Not Just Another Servant Girl

How can one sentence give a man his life back?  That’s what we find happening in the story of Captain Naaman and his wife’s servant girl.

She is nameless but not unknown. We meet her as the servant of Mrs. Naaman in 2 Kings 5.  Her husband is the commander-in-chief for the king of Aram (present-day Syria).  But he has a problem.  He has contracted leprosy.

Was it really the disfiguring, life-threatening, flesh-eating disease we connect with leprosy?  Does it matter if that’s what Naaman believed he had?  For him, it was a death sentence.  It could take him away from his life of luxury, his family, everything he enjoyed.

The only information we have about the servant girl is that she is young, Jewish, and was taken away from her home and family when Naaman led a successful raid on Israel.  She teaches us that you can be a missionary anywhere and under any circumstances. 

Was it just the young girl’s spontaneous sympathy that prompted her “if only” statement to her mistress?  “If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.”  (2 Kings 5:3)

She was talking about Elisha.  Everyone from her country knew about Elisha.  During a famine in the land, Elisha added flour and prayer to a poisonous pot of stew and saved a starving people from death.  (See 2 Kings 4:38-41) Another time, he took 20 loaves of bread and fed 100 people with plenty of leftovers! (See 2 Kings 4: 42-44) He even brought a dead boy back to life! (2 Kings 4:5-37)

Mrs. Naaman told her husband about the healer and that he needed to travel to Samaria to find Elisha. While Naman didn’t like the idea of returning to a place he had raided, if there really was a healer there, shouldn’t he at least try?  So, with his King's permission, he went.  Think of people who have made long trips to the Mayo Clinic, traveled to other countries, or tried a special diet.  Desperate people do desperate things.

Though Naaman’s story is interesting and you can read about it in  2 Kings 5, it’s the servant girl who is the unlikely hero here. She reminds me of Esther “taken” into the palace, where she “continued to follow Mordecai’s instructions as she had done when he was bringing her up.”  (Esther 2:20). Different place, same obedience.  She was God’s servant before she was anyone else’s.  That’s what made the difference for Naaman. Pagan influences around her did not take away her belief in Jehovah.

What surprises me the most is that she really wasn’t trying to witness.  She simply stated her deepest desire for her mistress’s husband.

Another contributing factor was her attitude.  Because she became a willing servant in a distant land, her mistress could “hear” the truth from her servant.  Had she been more like Sarah’s servant, Hagar, the suggestion would not have been taken seriously.

Even though she was taken away from family, friends, and her Jewish future, God had a mission for this servant girl.  She didn’t even recognize how important her words were when she uttered them.  It was a turning point for Naaman and his wife.  Healing came to Naaman, and it brought him back to his family and to his position in the King’s service.  I like to think there were some perks the servant girl enjoyed because of how the story turned out.

In so many ways, she was an unlikely hero:

• She did not hold animosity for her captor.

• She remained true to her faith in an alien land.

• ·She wanted the best for Captain and Mrs. Naaman even when her “best” had been taken away.

It’s interesting that we don’t hear that Naaman came home to reward his wife’s unnamed servant.  But I don’t think the young girl needed a reward.  She shared what she knew without push or offensiveness.  That’s all God needed her to do.

What about our words?  Where have we been afraid to follow God’s nudge (not ours)? Where have we kept hope to ourselves? Where have we missed opportunities to share an affirmation or the encouragement someone needed?

Are you ready to be God’s servant the way this young girl was?  It will take a sincere desire to want God’s best for someone who wronged you. I wonder what waits on the other side of that encounter?  I’m praying we find out.