What is the job of every believer? What is another aspect of God’s will for all of us, regardless of season or stage of life?
Mathew 28 tells us that it is His will for us to go into all the world and make disciples, teaching them to observe all that Jesus has commanded. It’s to tell others the good news that there is a holy God who has made a way for sinful man to stand in His presence and be with Him forever. He accomplished this through the death of His Son, Jesus Christ, who lived a perfect life, died to appease God’s wrath against us and rose again to show Himself victorious and able to intercede for us before the Father. Simply put, we are here to share the gospel with everyone.
Simply put, but not always so simply lived out, huh?!
How often do we fail to give God glory and magnify His name to those around us?! We have so many excuses: I don’t really know them. I need to “build a bridge” first before I can share with them. I need to show them I care before they will care what I know. It’s just too awkward. There are churches everywhere if they are really interested. I’m sure they have a Bible in their house somewhere. The timing doesn’t seem right. I don’t want to ruin future opportunities by messing it up right now. I just don’t feel prepared. I’m not sure what to say. I’ll just keep praying for more boldness.
On and on we go till we feel better about ourselves and our lack of faithfulness to the Faithful One.
I think that is what is so encouraging (and convicting!) about the story of the “servant girl” in 2 Kings 5. It breaks down all my defenses and all my excuses. I’m left standing before the Author with a humble heart that simply cries out, “I’m sorry…help me! I believe…help my unbelief!”
This servant girl isn’t given a name, and she only appears in three verses, but what a testimony! We are told that she was taken captive when the Arameans raided Israel. We don’t know her exact age, but the Bible calls her a young girl. I can’t even fathom what that must have been like for her…ripped from her home and all she knows, and taken to a foreign land, placed in a foreign home, and given the label “servant”. I can only imagine the fear, the homesickness, the sense of hopelessness, and the pain and longing that grew in her heart for all that was forever lost. No dad and mom to shelter her, protect her and give her the hugs of assurance and love that made even the hard times bearable. No brothers or sisters to work and play side by side with, adding laughter and fun to the hours in each day. No aunts, uncles, cousins or grandparents to watch her grow and celebrate the different stages of her life as she grew from childhood to womanhood. It’s hard to grasp how alone she must have felt. And, in my own humanness, I can see how all of that emotional pain and loneliness could sprout seeds of bitterness and anger at those who had put her in that situation, those who had robbed her of everything she held dear.
But we see the exact opposite.
We see, instead, a heart of submission, a heart of selflessness, a heart of kindness, a heart of compassion, and a heart that knew where hope and help was found. This young servant girl saw the misery of her master as he battled leprosy, and instead of rejoicing in his calamity and pain, pointed him to where he could receive help. She could have stayed quiet. After all, she had a million and one reasons not to care about the needs of her captor, and not to desire to see good come to her enemy, but she chose love instead.
I have to believe she pointed Naaman to the prophet Elisha…to the servant and mouthpiece of God, because she, herself, had already been pointed to the truths Elisha preached. She had already been saved by the love of God, and her heart of stone had become a heart of flesh that beat no longer for herself but for her Creator and Savior. Her captivity did not harden her heart because she had already been captured by Another, and no one could take her out of His hands…no matter what land they took her to.
She was not silent…and Naaman walked away a healed man, both body and soul. Her footprints may have been small, but her faith was big. She is a precious testimony to my own heart…and I pray to yours as well!
It’s time to break the silence.
Comments