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Welcome to Lakepointe. I'm Ernest Smith, and I'm grateful to be with you. I want to welcome all of you joining us at our other locations—whether you're at Frisco, Mesquite, East Dallas, or Roy City for your second preview service. We're excited to see what God is going to do.
I want to express my deep gratitude to Lakepointe Church. When we started our church planting journey, we didn't know what we were doing. I met Pastor Steve Shroop, the founder of Lakepointe, in 2012, and he became a mentor to me. When Strategic Launch Network, which Lakepointe started, called and said they were behind us, that's when I thought maybe this whole church planting thing might actually work.
You've had our back since day one—sending mission teams, offering staff support, providing life groups that cared for us and prayed for us. When Pastor Steve handed off the leadership to Pastor Josh, I wondered if he would have the same heart for church planters. I can tell you that you have an incredible lead pastor. Pastor Josh is the real deal. He deeply cares about you, about the global church, and about pastors like me. So thank you, Lakepointe. We wouldn't be where we are without you.
This church planting experience has been a tremendous learning experience for me. One thing God keeps teaching me over and over is this: "Ernest, your idea of success is not always—and is rarely—my idea of success. What you view as successful is not the way that God views success."
I struggle with comparison. I'll compare myself to pretty much anybody, and it's usually not positive. I think, "Why isn't our church as big as Lakepointe? Why am I not as fit as Pastor Josh?" And I could compare myself right out of the will of God. I wonder what God is doing in my life, why He's not allowing me certain things. It all stems from this desire to be successful.
Success itself can be good—we can give God glory and honor Him through it. But in many ways, success can also become an idol. And that idol of success or achievement can come crashing down at some point in our lives.
Pastor Tim Keller, a great pastor in New York, said this about success: "More than other idols, personal success and achievement lead to a sense that we ourselves are God. That our security and value rest in our own wisdom, strength, and performance."
If we place success above our relationship with God—if we think that achieving certain things will give us happiness, satisfaction, and joy—those things become destructive. We've all seen it. We've seen marriages destroyed by the pursuit of success. We've seen families torn apart because children walked away from their parents. We've seen businesses destroyed. We know how destructive it can be, and yet we still long to be successful. We still long to achieve.
So where's the line? How do you know what you're doing is truly for God or if it's for your own success and your own name? Another question to ask is: Who do you view as successful? What is success to you?
Your definition of success is often based on who you believe is successful. Maybe it's a parent you admire, a business owner, an athlete, or a social media influencer. You think, "If I could just be like that person, then I'll get what I long for."
Growing up, I was an athlete and wanted to be a professional baseball player. In the 80s and 90s, I had one hero: José Canseco. A few of you might know who he is—he married Madonna and was wrapped up in drug scandals. My hero didn't age very well. But I wanted to be like him because he had fame, money, and was at the top of his game. I thought that's what success was, and that it would give me the happiness I was longing for in life.
Yet when you hear certain athletes who have achieved the greatest heights, their words reveal they're missing something.
Tom Brady, after his third Super Bowl win, said: "Why do I have three Super Bowl rings and still think there has to be something greater out there for me?"
A.J. Brown, who won the Super Bowl in February, said: "I've never been a champion at the highest level before, but I thought my hard work would be justified by winning it all, and it wasn't."
Mike Tyson, one of the greatest boxers of all time, was interviewed while looking at his belts and gloves. He threw down the belt and said: "This is nothing."
Success may bring fame. It may bring money. It may bring the things we think are important, but it ultimately doesn't give us what we long for. What we long for is hope, peace, joy, and real life. And those things can only be given to us by God.
Today, we're going to look at an obscure story from the Old Testament found in 2 Kings 5. We're going to examine a man named Naaman.
Here's what the passage says: "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."
Naaman means "pleasant," and throughout the passage he's described as someone who is honorable and great. God used him. He was part of the Syrian army, the enemies of Israel. God used this man to defeat the nation of Israel, to defeat the evil King Ahab. God didn't use many people in the Old Testament to defeat Israel, and yet He used this man named Naaman. He was a great warrior, a great man.
But then the passage continues: "He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy."
That takes a weird turn. All these great things about him, and then by the way, he had leprosy. What's interesting is that Naaman had a lot of control and success in his life. He could control everything he did. But he could not control his health. Leprosy wasn't just a rash or a skin disease—it was something that would kill him, something that isolated him from other people who could catch it. You can imagine what he's walking through. He's a very successful person, and yet he can't control his own health.
The passage tells us: "Now bands of raiders from Aram had gone out and had taken captive a young girl from Israel and she served Naaman's wife."
