Victorious faith
“If only my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria! For he would heal him of his leprosy.” (2 Kings 5:3)
I have been frustrated by the poor quality of my internet service recently. I spent an hour on the phone with several customer service advisors trying to sort things out and complaining about the failures of their product. We all like to complain at times and share experiences of being poorly treated.
Imagine being taken as a very young person from your family, your town, your country and made a slave in a strange land. Think of the experience: many bitter tears, endless regret, hatred for those who had forced you into such a life, and doubt that God cared for you.
Naaman’s story, like those of Rahab and Ruth, shines like a bright star witnessing to the glory of the grace of God. But how did this gifted general, leprous as he was, come to know God’s kindness? God blessed him through a nameless child whom Naaman had made a slave. The story of Naaman is a beautiful record of God’s salvation and an astonishing demonstration of God’s power through a child’s love, faith and hope.
The young girl practised what the Lord Jesus taught hundreds of years later:
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you” (Matthew 5:43-44).
Jesus also refers to the story in Luke 4:27, “And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.”
The little servant expressed faith in adverse circumstances and apparent powerlessness. She promised something which had not happened before. It wasn’t a timid witness but a very bold one, “If only my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria! For he would heal him of his leprosy.” Notice how she addressed Naaman as “my master”. She teaches us that she had accepted her life under the hand of God. But that acceptance did not subdue her faith: it became the base upon which she witnessed powerfully to the God of all grace. She was not diminished by complaint. She didn’t ask, as even Joseph did to the cupbearer, “When it is well with you remember me” (Genesis 40:14). This remarkable child desired the salvation of the man who had robbed her of everything.
Time and time again, God teaches us of the power of a life of faith which refuses to be crushed by circumstances, but sees them as the battleground on which love, faith and hope are victorious. Interestingly, it was a complaining spirit that nearly robbed Naaman of the blessing of God. In furious pride, he said, “Are not the Abanah and the Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” (2 Kings 5:12). It was the humility and gentle appeal of his servants that led him into Jordan and a new life.
As a new day stretches before us, may God give us the grace to live victoriously: “But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labour is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:57-58).
