May 11, 2024 -- Reprint of a favorite devotion from May 11, 2023

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. 2 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. 3 She said to her mistress, “Would that my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.” 4 So Naaman went in and told his lord, “Thus and so spoke the girl from the land of Israel.” 5 And the king of Syria said, “Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.”
II Kings 5:1-5a ESV

The little girl is nameless in the story. Yet her faithfulness to the Living God, despite great suffering, is amazing. Naaman is a foreigner. Not of the people of God, but it is the LORD Who gives him victory over the King of Israel. Why?

The raids against Israel were exactly what the LORD, the Promise-Making and Promise-Keeping God had pledged would happen when His people rebelled against Him. The purpose of such hardships would be to draw His people back to Himself.

The faithlessness of Israel is being used by the LORD to bring a man, Naaman, to Himself.

The man Naaman presents himself to the King of Israel. That is amazing already. Naaman would be well-known as their oppressor. Yet the prophet, Elisha, will heal at the command of the LORD heal this man and show Israel the LORD is still present among His people. It is a call to repentance.

All these things happen because a young girl, nameless to us, known and loved by the Father, is faithful in a situation that is too hard to imagine. She has been stolen. Were her parents killed in the raid? She is pressed into servitude. Yet she wishes her master well and speaks how the prophet could cure him. We know Elisha to be the prophet of the Living God, in contrast to the gods of Syria which were not gods at all and their prophets all false. She points to healing which ultimately would lead the healing of his soul. Perhaps her mistress and this family would be saved through her bold witness.

Dear family in Christ, have you used every hard circumstance in your life to testify to the LORD? Perhaps the very hardships you are going through are given so that unbelievers will see your patient endurance and through this come to know the LORD. The nameless girl of the story pointed to the prophet. Then it was Elisha, now our prophet is Jesus Christ. He makes known to us, in all our hardships, the pathway to peace. The Prophet Jesus declares the Father. The Prophet Jesus, by His sacrifice has been punished in our place so that the way is open to full and true healing in the presence of the Loving Father.

You may think of yourself as nameless, unimportant, forgotten. Be assured of this today the LORD our God is using every circumstance of your life to build you up in our precious faith. He knows you by name. He is bringing you the fullness of His glorious salvation to you. He is using every circumstance of your life for His holy purposes.

Our Father in heaven hallowed be Your Name.
Thank You for Your great, vast, and extravagant love poured out to us in Jesus Christ. Thank You for the grace with which the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus graces believers. Thank You, Faithful Father, Beautiful Savior Jesus, for the gift of the Holy Spirit, in Whom we have everything we need in every circumstance so that we can live for Jesus.
Forgive us for the times we have wallowed in our circumstances rather than relied on the grace of Jesus and the strength of the Spirit. Let our lives shine out for Jesus, no matter where You take us, so that Your great Name will be made known far and wide. In all of this, and all the tangles and chaos of this world, we join our prayers with those of believers through the ages, asking of You: come quickly Lord Jesus. Amen.

https://youtu.be/U8zWzw_Cc2o “Take Shelter” Keith & Kristyn Getty