The Servant Girl Facilitates Naaman’s Healing
1 Timothy 4:12 (NIV)
“Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young…” – 1 Timothy 4:12 (NIV)
The account is told in the Book of 2 Kings 5 of the Holy Bible that Naaman, the Aramean, was the General of the Syrian armies. He was a great Commander in the sight of his king and highly regarded because of the victory that God brought him. However, Naaman suffered from Tzaraath, a skin disease often translated as Leprosy.
Leprosy is an infection caused by the slow-growing bacteria Mycobacterium Leprae. It can affect the nerves, skin, eyes, and lining of the nose (nasal mucosa). It can be contracted when a person with the disease coughs or sneezes, and a healthy person breathes in the droplets containing bacteria. Prolonged contact with someone with untreated leprosy (over many months) is needed to catch the disease. However, there is evidence in the Bible that God released leprosy on transgressors (Numbers 12:1-10, 2 Kings 5:26-27).
In 2 Kings 5, it is observed that a band of raiders from Aram had taken captive a young girl from Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife. The young servant girl had compassion for her master (despite her captivity) and advised her mistress (Namaan’s wife), “If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of leprosy” (Verse 3). The provision of this vital information resulted in a chain of events that led to Naaman being healed from leprosy by the transformational power of God that was released upon him. He obeyed Prophet Elisha’s instructions to dip seven times in the river Jordan. Naaman’s flesh was restored, and he “became clean like that of a young boy” (2 Kings 14 – NIV). The young Israelite girl was the facilitator and unsung hero in Naaman’s, the Aramean, healing.
Within our family, neighborhood, place of employment, businesses, and even in the household of faith, there are young people who may appear insignificant but carry within them the correct solutions to our problems. The information she provided was the foundation that catapulted the General to petition the Syrian King, who used his diplomatic relations with Israel’s King Jehoram to facilitate communication with the Prophet Elisha, and he was healed.
Take a minute today to make a conscious effort to celebrate young people and nurture the gifts, talents, and Ministries that the Lord has placed within them.
Read: Ecclesiastes 11:9; Matthew 18:3
Bible Reading Guide: Psalm 63; John 10:22-42; 1 Samuel 1; 1 Samuel 2:1-26
Amen. 1 Tim.othy 4 : 12