But God...

 

For the past few weeks, the story of Naaman was stuck in my thoughts. Naaman was the commander of the army of Syria (2 Kings 5) The scripture says he was a great and honorable man, a mighty man of valor. But…. Naaman was also a leper. He hid his oozing sores under the military garments and probably wrapped them up before he wore his armor to cover up the stench of those sores. Many of us live like Naaman. We cover what is shameful in our lives from others under our outfits, lifestyles, conversations, interactions etc. Sometimes we cover up our brokenness and shame because we ourselves do not want to acknowledge them. We walk around in our self-made fantasy world so that we feel accepted in the crowd. There was a slave girl in Naaman’s household who saw his leprosy. She didn’t shy away from speaking up. I am amazed and challenged at the boldness of this girl. I wonder if I am bold enough to speak up seeing the brokenness of another who is trying to hide it under their luxury. Am I bold enough to proclaim the knowledge of my God who saves, heals, and delivers? The girl had strength because of who she knew. She wasn’t trying to judge him, but she genuinely wanted him to know there is an answer to his problem. Naaman’s importance came from what he did. But the girl spoke up and flipped the script for Naaman. He couldn’t just ignore what she said because that would belittle him not to address what the girl called out. It shows how desperate he was to be healed from this shame, but there was no known cure for this disease.

Even when he decided to try what the girl had told him, he still used his influence and had his king send a recommendation to the king of Israel instead of reaching out to the prophet himself. He continued to want to show up in his grandiosity. Are we humble enough and desperate enough for a healing and deliverance? And even when he reaches the prophet Elisha, he was furious that he got told by the messenger to go wash in Jordan seven times. His servants had to convince him to follow what the prophet asked him to do. I am sure his servants stood at the bank of the river, cheering him on as he dipped in it. What a shame would it have been if he stopped after the sixth time dipping in the river? Most of us get tired of waiting, tired of showing up, tired of serving and tired of hoping for our promise. If we are humble enough and our faith is strong enough to keep on dipping, our deliverance will certainly come at the appointed time.

But the story changes after he received the healing. Naaman wanted to bring some soil from Israel to his land in Syria so he will only worship the God of Israel. The point of this narrative is not that he received healing; but it is that his trial became his testimony. The soil is holy ground. Naaman wanted to bring that soil and spread it everywhere in Syria and every time he bowed in worship, at every alter, he will remember his healing, he will remember Yahweh. Naaman could have died being a leper. You and I could have gone down under in our brokenness, in our crushing. But God… David was an adulterer, Moses was a murderer, Paul persecuted the church… but God… He changed their narrative when they aligned themselves with His plan. It is our obedience, our willingness to go all the way that will lead to our healing and our testimony.

Written by: Anu Varghese