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March 21, 2022The Aramean military leader, Naaman, was a man who at first glance appeared to have everything going for him. There was only one thing that detracted from his overall image of power and success. He had leprosy. His skin disease seemed to be making him more desperate by the day. Finally, God called to Naaman in an unexpected form - a young Israelite girl captured in a raid who was now a slave in Naaman’s home. The girl’s faith was so strong it inspired Naaman to seek out a cure for his problem.
But the Lord invited Naaman to go even further than some superficial displays of friendliness to get medical care. The Lord invited Naaman to place himself totally at the mercy of his enemies, the Israelites. Naaman potentially had a lot to lose. As an enemy war chief, any man, woman, or child in Israel could have chosen to take vengeance on him in his vulnerable position. Both the Israelite king and Elisha, the prophet, were downright insulting to him. Yet, Naaman chose to act in faith. Believing a child’s witness, the military commander humbled himself and bathed in his enemies’ sacred waters and was healed. Do not our accumulated sins make us all like lepers in God’s sight? May we be given the grace to humble ourselves at a child’s testimony and find the healing our hearts cry out for so urgently.
