Date Posted: 11/5/2012 1:17:32 AM
Posted By: queenma Membership Level: Bronze Total Points: 20
The book of kings presents us with a story of one commander of the Syrian army; Naaman who was highly respected and esteemed by the king of Syria. This was because through Him (Naaman), the Lord had given victory to the Syrian forces. He was a great soldier but he suffered from a dreaded skin disease; leprosy (2 Kings 5; 1-2)It is human that prosperity, victory, fame and respect often match hand in hand. When I talk of prosperity here I do mean that area where you perform at best or where you've been successful. It is equally true that when we are successful, people will hold us with high esteem and we will feel good.However, it is also likely that majority of us don’t recognize how imperfect we might be as human beings. Sometimes like Naaman we know our leprosy (imperfections) but sometimes we don’t, but whether we know it or not, all the same it remains leprosy and it remains with us until that time when we realize the need to be cured. But what is your leprosy today? Is it malice; is it corruption, adultery, fornication or unfaithfulness? Is it untrustworthiness? Laziness? Hate? anger or insincerity? What is it that is against the principles of Christianity? Our leprosy can hinder us from the realm of happiness despite our prosperity. It doesn't matter how prosperous we are or how skilled we are but our willingness to accept that we are unclean and that in one way or another we stand in need of cure.When our hearts harbor all the above, our spiritual self becomes weak and within a short period of time, we find ourselves quarreling all the time, always planning evil even where good wound benefit us more. Note that Naaman had won many battles but there was one that proved hard to win, that against leprosy. We too have battles that have proved hard for us. We need to identify them and to acknowledge them because unless we do that we will never act on them. In order to act on such imperfections, we need to humble ourselves before God and to accept his will.After Naaman had recognized and accepted his situation, he sought for cure with no avail until that time when God spoke to him through his servant girl and he had to make a difficult choice to listen to his servant girl. That was a great act of humility wasn't it? Even after meeting the prophet Elisha who told him to bath seven times in river Jordan, Naaman almost missed the healing which God had prepared for him simply because he wanted it in his own style. It took another act of humility to listen to his servants and it was only after dipping himself the seventh time that his skin became clean. Amazing! So you see, we need to listen and discern the will of God in tackling our leprosy and we will get healed. we must be humble enough for we don’t know who God wants to use to cure our leprosy.Look also at the slave girl, God used her even in her slavery, she empathized with Naaman even though he had captured her and paid bad with good. She reminds us of our Christian calling, that we should do good to those who harm us for by this we partake in the cross of Christ.
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