2 Kings 5:1-5
Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and in high favor, because by him the Lord had given victory to Syria. He was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper. Now the Syrians on one of their raids had carried off a little girl from the land of Israel, and she worked in the service of Naaman’s wife. She said to her mistress, “Would that my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.” So Naaman went in and told his lord, “Thus and so spoke the girl from the land of Israel.” And the king of Syria said, “Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.”
She was a little girl. She lived with her family in Israel, where life was hard, but it was good. She loved working beside her mother, washing clothes, picking and drying herbs, listening to the history of Israel and their God. She knew of the prophets who reminded the kings and the people of Israel of their God. She’d heard of Elisha and the miracles that he could do because he was a man of God (2 Kings 5:8).
One day, the Syrians came suddenly raiding Israel, the land where her family lived. God gave the army victory and as a result she was taken from her family, her home, her country. She became the servant of the Syrian commander’s wife.
Was she frightened? Was she angry? Did she want revenge? It seems that her faith in the God of Israel held strong. Perhaps like Esther she thought that God would use her in some way at this time. That He was with her in this. She showed no anger, but developed a relationship with the commander’s wife. One day she showed kindness by explaining that the prophet in Samaria could heal her husband of his leprosy.
Her mistress listened and believed her servant girl. What relationship needed to exist for her to listen and believe? She then told her husband, a mighty warrior and friend to the king of Syria, and her husband also believed the little servant girl. Going to the king, the Commander found the king willing to help him find this prophet. To help him find healing. All made possible because of a little servant girl.
Reading on we find that Naaman, the commander, meets Elisha the prophet and is told to wash in the Jordan seven times to be clean. Naaman is angry because it wasn’t grand enough. It wasn’t what he expected. His pride caused him to refuse the simple remedy to be clean. He left in a rage.
But, again, it was his servants who encouraged him to do what the prophet said. His servants talked sense into him and he went to the Jordan, dipped seven times, and was cleansed. He returned to Elisha with thanks and proclaimed the God of Israel to be the only true God.
We don’t know the name of the little servant girl, but we know that God used her because of her strong faith in the God of Israel.
Taking It Further:
Have you ever felt like you’ve been carried off to serve in some capacity against your will? What was your response? Happy to help or angry to serve?
Are you willing to let God use you in His plan, even if no one knows your name?