Aram and Israel were at peace at this point, but border skirmishes occurred. During one of these, people went to Israel and took this girl back as a slave. Most scholars say this girl was around 10, 11, 12, or maybe 13 years old. She was very young and now a slave in somebody's house.
But look at verse 3: "She said to her mistress, 'If only my master would see the prophet who was in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.'"
The prophet she's talking about is Elijah, one of the greatest prophets Israel has ever had.
Here's what I find fascinating: You have this nameless slave girl. You can imagine she wants to be somewhere else—home with her friends and family. Yet she finds herself in a circumstance she didn't ask for and doesn't long for. And yet, she remains faithful to God in the midst of that. Not just faithful to God, but God uses her in this moment to create a miracle that will have international significance.
I think God is still in the same business today—using common people, nameless people, people like me and people like you, to draw people to Himself. God is looking for people who will be faithful in their current situation. You may not have asked for the situation you're in. You may not want it. It may be painful. But God says, "Will you be faithful in the midst of that? And if you will, I'll use you to draw others to Myself."
Naaman hears about this prophet in Israel who can cure him. So he goes to the king of Aram and asks, "Can I go to Israel?" The king says, "Yes, in fact, let me give you a letter to send to the king of Israel." Naaman gets his donkeys, his chariots, and fills everything with money—so much money that today's equivalent would be $7.5 million. He has a letter from the king, $7.5 million, and he's going to get himself some healing.
When the king of Israel reads the letter, he tears his clothes and says: "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?"
The king is being a bit overdramatic. But Elijah hears what's happening and says, "Bring him over to my house." Then comes the pivotal moment in verse 10:
"Elijah 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.'"
I love what happens here. Naaman, this very successful guy with a letter from the king and $7.5 million, goes to find this prophet. He arrives at Elijah's door, and Elijah doesn't even come outside the house. Elijah doesn't even open the window. He sends his servant out to meet Naaman.
Now, if you came to my house with a pickup truck full of money, I'm coming outside to shake your hand. I'm going to meet you. But Elijah doesn't care. And Naaman, this must infuriate him.
Look at what happens next: "But Naaman went away angry and said, 'I thought 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.'"
Naaman isn't used to this. How dare Elijah? Doesn't he know who I am? Doesn't he know that I defeated Israel? Doesn't he know how powerful I am? That I'm a valiant soldier? That I'm a good guy? That I have all this money and a letter from the king? Does he not know who I am?
He wants Elijah to come out and perform a great ceremony, a big spectacle. "Wave your hand across my leprosy and then I'll be healed." That's what he's expecting. That's what he wants. And he doesn't get it. And this makes him angry.
Here's what I know about successful people: Successful people aren't unsuccessful because they don't get what they want. They're usually in control. They know what they're doing. They know what they need to do, they go out and do those things, and they find success.
Naaman has always found success. He knows what he wants—respect from Elijah, honor, and healing. But he gets angry. We're told he's a good guy, an honorable guy. Why does he get mad? Why would this man, who doesn't blow up at everything, get angry in this moment?
Because the idol of success has to be maintained.
When you seek after certain things in your life that are not God—when you seek after achievement, that house, that lifestyle, that job title—once you get there, that level of success has to be maintained. That's why people work crazy hours and destroy themselves and their families to keep a paycheck, to keep a certain title, or to keep a certain reputation at the office. That's why parents try to control their kids to maintain a certain image.
If you're a parent, you know what I'm talking about. Your kid can do something in your house and you're like, "Whatever, I'm not dealing with that right now." They do that same thing in public, and you're like, "What are you doing? You're embarrassing me." We have to maintain that we're a certain type of parent, that we know what we're doing, that we're in control.
We do this with our lifestyle. We want certain things. We want to be able to do certain things. When something comes up against us, we don't want to change any of that. What will people think? When eggs cost an arm and a leg at the grocery store, we don't stop our forty-two streaming services. "I can't do that. I've got this level of lifestyle that I have to maintain."
Here's what I know about the idol of success: Either you remove it from its place and put God back in His place, or it will come crashing down on you.
Either you remove the idol of success from its place and put God back in His place, or it will come crashing down on you. When it crashes, it leaves a wake of destruction—destroying marriages, families, relationships with children, businesses, and churches.
Success itself is not bad. The problem comes when we chase achievement and the things we think will bring us happiness, placing them above God. When we take God off His throne to pursue these idols, they will inevitably collapse.
The beautiful truth is that we have a choice. You can remove the idol of success today and put God back where He belongs, or watch it come crashing down.
Naaman exemplifies this struggle. He's trying to maintain his level of success—his status, his greatness, all he's accomplished. But he's not getting what he wants, and his anger is destroying him. When the prophet Elijah tells him to dip himself in the Jordan River seven times, Naaman questions both the practicality and simplicity of the command.
