Scripture Reference 2 Kings 5 : 4-8

 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 will send a letter to the king of Israel.” So Naaman left, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold and ten sets of clothing.

 ⁶ The letter that he took to the king of Israel read: “With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman to you so that you may cure him of his leprosy. ⁷ As soon as the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his robes and said, “Am I God? Can I kill and bring back to life? Why does this fellow send someone to me to be cured of his leprosy? See how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me! ⁸ When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his robes, he sent him this message: “Why have you torn your robes? Have the man come to me and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel.

The opening line of the above text says so very much, ⁴ Naaman went to his master and told him what the girl from Israel had said.” Are you kidding with me? This successful military commander takes his slave girl so seriously that he goes to his superior and tells him what the girl had said!  One of my readers wrote me back following yesterday’s devotional saying of the girl, “Whatever the young girl’s name was, she should be given the title of God’s Ambassador!” 

I totally agree! The apostle Paul wrote from his prison cell saying, Eph. 6: “¹⁹ Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, ²⁰ for which I am an ambassador in chains.” Whether it is Paul in chains or this girl’s enslavement, the true messenger of the Lord will never be silenced!  God’s life changing message will be proclaimed no matter what opposition the child of God faces! 

Church, Covid has not silenced the message nor has it quelled the messenger! The Message of the Lord will never be muzzled in fact God’s message seems to thrive in the face of adversity! Paul’s imprisonment resulted in the advancement of the Gospel, Phil. 1:12 and the girl’s enslavement resulted in a high ranking official from a foreign nation experiencing the life transforming power of God! Never under value what God can do in any circumstance!

The king of Aram sent written notice to the king of Israel requesting that his army commander be healed of his leprosy! Now how do think the king of Israel reacted to such a letter? I believe he reacted as many might react today, he was incredulous that such a thing could be asked of him! His response is telling, “Am I God? Can I kill and bring back to life? Why does this fellow send someone to me to be cured of his leprosy? See how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me!”

Today, one might liken the intent of this letter to a national leader asking the Prime Minister of Canada to cure his official of Lou Gehrig ’s disease!  The request was an astonishingly unreasonable one from a purely secular world view. The king of Israel was a wicked leader who knew not the God of Israel, however Elisha was neither startled nor was he threatened by the strange and seemingly unbelievable request. The person of faith is always prepared in every situation to look beyond the need to the God who is able to do immeasurably more!