Serving To Save An Enemy

Serving to Save an Enemy

The Bible has been called the “greatest story ever told.” The coolest thing is that every story in the Bible is true. Noah’s ark, Daniel in the lion’s den, Elijah outrunning a chariot, Jesus walking on the water—you know the names and achievements of many biblical heroes. However, in one of the remarkable stories in the Bible, we never learn the heroine’s name.

In 2 Kings 5, we read about a powerful Aramean commander named Naaman. He was a mighty warrior who won many battles, but he couldn’t win his battle against the disease leprosy. During one of Aram’s invasions of Israel, the Arameans captured a young girl and forced her to be a servant for Naaman’s wife. We never learn the servant girl’s name. But we do hear her speak. In verse 3 she says, “I wish my master would go to see the prophet in Samaria. He would heal him of his leprosy.”

In those days leprosy meant death. Since Aram constantly fought with Israel, it’d be hard to blame the young girl if she had stayed silent and watched Naaman die. But this girl trusted in God’s power. She knew about God’s prophet Elisha, who could do amazing things in God’s name. Instead of watching an enemy die (an enemy who had ripped her away from her family and enslaved her), she wanted to introduce Naaman to God’s healing power.

The rest of the story is well known. Naaman went to Israel and found Elisha. Elisha ordered Naaman to wash seven times in the Jordan River, which he did, and he was healed. When Naaman climbed out of the river, he told Elisha, “Now I know that the God of Israel is the only God in the whole world” (2 Kings 5:15, CEV).

The kindness, courage, and grace of a young servant girl turned a powerful enemy into a child of God . . . and we still don’t know her name.

Daddy-Daughter Time

How does it feel to help somebody? Have you ever helped someone who treated you poorly? It’s easy to help a friend, but it takes true mercy and grace to reach out to an enemy. Read the whole story in 2 Kings 5. Talk about what the girl might have felt when she first heard of Naaman’s sickness. Who got the glory for her actions in the end?

What’s The Word?

One day the girl said to her mistress, “I wish my master would go to see the prophet in Samaria. He would heal him of his leprosy.”   2 Kings 5:3