"Are not Obana and Farar the rivers of Damascus better than all the waters of Israel? Couldn't I wash in them and be cleansed?"
Naaman knows the Abana and Farpar rivers—they're beautiful, crystal clear, where they converge is called "the garden of the world." But the Jordan River is muddy and nasty. Why would he dip himself in muddy water when he has access to beautiful, clean rivers?
He questions the practicality: How would dipping in muddy water bring cleansing to his body?
He questions the simplicity: All I have to do is take a bath and I'll be healed of leprosy? Nobody else has been able to heal me. There's no medicine, no cure. But you're telling me I just need to dunk myself in water? It sounds too simple.
I wonder how many people here today, or watching online, are missing out on the healing God has for them because they question the simplicity and practicality of the gospel.
How many of us think the gospel message sounds too simple, and so we keep dealing with spiritual leprosy in our lives while God says, "I have healing for you"?
The gospel message is simply this: You and I are all sinners. Sin means you don't measure up to God's perfect standard. Unless you're perfect, you're a sinner. The problem with sin is that it separates us from God—God can't be with sin.
There's nothing you can do to be made right with God. You can't come to church enough. You can't give enough. You can't do enough good things. The only way to be made right with God is through what Jesus did for you and me.
The Bible says the consequences of sin is death. Our sin should have resulted in us dying. But Jesus came and took that punishment on himself. He died for us. But the beauty is—He didn't stay dead. He rose from the dead three days later to show His power over sin and over death. And He offers us life.
I know that some of you came here today for God to tell you this message. Some of you don't even know why you're here. Maybe your mom invited you. Maybe a friend was coming. Maybe you were just in traffic and directed here, thinking "That's weird."
But I know God drew you here. He knows your name. He knows your story. He knows exactly what you need. And He is offering healing from spiritual leprosy called sin through what Jesus has done for us.
I firmly believe some of you have walked into this place, maybe for the first time ever. Come back next week—Pastor Josh is way better than me. But maybe God brought you here for a specific purpose.
As I was praying this morning, I couldn't shake this feeling: there are some of you, whether here or at another campus or online, thinking "This is my last chance." Today is the last day you're giving God any opportunity to move in your life. You thought, "I'll try one last time, and if it doesn't work, I'm done. I'm going to end my life."
If that's you, I'm so grateful you're here. Our God knows you. He sees you. He deeply cares about you. He cares so much that He sent Jesus to die on the cross for your sins so that you can have hope, so you can have life, so you can truly experience healing—very similar healing that Naaman experienced.
Naaman's servant came 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 just wash yourself and be cleansed?"
So Naaman went down, dipped himself in the Jordan seven times as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored. He became clean like that of a young boy. He was healed.
What's interesting is that it wasn't Naaman's power that healed him. It wasn't his reputation. It wasn't his money. It was simply the grace of God. It was simply God choosing to do something great in his life.
Naaman had to be obedient, but Naaman simply had to surrender. And that's what he learned: true success is found in surrender.
Naaman had been seeking success his entire life, and he's realizing at this moment that true success in life is found in surrender.
You and I will pursue success and achievement, thinking "If I can just have this, if I can just get this..." At some point in our lives—whether you're twenty, thirty, forty, or eighty—you're going to realize that the pursuit of those things didn't get you what you ultimately wanted.
We ultimately want God's best in our lives. We want peace. We want hope. We want joy. We want life. And the only way to truly receive them is to submit to God—trusting that He is in control, trusting that God has got you.
He sees you. He knows you. He's good enough and powerful enough to get your back. We just have to trust that He's in control.
When we do, we respond like Naaman responded:
"Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel. So please accept a gift from your servant."
True success is knowing, seeing, and trusting that God is in control. It's firmly believing that He's good enough and big enough to take anything you give Him. If you do give Him that thing—whatever it is—He'll come through. You'll see incredible things happen in your life.
But honestly, this is hard. At least it is for me. Can I be honest with all of you? I'm a control freak. I like to be in control.
I don't want to be out of control. I have a really hard time trusting that God is in control. And yet, He constantly asks me, "Will you trust me? Will you trust me?"
He's taught me this over and over through church planting. When we started, we didn't know what we were doing. Trust Him that He's in control. We've gone through many challenging moments as a church. COVID was one of them. We were portable for ten and a half years, then got kicked out of the school we were in. We did parking lot worship services.
In our state in Colorado, it was crazy. They had people coming into churches to report back to the governor about what we were doing, whether we were wearing masks—all this crazy stuff. I'm going, "God, you better be in control." And He's just saying, "Just trust me."
