Oftentimes, when we recount the story of the healing of Naaman the Leper, (2 kings 5, 1-15), a lot of attention is paid to his willingness to listen to his maidservant and his hesitant obedience to the prophet’s instructions.
How often do we give credit to the faithful servant-girl who had every right to be bitter and angry towards her heathen slave-master? Not only was he the master of the household where she was forced to be a servant, he was also the revered captain of the Syrian army that had plundered her homeland and brought her people into captivity, scattering them about.
We wouldn’t have been surprised at a narrative of her plotting to harm him and his household in some way, to avenge the pain and turmoil he had brought to her family and the land of her birth. Instead, she heeded the Prophet Jeremiah’s warning of prayers for adverse and heathen authorities, as their decisions would influence the Israelites while under their rule.
7 And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the Lord for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace. (Jer.29:7)
The end result of her faithfulness and making herself available to God was the submission of a powerful heathen to the mightiness of the One True God. She did not pick and choose who to witness to, she did not allow herself to be consumed by bitterness, she simply obeyed divine instructions and allowed God to be glorified and praised from the adversity He had allowed her to fall into. We can be rest assured that her obedience and faithfulness also worked out for the good of her soul.
May we not inadvertently deny God the praise and glory due to His name by refusing to cooperate actively or passively with His plans for those He has placed in our lives. Amen!
“And he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and came, and stood before him: and he said, Behold, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel” – 2 Kings 5:15
Hilltop Thoughts, Valley Strengths 