Elisha

June 23

2 Kings 5:1-5

The faithful slave girl

Naaman was a commander in the Syrian army and was respected by the king because he had won many battles. But Naaman had a problem: he had a terrible skin disease which causes a slow and horrible death.

In one of their raids against Israel, the Syrian army had captured and brought back Israelites slaves. Among them was a little girl who ended up as a servant of Naaman’s wife. One day she said to her mistress, “If only my master could go to the prophet in Israel he would be cured of his disease.”

When Naaman heard about the prophet in Israel, he went to the king and told him what the girl had said. The king of Aram immediately wrote a letter to the king of Israel and said to Naaman, “Go to Israel, and take this letter with you.”

Can my faith be strong even though I’m young?

Would you have dared to be as brave as the young servant girl? Naaman was a commander of a big army, and he didn’t become commander by being nice! The girl probably didn’t even know the name of the prophet in Israel or whether he would heal someone from Syria. She simply trusted God.

The girl knew that it is easy for God to do those things that seem impossible to do—she had faith! God gave her the confident assurance to tell her mistress about the prophet. Although she knew that she would be in big trouble if her master came back unhealed, she was obedient to God’s voice in her heart. There was absolutely no doubt in her mind that God could heal her master! Faith is simply trusting God.

Verse for today

Jesus replied, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, `Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you.” Luke 17:6