But more than the church planting journey, God's been teaching me this over and over in my life, especially over the last year and a half.
About a year and a half ago, my wife had a pretty traumatic situation happen at her work. It was so bad that we had to get the Civil Rights Commission involved. As a part of that, she chose to step down from a job and a career that she loved.
Over the last year and a half, we've been walking through emotional hardships, mental hardships, and financial hardships because of losing that paycheck—all these different things. Throughout it, what I want to do is control everything. I want to control the work situation. I want to control the investigation. I want to control the income. I want to control all these different things.
I'm thinking, "I'm a man. I got this. We're okay. I can control everything." And God's going, "Will you just let me be in control? Will you just trust me that I'm good enough and powerful enough to do what I need to do in this situation?"
My wife is really good about releasing things to God. It takes me a little bit longer. I'm a little bit more stubborn. But as I've been releasing this situation over to Him, God's been showing up in unbelievable ways.
My wife has received incredible healing. God's been using her in the lives of many women in our church who've gone through a very similar situation. I'm watching my wife flourish in ministry—not ministry attached to a paycheck, but ministry attached to eternal impact.
Through it all, our trust in God is being deepened. We're realizing more and more every day how good He is, how powerful He is, how He is a provider. These are things that are easy to preach about and a lot harder to live when you're walking through it. But we all walk through it.
So here's my question to you: Is there something in your life that you've been trying to control? You think, "If I can just get this, then I'll look a certain way. I'll have a certain reputation. I'll have whatever it may be."
But it's an area where maybe you're controlling, thinking "If I can just control this thing, then I'll be okay. I'll get what I ultimately want."
Maybe it's in your business. I've talked to so many people after each service who are starting businesses or in the midst of challenges in their business, saying, "Man, I have to learn to just give up control to God."
Maybe it's in your marriage. Maybe you and your spouse aren't on the same page, and you think, "If I can just control this situation, then we'll be in a better spot. Then they'll do what I want them to do."
Maybe it's with your kids. Maybe your kids have walked away from the Lord. With every fiber in your being, you want them to experience the joy of God again. You want them back in the house of God. And so you'll do anything to get them to come back. And God's going, "Will you just trust me that I love your kids more than you do?"
Maybe you're like me and you're a parent of a special needs child, and you're like, "Man, I don't even know what to do. God, I don't know what my next step is." And God's just saying, "Just trust me. I made them. I know what they need. I know what you need."
Maybe it's in your health. Maybe you've been given a diagnosis recently that is not good. The doctors say it's not going to be long, or whatever. Naaman was given the same diagnosis, and God brought complete healing.
I'm not saying that if you give something over to God, everything turns around in your favor. But I am saying that nothing turns around in your favor unless we give it over to God. We have to trust Him. We have to release control.
Maybe you're wrestling with your faith. Maybe you're one of the people I was talking about earlier, and God's saying, "I brought you here to hear these words. Come home. Come home. Receive what Christ has done for you. Recommit your life to Christ. Trust that God is in control."
You're still going to have questions and doubts, and that's totally fine. But trust Him that He sees you. He knows you. He loves you. And He's saying, "Come home."
I'm going to pray for us. As I do, I'm going to ask you to do something with your posture. I'm going to ask you, as I pray, that you would pray with open hands.
If there's an area of your life where you can see you're trying to control something, I'm going to ask you to identify that area as I'm praying. Then pray with open hands and let God take it.
Here's what I know: When you're controlling something, you're holding on to it tightly, and you can't give it away. You also can't receive. So if God has something for you today, open those hands and say, "God, here it is. I want to receive whatever you have for me."
Let your posture—both your heart posture and your hand posture—be open and say, "God, I'm giving you this area of my life, and I want to receive whatever you want for me."
Father, we come before you and we thank you for your mercy and your grace. God, I thank you that you see each person in this room, in every room. You see those who are watching online. God, you know every one of us. You know our names. You know our stories.
God, you have been drawing us to yourself. For some of us, Father, that's receiving you for the first time—accepting that gospel message of what you did on the cross, Jesus. For others of us, it's a recommitment to you. It's coming back home to you, Father.
For some of us, there's an area of our life where we know you, we love you, but we've been trying to control this thing, God. We now come before you with a posture of openness and we say, "God, take this. I give it to you."
Father, whatever you have for us, I receive. I pray, Father, that you would heal marriages. I pray, Father, that you would bring kids back home. I pray, Father, that you would provide healing physically for those who need it. I pray, God, that you would show up and be the provider that some of us need you to be financially.
