God wants to work through each of our lives so that we may touch others for Him. How might He be doing that for you? Read on to discover more of this challenging question as our Guest Author, Ray Graetz, discusses in his thought-provoking article.

God has assignments planned for every believer and introduces each of us into human existence at the right time, in the right place, and in the right circumstances, to fulfil His purpose for our life. But we also need to recognise that, to fulfil God’s purpose for our life, we will need to learn to rise above adverse circumstances in life.

In 2 Kings 5:1-19 (NIV) there is an amazing Bible story that illustrates this point. Starting from verse 1: 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. He was a valiant soldier…

Naaman is a significant person: commander of the army of the king of Aram, a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded, and a valiant soldier. In addition, God has been outworking His purposes in the region by helping Naaman gain military victories for the nation of Aram…although, at this point, Naaman doesn’t know God—he only knows an idol, named “Rimmon”, that his master, the king, worships (v18).

God wants to go further with Naaman—He wants Naaman to come to know Him as the only true God. How is He going to achieve that? Despite all the great things said about Naaman, he has a problem. Verse 1 continues, …He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy. Naaman has leprosy…and God is going to further His purposes for Naaman by using this problem.

Maybe God wants to further His purpose for our life by using a problem we are facing!

God has a great miracle-working prophet in Israel, named Elisha, who could help. To this point, Elisha has already worked eight major miracles that are recorded in the Bible, including raising someone from the dead. So, God knows that He can work through Elisha to heal Naaman of his leprosy. And He knows in advance that, when Naaman is healed, he will acknowledge that there is no God in all the world except in Israel (v15).

How will God connect Naaman with Elisha? There are some problems. In particular:

(1)  Aram and Israel have been at war with each other, on and off, for years.
(2)  Naaman doesn’t know Elisha…and Elisha doesn’t know Naaman.

But God has a plan…and a special person in mind for this strategic role of connecting Naaman with Elisha. He brought this special person into the world, recently, in part for this purpose…and He has been preparing them for this challenging role, even though they know nothing about His plan at this stage. All God needs to do, now, is use an impending re-positioning of this special person to outwork the next stage of His plan (v2): …bands from Aram had gone out and had taken captive a young girl from Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife.

God’s special person is a “young girl from Israel”! Some versions say “little girl”. The original word means someone who is an adolescent…probably in her teens. She has none of the reputation of Naaman or Elisha. She is so ‘insignificant’ that she isn’t even given a name in this Bible story! She has been taken captive by a band of raiders from Aram and is now a servant/slave to the wife of Naaman, who is, effectively, her captor. We aren’t given details about her capture but it’s clear that she has been forcibly removed from her home in Israel. And there’s an ominous silence about what might have happened to the rest of her family in that raid.

It would be easy to understand someone in her position deeply resenting the pain and injustice of her situation, hating those responsible for it, and being angry with God for allowing this to happen. Instead, we see something entirely different (v3-5): ³ She said to her mistress, “If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.” ⁴ Naaman went to his master and told him what the girl from Israel had said. ⁵ “By all means, go,” the king of Aram replied…

I think this is one of the most extraordinary stories in the Bible! This “young girl from Israel” knows about Elisha …believes in God’s power to heal her captor through Elisha…and demonstrates the most extraordinary response to a terrible turn of events. Instead of being consumed by self-pity, or preoccupied with self-interest, she takes a caring interest in the well-being of her captor…acts on that…and becomes the catalyst for him to be healed of leprosy and come to acknowledge the God of Israel as the only true God.

Maybe God wants to further His purpose in someone else’s life by using a problem we are facing!

Ray Graetz
26 June 2024