Savage2Saint Sobriety Nov. 28, 2023

Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honourable, because by him the Lord had given deliverance unto Syria: he was also a mighty man in valour, but he was a leper. - 2 Kings 5:1 (KJV).

There is no other group of people in the Bible that I can relate with being an addict to more than I do the lepers. Lepers are the outcast of the Biblical society. Lepers are shunned by family and friends. Lepers were forced to live together away from the rest of the world. Sound familiar? Some tried to hide their condition so they wouldn’t be judged. Many of the lepers in the Bible were afflicted by their condition for years before having an encounter with God that changed their lives. There was no mountain too tall, no valley too low, no distance too great they wouldn’t travel just for a chance to be normal again. Just for a chance to be accepted back into society so they could be around their loved ones. But for some, they had been let down by treatment after treatment to the point that they had decided there was no hope for themselves. They were just stuck being in that condition for the rest of their lives.

When I read verse 1, I can’t help but think it reads like an obituary. Naaman was a captain in the army of the king of Syria, respected, honorable, a mighty man…..but…..he was a leper. It seems to me that no matter what kind of accolades he received, no matter what he accomplished in his life, no matter how successful he was he couldn’t escape being defined by the worst detail of his life. Inside his inner circle he was respected. Outside of it he was viewed as another one of those people. No matter how many people he killed in battle, he couldn’t escape the label the world had placed on him.

Can anybody relate to Naaman? I know I can. As an addict AND as a convicted felon. To the people who know me, I’m a good man. A nice guy. A hard worker. A loving husband and father. But to the world I’m a 3-time convicted felon who has been to prison 5 times and someone who has battled addiction his entire life.

If the world has placed a label on you for a past you can’t turn back the clock and change, then your story and Naaman’s story aren’t too different. But He/she is a…fill in the blank….an addict, abused, an abuser, a thief. We all have a past we can’t rewrite.

And she said unto her mistress, Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy. - 2 Kings 5:3 (KJV).

So what did Naaman do when he heard about a guy in another country? The same thing that many of you did when you reached a point of desperation and brokenness that he surely had. I wonder when was the last time he had the chance to visit with his family, share in the victory celebration with his fellow soldiers. He obviously had favor with God (vs.1), but did he have favor from anyone in his camp besides his master. If his life was easy, then he wouldn’t have taken off to see a man at the mention of the possibility that he could be healed from his wife’s slave girl.

According to Google, Naaman’s journey took him approximately 1,000 miles. If we were to get in a car and drive that distance it would take all day to drive. But Naaman didn’t have a car. If we were to travel by train it would take 2 days to travel that distance. Bicycle? 2 weeks. Naaman had none of these options. For him to travel 1,000 miles, he was looking at a minimum of a 1 month journey one way. Seems like a lot to ask somebody to do on an “if.” But not to Naaman. The idea of being healed far exceeded any discomfort he might have experienced from a 40-50 day journey. A price he was eager to pay.

So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha. - 2 Kings 5:9 (KJV).

Naaman took the step of faith by deciding there was no distance too great for him to travel to find the cure for the affliction that had been haunting him for years. His chance at getting healed and erasing a past of pain and turmoil was right at his fingertips. Why wouldn’t he at least try? Wouldn’t you? He took a major step in the right direction. A step toward changing his life forever.

Many of you reading this today have taken that same step by going to church. Maybe it was a family member, a co-worker, a gf/bf, a friend. Whoever it was that told you about a Guy who could help and change your life forever, probably knew you were at a breaking point with whatever label you have hanging over your life.

But that isn’t how Naaman’s story ends. I told you I see my story in Naaman’s story, didn’t I? The title of this message is One Step Forward, Two Steps Back. Even though Naaman took one giant step in the right direction, he almost let two steps back stop him short of getting his miracle healing from God. And if you’re not careful you’ll do the same here today. Let’s take a look at the two steps back that Naaman took:

1. He put expectations on God and let his ego get in the way. (Vs. 10) And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean. (Vs. 11) But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the Lord his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper.

How many times have you come to church because you were hungry for change. Hungry for something different. Desperately needing to fill a need that only Jesus can fill. But when you got to that place of healing, maybe it didn’t go how You thought it should go. Maybe you had a preconceived notion of how you thought the people at the church were going to welcome you.

Have you ever had someone ask you a question and then tell you the answer. Addicts are the best at asking questions but thinking they know the answer. Listen, if we, the addicts, had all the answers then why do we, the addicts, struggle so bad with living life on life’s terms?

People ask me for help about getting sober and then want to tell me that the answer I give them, JESUS, is not what they need. Then they tell me they just need rehab, or to work on a job with me out of town. If you already know what you need then why are you asking me? The answer is because your life is out of control, and you look at me and my life is in control. You want to know what I’m doing differently. You want to know what my secret is. It’s simple, I wake up everyday and give my day to Jesus. I read my Bible every day. I pray every day. I have admitted that I am powerless over my addiction. But I know someone Who isn’t powerless over my addiction. Jesus Christ. It’s the classic, I can’t but I know a guy speech.

We do the same thing when we ask God for His help. We go to Him seeking answers but then want to argue with Him, or worse, hear His answer and then go right back to thinking we know everything. We talk when we should be listening. That’s why God gave us two ears and one mouth…because we should be listening twice as much as we talk.