God, you know where each one of us is at, Father. So we give to you and we receive from you, God. We thank you. We trust that you are good and powerful. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Welcome to Lakepointe. I'm Ernest Smith, and I'm grateful to be with you. I want to welcome all of you joining us at our other locations—whether you're at Frisco, Mesquite, East Dallas, or Roy City for your second preview service. We're excited to see what God is going to do.
I want to express my deep gratitude to Lakepointe Church. When we started our church planting journey, we didn't know what we were doing. I met Pastor Steve Shroop, the founder of Lakepointe, in 2012, and he became a mentor to me. When Strategic Launch Network, which Lakepointe started, called and said they were behind us, that's when I thought maybe this whole church planting thing might actually work.
You've had our back since day one—sending mission teams, offering staff support, providing life groups that cared for us and prayed for us. When Pastor Steve handed off the leadership to Pastor Josh, I wondered if he would have the same heart for church planters. I can tell you that you have an incredible lead pastor. Pastor Josh is the real deal. He deeply cares about you, about the global church, and about pastors like me. So thank you, Lakepointe. We wouldn't be where we are without you.
This church planting experience has been a tremendous learning experience for me. One thing God keeps teaching me over and over is this: "Ernest, your idea of success is not always—and is rarely—my idea of success. What you view as successful is not the way that God views success."
I struggle with comparison. I'll compare myself to pretty much anybody, and it's usually not positive. I think, "Why isn't our church as big as Lakepointe? Why am I not as fit as Pastor Josh?" And I could compare myself right out of the will of God. I wonder what God is doing in my life, why He's not allowing me certain things. It all stems from this desire to be successful.
Success itself can be good—we can give God glory and honor Him through it. But in many ways, success can also become an idol. And that idol of success or achievement can come crashing down at some point in our lives.
Pastor Tim Keller, a great pastor in New York, said this about success: "More than other idols, personal success and achievement lead to a sense that we ourselves are God. That our security and value rest in our own wisdom, strength, and performance."
If we place success above our relationship with God—if we think that achieving certain things will give us happiness, satisfaction, and joy—those things become destructive. We've all seen it. We've seen marriages destroyed by the pursuit of success. We've seen families torn apart because children walked away from their parents. We've seen businesses destroyed. We know how destructive it can be, and yet we still long to be successful. We still long to achieve.
So where's the line? How do you know what you're doing is truly for God or if it's for your own success and your own name? Another question to ask is: Who do you view as successful? What is success to you?
Your definition of success is often based on who you believe is successful. Maybe it's a parent you admire, a business owner, an athlete, or a social media influencer. You think, "If I could just be like that person, then I'll get what I long for."
Growing up, I was an athlete and wanted to be a professional baseball player. In the 80s and 90s, I had one hero: José Canseco. A few of you might know who he is—he married Madonna and was wrapped up in drug scandals. My hero didn't age very well. But I wanted to be like him because he had fame, money, and was at the top of his game. I thought that's what success was, and that it would give me the happiness I was longing for in life.
Yet when you hear certain athletes who have achieved the greatest heights, their words reveal they're missing something.
Tom Brady, after his third Super Bowl win, said: "Why do I have three Super Bowl rings and still think there has to be something greater out there for me?"
A.J. Brown, who won the Super Bowl in February, said: "I've never been a champion at the highest level before, but I thought my hard work would be justified by winning it all, and it wasn't."
Mike Tyson, one of the greatest boxers of all time, was interviewed while looking at his belts and gloves. He threw down the belt and said: "This is nothing."
Success may bring fame. It may bring money. It may bring the things we think are important, but it ultimately doesn't give us what we long for. What we long for is hope, peace, joy, and real life. And those things can only be given to us by God.
Today, we're going to look at an obscure story from the Old Testament found in 2 Kings 5. We're going to examine a man named Naaman.
Here's what the passage says: "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."
Naaman means "pleasant," and throughout the passage he's described as someone who is honorable and great. God used him. He was part of the Syrian army, the enemies of Israel. God used this man to defeat the nation of Israel, to defeat the evil King Ahab. God didn't use many people in the Old Testament to defeat Israel, and yet He used this man named Naaman. He was a great warrior, a great man.
But then the passage continues: "He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy."
That takes a weird turn. All these great things about him, and then by the way, he had leprosy. What's interesting is that Naaman had a lot of control and success in his life. He could control everything he did. But he could not control his health. Leprosy wasn't just a rash or a skin disease—it was something that would kill him, something that isolated him from other people who could catch it. You can imagine what he's walking through. He's a very successful person, and yet he can't control his own health.
The passage tells us: "Now bands of raiders from Aram had gone out and had taken captive a young girl from Israel and she served Naaman's wife."
