him of his leprosy.” When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes in dismay and said, “This man sends me a leper to heal! Am I God, that I can give life and take it away? I can see that he’s just trying to pick a fight with me.” But when Elisha, the man of God, heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes in dismay, he sent this message to him: “Why are you so upset? Send Naaman to me, and he will learn that there is a true prophet here in Israel.” So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and waited at the door of Elisha’s house. But Elisha sent a messenger out to him with this message: “Go and wash yourself seven times in the Jordan River. Then your skin will be restored, and you will be healed of your leprosy.” But Naaman became angry and stalked away. “I thought he would certainly come out to meet me!” he said. “I expected him to wave his hand over the leprosy and call on the name of the Lord his God and heal me! Aren’t the rivers of Damascus, the Abana and the Pharpar, better than any of the rivers of Israel? Why shouldn’t I wash in them and be healed?” So Naaman turned and went away in a rage. But his officers tried to reason with him and said, “Sir, if the prophet had told you to do something very difficult, wouldn’t you have done it? So you should certainly obey him when he says simply, ‘Go and wash and be cured!’” So Naaman went down to the Jordan River and dipped himself seven times, as the man of God had instructed him. And his skin became as healthy as the skin of a young child’s, and he was healed! Then Naaman and his entire party went back to find the man of God. They stood before him, and Naaman said, “Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel. So please accept a gift from your servant.” But Elisha replied, “As surely as the Lord lives, whom I serve, I will not accept any gifts.” And though Naaman urged him to take the gift, Elisha refused. Then Naaman said, “All right, but please allow me to load two of my mules with earth from this place, and I will take it back home with me. From now on I will never again offer burnt offerings or sacrifices to any other god except the Lord. However, may the Lord pardon me in this one thing: When my master the king goes into the temple of the god Rimmon to worship there and leans on my arm, may the Lord pardon me when I bow, too.” “Go in peace,” Elisha said. So Naaman started home again." 2 Kings 5:1-19 NLT
Step 1: We admitted that we were powerless over our problems - that our lives had become unmanageable. (12 Steps for Christian Recovery)
The problem with admitting powerlessness for many of us means that we must give up control of our lives. It's something we hold dear even tho what has brought to our knees was long since out of our control. The very thing that is actually controlling us and slowly destroying us has us actually believing we are in control. Even when we admit we need help we want to try and figure out a way to control how we are helped. In short we want to tell help how to help us. The Aramean general Naaman was very much one of these individuals. He was a powerful military and political figure who was very used to having his own way, but he was slowly dying of leprosy. The medical knowledge back then had no idea how to cure it and since it was highly contagious, it was considered a curse and most victims were sent to leper colonies to keep it from spreading. But Namaan's servant knew there was a prophet in Israel that could cure him.
The problem was that once Namaam got to Elisha he tried to dictate the process of how he would be helped. Rather than simply following the instructions without question, he tried to manipulate and adjust those to fit him. The reality was he also struggled with the simplicity of the instructions. He was looking for some drawn out,complicated process that would be taxing and expensive. When it turned out to be simple he bucked the instructions out of disbelief. But when he finally broke down and followed them, he was cured.
A lot of us struggle with those same concepts in the first step. We are so used to getting what we think is our own way and being in the illusion of control that when confronted with something we can't control we fight to the last breath to bring it under control before surrendering. We also struggle with the idea that the solution is too simple. It should be harder. It should be taxing. It should be expensive. God, however, is making it very simple. All He wants us to do do is come to the realization that we no matter how hard we try, we will never be able to control what it is that is controlling. All we have to do is admit we are powerless and that the struggle for control is making us unmanageable. If we simply let go and let God we will begin to recover and begin a path to a relationship with Christ. It may seem like it can't be that simple but it is.
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