HUMBLE ENOUGH TO LISTEN?

Reference text: 2 Kings 5:1-15

2 Kings 5:13 Naaman's servants went to him and said, "My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, 'Wash and be cleansed'!"

The entire text for today is an interesting read and contains the story of Naaman, commander of the Syrian  who was held in high esteem. For all this honour however, he was a known leper. It becomes evident then that unlike the the people of Israel where a leper was to remain outside the camp, the Syrians had their own rules and leprosy played no hindrance in status. That was something to pay attention however, it isn’t the key point for our reflection today.

What I would like us to ponder on was the place of ‘servants’ in this story. Because for all the favour and honour, the healing of Naaman was initiated by the servant and to complete the process by washing in the Jordan as instructed Prophet Elisha, his servants had to convince him to. I was therefore intrigued about the very personalities of the couple and the nature of the relationship they had built with the servants in their household.

The young servant girl was bold enough to plant a seed in the heart of Naaman’s wife that he could be healed if he was in Samaria and those who accompanied Naaman into Samaria were also confident to find a way to appease their master’s anger and get him to comply with the instructions he had received. One summary came to mind from these two scenarios : “we were looking at servants who had the ears of their masters” and “masters who knew to respond to the servants under their care”.

This was more than a “superior and inferior relationship”, but a clear partnership because that young girl’s suggestion sent Naaman straight into the presence of his king to receive permission to depart for Israel. Beloved, sometimes God uses those we might consider ‘least‘ to reach out to us; those who might seem undeserving of our ear. In such cases, the real question is

‘are we humble enough to listen?’

#sly