Aram and Israel were at peace at this point, but border skirmishes occurred. During one of these, people went to Israel and took this girl back as a slave. Most scholars say this girl was around 10, 11, 12, or maybe 13 years old. She was very young and now a slave in somebody's house.
But look at verse 3: "She said to her mistress, 'If only my master would see the prophet who was in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.'"
The prophet she's talking about is Elijah, one of the greatest prophets Israel has ever had.
Here's what I find fascinating: You have this nameless slave girl. You can imagine she wants to be somewhere else—home with her friends and family. Yet she finds herself in a circumstance she didn't ask for and doesn't long for. And yet, she remains faithful to God in the midst of that. Not just faithful to God, but God uses her in this moment to create a miracle that will have international significance.
I think God is still in the same business today—using common people, nameless people, people like me and people like you, to draw people to Himself. God is looking for people who will be faithful in their current situation. You may not have asked for the situation you're in. You may not want it. It may be painful. But God says, "Will you be faithful in the midst of that? And if you will, I'll use you to draw others to Myself."
Naaman hears about this prophet in Israel who can cure him. So he goes to the king of Aram and asks, "Can I go to Israel?" The king says, "Yes, in fact, let me give you a letter to send to the king of Israel." Naaman gets his donkeys, his chariots, and fills everything with money—so much money that today's equivalent would be $7.5 million. He has a letter from the king, $7.5 million, and he's going to get himself some healing.
When the king of Israel reads the letter, he tears his clothes and says: "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?"
The king is being a bit overdramatic. But Elijah hears what's happening and says, "Bring him over to my house." Then comes the pivotal moment in verse 10:
"Elijah 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.'"
I love what happens here. Naaman, this very successful guy with a letter from the king and $7.5 million, goes to find this prophet. He arrives at Elijah's door, and Elijah doesn't even come outside the house. Elijah doesn't even open the window. He sends his servant out to meet Naaman.
Now, if you came to my house with a pickup truck full of money, I'm coming outside to shake your hand. I'm going to meet you. But Elijah doesn't care. And Naaman, this must infuriate him.
Look at what happens next: "But Naaman went away angry and said, 'I thought 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.'"
Naaman isn't used to this. How dare Elijah? Doesn't he know who I am? Doesn't he know that I defeated Israel? Doesn't he know how powerful I am? That I'm a valiant soldier? That I'm a good guy? That I have all this money and a letter from the king? Does he not know who I am?
He wants Elijah to come out and perform a great ceremony, a big spectacle. "Wave your hand across my leprosy and then I'll be healed." That's what he's expecting. That's what he wants. And he doesn't get it. And this makes him angry.
Here's what I know about successful people: Successful people aren't unsuccessful because they don't get what they want. They're usually in control. They know what they're doing. They know what they need to do, they go out and do those things, and they find success.
Naaman has always found success. He knows what he wants—respect from Elijah, honor, and healing. But he gets angry. We're told he's a good guy, an honorable guy. Why does he get mad? Why would this man, who doesn't blow up at everything, get angry in this moment?
Because the idol of success has to be maintained.
When you seek after certain things in your life that are not God—when you seek after achievement, that house, that lifestyle, that job title—once you get there, that level of success has to be maintained. That's why people work crazy hours and destroy themselves and their families to keep a paycheck, to keep a certain title, or to keep a certain reputation at the office. That's why parents try to control their kids to maintain a certain image.
If you're a parent, you know what I'm talking about. Your kid can do something in your house and you're like, "Whatever, I'm not dealing with that right now." They do that same thing in public, and you're like, "What are you doing? You're embarrassing me." We have to maintain that we're a certain type of parent, that we know what we're doing, that we're in control.
We do this with our lifestyle. We want certain things. We want to be able to do certain things. When something comes up against us, we don't want to change any of that. What will people think? When eggs cost an arm and a leg at the grocery store, we don't stop our forty-two streaming services. "I can't do that. I've got this level of lifestyle that I have to maintain."
Here's what I know about the idol of success: Either you remove it from its place and put God back in His place, or it will come crashing down on you.
Either you remove the idol of success from its place and put God back in His place, or it will come crashing down on you. When it crashes, it leaves a wake of destruction—destroying marriages, families, relationships with children, businesses, and churches.
Success itself is not bad. The problem comes when we chase achievement and the things we think will bring us happiness, placing them above God. When we take God off His throne to pursue these idols, they will inevitably collapse.
The beautiful truth is that we have a choice. You can remove the idol of success today and put God back where He belongs, or watch it come crashing down.
Naaman exemplifies this struggle. He's trying to maintain his level of success—his status, his greatness, all he's accomplished. But he's not getting what he wants, and his anger is destroying him. When the prophet Elijah tells him to dip himself in the Jordan River seven times, Naaman questions both the practicality and simplicity of the command.
