A PURPOSEFUL LIFE; OLD TESTAMENT STORIES

                                     AN INSTRUMENT FOR HEALING PART XI

"I, the young servant girl in Naaman's home, was so concerned for my master Naaman... He had become leprous... And no doctor had been able to cure him..... That is why I decided to talk to my mistress about the prophet from my country... Ad I did..... And my master went to my country.... While he was there I kept praying for him..... Today he has returned.... My prayers have been answered!..... He has been healed of his leprosy.... Isn't God good?.... And my master has announced that from now on the whole household will no longer worship any false god but only the Lord!... I am full of joy!.... God has used me, a little no-body, a young girl who had been snatched from her home, to save this important man and his household.... I know too that this would not have happened if I had not gone through the challenges I have been through... What has happened to me was not good but God in His infinite wisdom has been able to bring good out of it.... And I thank and praise Him for it."... Please read the typed out attachment when you will learn that the young servant girl in Naaman's household had a very important role to play in the story of Naaman.


                   ATTACHMENT A PURPOSEFUL LIFE; OLD TESTAMENT STORIES

                                     AN INSTRUMENT FOR HEALING PART XI

It seems this story is primarily about two people: Naaman, the soldier, and Elisha, the prophet of God. However, they are not the reason why I have chosen for us to look at this story. I chose this story because of "a young girl in Israel". You see, if not for this young girl, Naaman would not have know about the prophet of God and he would not have received his healing. Therefore, this young girl has a very important role to play in this story. Let's read again what has been written about her in II Kings 5:2-3

Now bands from Aram had gone out and had taken captive a young girl from Israel and she served Naaman's wife. She said to her mistress, "If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy."

Now these are only a few lines but there is a story behind these lines that is worth investigating. First of all, you can learn from these few lines that there is a young girl who once lived in a village or a town in Israel where she will have lived at home with her family. Every day she will have gone about her usual business of helping in the home.Then one day a group of enemy soldiers arrived in the village or town where she lived. No doubt, she will have hidden because she will have known that these men will have been up to no good. But to no avail for she is snatched from her home and taken far away to a strange country, where the people speak a different language, have strange customs and most of all serve a false god. And, instead of being a beloved daughter of her parents, she has become the servant of the wife of a man named Naaman. Every day she will have cried as soon as she has gone to bed because she so desperately misses her mother and her father and her brothers and sisters. She will have worried about them for she does not know what has happened to them. She has often prayed to her God to bring her back home but He has not done so. However, she knows that He is taking care of her even in this strange land for He has given her kind people to serve. One day her master becomes ill with leprosy and his condition gets worse and worse. So eventually she dares to speak to her mistress about the prophet of God in her own nation who surely can bring healing to her master. She is very happy when her master does go to her country. And so she waits until his return. And then one day she hears voices outside the house, including the voice of her master, and his voice sounds full of life and strength. So she knows God has healed her master. Right there and then in the middle of the room where she is cleaning she kneels down and thanks God for the miracle that only He could have performed....