SLAVE GIRL OVERCOMES BITTERNESS
The Chowchilla News Pastor’s
Commentary by John Parker for=
May 9, 2007
The little girl’s dark night memories never leave
her. The terrifying shouts! The ear piercing screams! The filthy soldiers beating and st=
abbing
her dear father to death. The=
wailing
screams of her dying mother as the soldiers’ harsh hands tear her awa=
y from
her mother’s grasp and carry her off to a hopeless captivity among th=
e godless
Arameans of the north!
She awakens each day knowing that she is now a slave, =
orphaned
and alone. She has no hope of=
ever returning
to her childhood home in
Ironically, she ends up a maid to the wife of Naaman, =
the very
general who led the raiding h=
oards that
killed her parents and stole her life away. Their palatial home is decorated wi=
th Israeli
vessel and objects of gold, silver, and ivory that the girl knows are spoil=
s from
the slaughter of her people---and she has to dust them! Bitterness,
unforgiveness, resentment, and fantasies of retaliation are easily accessib=
le
to her wounded soul.
But one day, as she’s dusting, she overhears her
mistress weeping and telling someone that her husband has leprosy, an incur=
able
and fatal skin disease. ̶=
0;Our
life is destroyed.” she sobs, “He even has to move out of our h=
ouse
and I can never be near him, or feel his tender touch, again. We are destro=
yed!
We have no hope!”
The little girl could have hardened her heart and
delighted that Naaman the Destroyer would suffer such a ruthless destructio=
n. He
deserved it!
But the pain of her mistress’ hopeless heartache
strikes a full chord with her own broken and hopeless heart. She and her mistress are suddenly s=
isters---both
lost, both brokenhearted, both hopeless.
And in that moment a vivid vision recalls her to Elish=
a the
prophet and his power to heal in the name of Lord God Jehovah. She remembers his miracles as if th=
ey’d
happened just yesterday!
She knew she could not withhold such hope from her
mistress. She would have to, =
right
then and there, forgive those who trespassed against her! And, right then and there, she did=
just
that!
She runs in to her mistress and boldly cries, “I
wish my master would go to see the prophet in
Shocked but desperate, Naaman’s wife takes the g=
irl’s
words straight to her husband with such convincing fervor that he goes stra=
ight
to his boss, the king of Aram, and asks to be sent to the prophet of Israel=
. This the king promptly does!
And when at Elisha’s command Naaman dips himself=
in
the Jordan river seven times his old, sick, and dying skin “became as
healthy as the skin of a young child’s, and he was healed!”
And, I believe, the little girl’s old, sick, and
dying heart became as the heart of a young innocent girl again because she =
repented
of her bitterness, then forgave, and loved her enemies enough to tell them =
good
news of God’s healing! =
Once again we see forgiveness and healing working toge=
ther!
Accordingly, when Jesus’=
; asks,
“Which is easier to say ‘Your sins are forgiven’ or ̵=
6;Rise
up and walk’?” he is saying forgiveness and healing are
intertwined!
Lord help us unload our bitterness, judgment, and unfo=
rgiveness
and find all the health and healing you want to bathe upon us! Just as you =
did
with Naaman and the little slave girl!&nbs=
p;
(read 2 Kings 5 for the full account)
For Your Health and Wholeness!---Pastor John Parker of=