"Are not Obana and Farar the rivers of Damascus better than all the waters of Israel? Couldn't I wash in them and be cleansed?"
Naaman knows the Abana and Farpar rivers—they're beautiful, crystal clear, where they converge is called "the garden of the world." But the Jordan River is muddy and nasty. Why would he dip himself in muddy water when he has access to beautiful, clean rivers?
He questions the practicality: How would dipping in muddy water bring cleansing to his body?
He questions the simplicity: All I have to do is take a bath and I'll be healed of leprosy? Nobody else has been able to heal me. There's no medicine, no cure. But you're telling me I just need to dunk myself in water? It sounds too simple.
I wonder how many people here today, or watching online, are missing out on the healing God has for them because they question the simplicity and practicality of the gospel.
How many of us think the gospel message sounds too simple, and so we keep dealing with spiritual leprosy in our lives while God says, "I have healing for you"?
The gospel message is simply this: You and I are all sinners. Sin means you don't measure up to God's perfect standard. Unless you're perfect, you're a sinner. The problem with sin is that it separates us from God—God can't be with sin.
There's nothing you can do to be made right with God. You can't come to church enough. You can't give enough. You can't do enough good things. The only way to be made right with God is through what Jesus did for you and me.
The Bible says the consequences of sin is death. Our sin should have resulted in us dying. But Jesus came and took that punishment on himself. He died for us. But the beauty is—He didn't stay dead. He rose from the dead three days later to show His power over sin and over death. And He offers us life.
I know that some of you came here today for God to tell you this message. Some of you don't even know why you're here. Maybe your mom invited you. Maybe a friend was coming. Maybe you were just in traffic and directed here, thinking "That's weird."
But I know God drew you here. He knows your name. He knows your story. He knows exactly what you need. And He is offering healing from spiritual leprosy called sin through what Jesus has done for us.
I firmly believe some of you have walked into this place, maybe for the first time ever. Come back next week—Pastor Josh is way better than me. But maybe God brought you here for a specific purpose.
As I was praying this morning, I couldn't shake this feeling: there are some of you, whether here or at another campus or online, thinking "This is my last chance." Today is the last day you're giving God any opportunity to move in your life. You thought, "I'll try one last time, and if it doesn't work, I'm done. I'm going to end my life."
If that's you, I'm so grateful you're here. Our God knows you. He sees you. He deeply cares about you. He cares so much that He sent Jesus to die on the cross for your sins so that you can have hope, so you can have life, so you can truly experience healing—very similar healing that Naaman experienced.
Naaman's servant came 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 just wash yourself and be cleansed?"
So Naaman went down, dipped himself in the Jordan seven times as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored. He became clean like that of a young boy. He was healed.
What's interesting is that it wasn't Naaman's power that healed him. It wasn't his reputation. It wasn't his money. It was simply the grace of God. It was simply God choosing to do something great in his life.
Naaman had to be obedient, but Naaman simply had to surrender. And that's what he learned: true success is found in surrender.
Naaman had been seeking success his entire life, and he's realizing at this moment that true success in life is found in surrender.
You and I will pursue success and achievement, thinking "If I can just have this, if I can just get this..." At some point in our lives—whether you're twenty, thirty, forty, or eighty—you're going to realize that the pursuit of those things didn't get you what you ultimately wanted.
We ultimately want God's best in our lives. We want peace. We want hope. We want joy. We want life. And the only way to truly receive them is to submit to God—trusting that He is in control, trusting that God has got you.
He sees you. He knows you. He's good enough and powerful enough to get your back. We just have to trust that He's in control.
When we do, we respond like Naaman responded:
"Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel. So please accept a gift from your servant."
True success is knowing, seeing, and trusting that God is in control. It's firmly believing that He's good enough and big enough to take anything you give Him. If you do give Him that thing—whatever it is—He'll come through. You'll see incredible things happen in your life.
But honestly, this is hard. At least it is for me. Can I be honest with all of you? I'm a control freak. I like to be in control.
I don't want to be out of control. I have a really hard time trusting that God is in control. And yet, He constantly asks me, "Will you trust me? Will you trust me?"
He's taught me this over and over through church planting. When we started, we didn't know what we were doing. Trust Him that He's in control. We've gone through many challenging moments as a church. COVID was one of them. We were portable for ten and a half years, then got kicked out of the school we were in. We did parking lot worship services.
In our state in Colorado, it was crazy. They had people coming into churches to report back to the governor about what we were doing, whether we were wearing masks—all this crazy stuff. I'm going, "God, you better be in control." And He's just saying, "Just trust me."
