Do you place any requirements on your ability to serve God? Do you need assurance that there will be many people, a lot of danger, a great distance between you and home, or a difficult task before you are willing to be a tool of God? How often do you think of the renown that you get in your service at church, the soup kitchen, or the mission field and wish you were recognized more for your work?
The man Naaman in 2 Kings chapter 5 was a man of renown within the armies of Aram because God had used him as a tool, a valiant warrior and captain, to bring about a great victory. This man of renown within the Aramean society was also an outcast because he was a leper. Can you imagine how this man hurt because he couldn’t live a normal life let alone enjoy the renown of life that God had granted him? If I were a leper living in during this time I would have sought out every cure that claimed to offer help. When Naaman has a young servant girl from Israel say, “I wish that my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria! Then he would cure him of his leprosy.” 2 Kings 5:3 This comment from a his wife’s servant compelled Naaman to search out this man who was rumored to cure leprosy. The ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten changes of clothes shows how wealthy and desperate Naaman was to be free from his curse of leprosy.
When Naaman found Elisha he expected to see a great and powerful miracle that would cure him of his leprosy. Naaman is only greeted by Elisha’s messenger saying that the cure for his leprosy was simply cleaning himself seven times in the Jordan River. Naaman leaves Elisha in a rage because he is told to wash in the river. Why was Naaman so angry about the instructions given by Elisha? Naaman could not believe that after all the battles that he had fought, places he had been, and the wealth he had obtained that such a simple act of washing in a river like the Jordan could possibly cure his leprosy. When you are thinking about how you can best serve God, do you sometimes think that what you are being asked to do is too beneath you? Why do we always think that the way God will choose to use us will always be in the limelight? What hope is there if we just serve in the mundane and simple moments in life?
I love the servant of Naaman who speaks wisdom to his master, “My father, had the prophet told you to do some great thing, would you have not done it? How much more then, when he says to you, ‘Wash and be clean’? ” 2 Kings 5:13 This great captain and hero of Aram places aside his pride and experiences the God of Israel on the banks of the Jordan River. Did he feel foolish the first through sixth time cleaning himself? Can you imagine the joy that flooded through the heart of Naaman when he was cured? Naaman returned to Elisha , “Behold now, I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel; so please take a present from your servant now.” 2 Kings 5:15
How sincere is this profession Naaman made about God? In 2 Kings 5:17-19 Naaman seeks forgiveness for when he will find himself back home and in the midst of the pagan worship on a constnat basis. He knew that his role within the community of Aram would put him in positions where he would be forced to bow himself before the gods of Aram with his master but the true God of Naaman was the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. In the simple work of being told to wash himself to be clean the life of Naaman was forever changed. How will the lives of people around you be changed as they see God in great and mighty ways as they see the simple and mundane tasks He works through you?
In 2 Kings chapter 6 we see a tool of God at work. The man who loses the borrowed ax head runs to Elisha for help. The as head was ruined by the water but the man knew that God was able to help. Elisha caused the iron to float allowing the man to recover the ax head. The servant of Elisha becomes afraid and dismayed by the multitude of men from Aram to claim his master but when his eyes are opened he sees how God is greater than the foes that were against his master. The men from Aram are led into the heart of Samaria by Elisha because God had blinded them from seeing things as they truly were. God was using the life of Elisha as tool to bring glory to Himself.
Is God at work through people today? Is God at work today to bring glory to Himself? God is actively working to bring glory to Himself today just as he was in the days of Elisha. He needs to have people willing to be used in any situation. How often does a carpenter find his hammer telling him that he wants to be used as a saw or his nail desiring to be a pair of pliers? We are tools that God will use to complete His work here on earth and we have no ability to claim what role we will play in the work but we need to be willing to excel in whatever service we find ourselves doing. Are you willing to be a tool of God?