Elisha didn’t ask Naaman to kill a thousand warriors. He didn’t ask him to travel around the world. Elisha simply instructed Naaman to dip in the Jordan River seven times and he would be healed. Naaman’s servant pointed out that had Elisha instructed Naaman to do something hard or valiant, Naaman would have at least tried to do it. So why did Naaman act like it was an impossible task? Like he was too good to do it?

Our ego can be the biggest obstacle we face when it comes to getting our miracle from God. Worried about how it will make us look. Worried about what the person next to us thinks. Listen, the decision to fully trust God has nothing to do with anybody but You and God. You never know how many other people will follow your lead when you obey God and start living for Him.

2. He wanted to quit and go back home. (Vs. 12) Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage.

After travelling 1,000 miles by foot and camel. After travelling for 1-2 months through rough, desert terrain. Naaman was going to just throw his hands up and quit. Can you imagine? We do that all the time. When the going gets tough, the addict gets to using. When things don’t go like we think they should or we face some adversity, we tend to just go right back to what we know.

How bad do you think Naaman would have regretted it if he had just gone back home? When do you think that regret would have sunk in? Once he saw the look of disappointment on the faces of his loved ones? Or, halfway home when he realized how far he had already come? Or, as soon as Elisha’s house went out of view?

I can give you a hundred reasons why I stay clean and sober. I could stand here and tell you I do it for my wife and kids. I could stand here and tell you I do it for my family or my job or my friends and these are all great reasons to not return to drugs and alcohol. But the reason I stay clean and sober is because I can’t go back to the brokenness. I can’t go back to the empty, suicidal, no family, not being in my kids’ lives, abusive and abused relationships, loneliness. I can’t go back to the life I so desperately wanted to escape from. I can’t go back. I won’t go back.

On March 31, 2022, I did a shot of fentanyl that left me overdosed and not breathing for over 10 minutes. After 2 cans of Narcan and no response the officers had done all they could do for me. I have no memory of the time after the shot, but I do remember coming to on a stretcher yelling at the top of my lungs “NO, NO, NO! Wait, Wait, Wait!” I looked around and saw an officer standing at my feet with tears in his eyes. I asked him what was wrong with him. He said I’m looking at a dead man. He said you weren’t breathing and we had done all we could do, then you just started breathing again. What I didn’t know at the time was that one of the other officers had recognized me and called my family. He told them to meet us at the hospital because it didn’t look like I was going to make it. By the time we got to the hospital, I was fully recovered and about to go back to prison. I had a warrant for my arrest for absconding. I got to say hi and bye to my family who I hadn’t seen in a year. They didn’t bother telling me why they were there or how they even knew I was there. I didn’t fully understand what had happened. I needed to process the feeling I had that I didn’t belong here anymore. Like my life was not my own.

Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean. - 2 Kings 5:14 (KJV).

As we finish reading the story of Naaman, we see that Naaman had a change of heart and obeyed God. That no matter what mistakes he had previously made, his next step was the one that changed his life forever. He went to the Jordan River and dipped 7 times. On the seventh and final time, he came out of the water even better than he had ever hoped or imagined. His skin was turned to that of a child. Brand new skin. Brand new life.

For the next two weeks after my overdose, I found myself quieter than I had ever been before. No matter what I tried I just couldn’t shake the feeling that I didn’t belong here on this earth anymore. I had told a couple people what had happened and they both said, “God must have a special plan for you.” That was weird to me since I hadn’t prayed or spoken to God in years.

After a life of One Step Forward, Two Steps Back, I took the step of faith that Naaman did and realized that I couldn’t take another step back. I couldn’t keep doing good for a little while, only to fall right back into my old stubborn self. I couldn’t go another step as the addict, convicted felon, abuser, abused, broken person that drugs and alcohol had made me. I remember hitting my knees in my prison cell and not really knowing what to say, so I started saying, “Lord, here I am. Please turn me into the person You created me to be.” Since then, I’ve had my share of ups and downs. Shevon and I have had our ups and downs. There are going to be set backs and slow downs. What’s the difference? The difference is that personal relationship with Jesus Christ I mentioned at the beginning. The Bible says that the Lord will never leave you nor forsake you. He renews our strength when we are weak.

Some of you are reading this right now and can say, Yeah, that’s been my life. One step forward, two steps back. I’ve been my own worst enemy. I’ve let my ego get in the way of real change in my life. I’ve quit and ran away more times than I can count.

One of the best parts of this story is that Naaman had to dip 7 times, he wasn't healed after the first dip. It was a process. Do you think he was starting to doubt after the fourth time and still no change? I didn’t change overnight. My new creature in Christ took some time. It took me dipping in the river multiple times, but each time I came back up I was a little closer to being made new. Some of you have been to the river and dipped multiple times but it doesn’t seem like much has changed.

The river I’m talking about is when you humbly come before God asking Him to change you. My advice to you is…keep dipping in the water. Don’t quit when you are this close to your miracle. Don’t give up when you are one dip away from a breakthrough. Don’t let another opportunity pass you by. Don’t worry about what the people around you will think. We all have another relapse in us, but we don’t all have another recovery. The next step you take is the most important step you will ever take.