But more than the church planting journey, God's been teaching me this over and over in my life, especially over the last year and a half.
About a year and a half ago, my wife had a pretty traumatic situation happen at her work. It was so bad that we had to get the Civil Rights Commission involved. As a part of that, she chose to step down from a job and a career that she loved.
Over the last year and a half, we've been walking through emotional hardships, mental hardships, and financial hardships because of losing that paycheck—all these different things. Throughout it, what I want to do is control everything. I want to control the work situation. I want to control the investigation. I want to control the income. I want to control all these different things.
I'm thinking, "I'm a man. I got this. We're okay. I can control everything." And God's going, "Will you just let me be in control? Will you just trust me that I'm good enough and powerful enough to do what I need to do in this situation?"
My wife is really good about releasing things to God. It takes me a little bit longer. I'm a little bit more stubborn. But as I've been releasing this situation over to Him, God's been showing up in unbelievable ways.
My wife has received incredible healing. God's been using her in the lives of many women in our church who've gone through a very similar situation. I'm watching my wife flourish in ministry—not ministry attached to a paycheck, but ministry attached to eternal impact.
Through it all, our trust in God is being deepened. We're realizing more and more every day how good He is, how powerful He is, how He is a provider. These are things that are easy to preach about and a lot harder to live when you're walking through it. But we all walk through it.
So here's my question to you: Is there something in your life that you've been trying to control? You think, "If I can just get this, then I'll look a certain way. I'll have a certain reputation. I'll have whatever it may be."
But it's an area where maybe you're controlling, thinking "If I can just control this thing, then I'll be okay. I'll get what I ultimately want."
Maybe it's in your business. I've talked to so many people after each service who are starting businesses or in the midst of challenges in their business, saying, "Man, I have to learn to just give up control to God."
Maybe it's in your marriage. Maybe you and your spouse aren't on the same page, and you think, "If I can just control this situation, then we'll be in a better spot. Then they'll do what I want them to do."
Maybe it's with your kids. Maybe your kids have walked away from the Lord. With every fiber in your being, you want them to experience the joy of God again. You want them back in the house of God. And so you'll do anything to get them to come back. And God's going, "Will you just trust me that I love your kids more than you do?"
Maybe you're like me and you're a parent of a special needs child, and you're like, "Man, I don't even know what to do. God, I don't know what my next step is." And God's just saying, "Just trust me. I made them. I know what they need. I know what you need."
Maybe it's in your health. Maybe you've been given a diagnosis recently that is not good. The doctors say it's not going to be long, or whatever. Naaman was given the same diagnosis, and God brought complete healing.
I'm not saying that if you give something over to God, everything turns around in your favor. But I am saying that nothing turns around in your favor unless we give it over to God. We have to trust Him. We have to release control.
Maybe you're wrestling with your faith. Maybe you're one of the people I was talking about earlier, and God's saying, "I brought you here to hear these words. Come home. Come home. Receive what Christ has done for you. Recommit your life to Christ. Trust that God is in control."
You're still going to have questions and doubts, and that's totally fine. But trust Him that He sees you. He knows you. He loves you. And He's saying, "Come home."
I'm going to pray for us. As I do, I'm going to ask you to do something with your posture. I'm going to ask you, as I pray, that you would pray with open hands.
If there's an area of your life where you can see you're trying to control something, I'm going to ask you to identify that area as I'm praying. Then pray with open hands and let God take it.
Here's what I know: When you're controlling something, you're holding on to it tightly, and you can't give it away. You also can't receive. So if God has something for you today, open those hands and say, "God, here it is. I want to receive whatever you have for me."
Let your posture—both your heart posture and your hand posture—be open and say, "God, I'm giving you this area of my life, and I want to receive whatever you want for me."
Father, we come before you and we thank you for your mercy and your grace. God, I thank you that you see each person in this room, in every room. You see those who are watching online. God, you know every one of us. You know our names. You know our stories.
God, you have been drawing us to yourself. For some of us, Father, that's receiving you for the first time—accepting that gospel message of what you did on the cross, Jesus. For others of us, it's a recommitment to you. It's coming back home to you, Father.
For some of us, there's an area of our life where we know you, we love you, but we've been trying to control this thing, God. We now come before you with a posture of openness and we say, "God, take this. I give it to you."
Father, whatever you have for us, I receive. I pray, Father, that you would heal marriages. I pray, Father, that you would bring kids back home. I pray, Father, that you would provide healing physically for those who need it. I pray, God, that you would show up and be the provider that some of us need you to be financially.
God, you know where each one of us is at, Father. So we give to you and we receive from you, God. We thank you. We trust that you are good and powerful. In Jesus' name, Amen.
