2 Kings 5:1 gives us a brief bio of a man named Naaman. “He was the captain of the host of the king of Syria, a great man with his master, and honorable because by him the Lord had given deliverance unto Syria: he was also a mighty man in valor.” It seemed Naaman was living a good life, but the last part of that verse reveals that he had become a leper. I’m sure he felt like his world had been turned upside down. None of the accolades heaped upon him meant anything; he was a dying man.
On one of his conquests, he captured a young Jewish girl and gave her to his wife as a slave. Upon learning that the man who had made her a slave had leprosy, she reacted differently than you would have imagined. She didn’t gloat; she didn’t dance for joy; instead, she showed compassion. She told her mistress how her master could be healed. As a slave, she potentially put her life in jeopardy to help Naaman. She had undoubtedly seen the power of God through the Prophet Elisha, and she was bold in sharing what she knew. If she had kept quiet, Naaman would probably have died.
It would require an act of courage for Naaman to be healed. He went to see Elisha, as the servant girl had advised, but he didn’t like what the Prophet told him to do. It appears he was prepared to go back to Syria and die rather than do what Elisha told him. But while standing on the banks of the muddy Jordan River, another servant courageously stepped forward.
While the slave girl could be seen as speaking out of courageous compassion, what this servant said could be taken as a rebuke. He told his master, “If Elisha had told you to do some great thing, you would have done it. Aren’t you even willing to try to do what he said?” The slave girl may or may not have put her life on the line when she spoke up, but this servant did. God used their courage to speak the truth so Naaman could be healed.
The world has undergone significant changes in recent years. Standing up for Christ is not as welcome as it once was, but we must show the same compassion and courage that these servants did. We know the One who can help, and we must not fail in pointing them to Jesus.
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