The online Bible teaching
ministry of Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
A
daily, Bible-based perspective of hope, encouragement and
exhortation.
"He
Can Use Me"
Note:
Due to opening illustrative material this message is a bit
longer. Exposition begins at small graphic.
Message
summary: Naaman’s miraculous
healing is one of God accomplishing His will in ways that
we can’t always understand and in a time frame according
to His plans, not our own. And you never know who He will
use, even an unnamed servant girl.
Listen to this message on your audio player.
Listen to this message on your audio player.
"Now
Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram. He
was a great man in the sight of his master and highly
regarded, because through him the Lord had given victory
to Aram. He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy.
Now bands of raiders from Aram had gone out and had
taken captive a young girl from Israel, and she served
Naaman’s wife. She said to her mistress, 'If only my
master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would
cure him of his leprosy'" (2 Kings 1-3).
Jack Andraka
was born in 1997. He was an ordinary kid until a close
family friend died from pancreatic cancer. This inspired
Jack to look for a way to identify early stages of
pancreatic cancer.
Andraka
wrote up an experimental protocol and e-mailed it to 200
researchers. Only Dr. Anirban Maitra at Johns Hopkins
responded. He decided to invite Andraka to his lab. To
oversee the project, he appointed a gentle postdoctoral
chemist, who took the baby-sitting assignment in stride.
They expected to see Andraka for perhaps a few weeks over
the summer.
Instead, the young scientist worked for seven months, every day after school and often on Saturdays until after midnight, subsisting on hard-boiled eggs and Twix as his mother dozed in the car in a nearby parking garage. He labored through Thanksgiving and Christmas. He spent his 15th birthday in the lab.
Instead, the young scientist worked for seven months, every day after school and often on Saturdays until after midnight, subsisting on hard-boiled eggs and Twix as his mother dozed in the car in a nearby parking garage. He labored through Thanksgiving and Christmas. He spent his 15th birthday in the lab.
At the age
of 15, he invented a new type of sensor to spot the
presence of pancreatic cancer cells, which proved to be
less expensive, much faster (x168), and more accurate
(25-50%) than all other tests.
All though
history diseases like leprosy and pancreatic cancer have
afflicted without discrimination, both rich and poor. In
our own time we consider Steve Jobs, who is widely
recognized as a pioneer of the personal computer and of
course the ever-evolving line of Apple products. In spite
of his wealth and fame he succumbed to pancreatic cancer
when he was just 56 years old.
Today
let us consider a child in the Bible, who like Jack
Andraka, made a real difference; a young servant girl born
in Israel whose name is not even recorded. She was taken
captive in Syria and served the wife of Namaan who was
commander of the Syrian army. He was likely very wealthy
and highly esteemed in his country. He led the Syrians to
victory repeatedly, including victory over Israel.But 2 Kings
5:1 reveals that Naaman had a critical health problem for
which there was no cure. Naaman had leprosy and this would
certainly affect his present standing as commander and
very possibly bring about an early death. But this young
unnamed servant girl bore a burden for her master and his
family.
As a child
she had learned about the God of Israel and dared to bring
up a famous prophet who had performed miracles in her
homeland, “She said to her mistress (Naaman's wife),
'If only my master would see the prophet who is in
Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy'" (2 Kings
5:3). That prophet was Elisha.
Now this had to be a statement of faith since Jesus, in recounting the story in Luke 4:27, tells us, “And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed – only Naaman the Syrian". Thus the servant girl did not know of other people being healed of leprosy through the prophet Elisha, but she had courage and enough faith in God that He would bring about the needed healing through the prophet.
By inference we could assume that this young girl had brought this up to Naaman’s wife before when she said to her pleadingly, “If only….” She had likely bore this burden for some time and brought it to God in her intercessory prayers.
As a good servant, she desired the health and welfare of her master, though she was forced by her captivity to live in a country foreign to her godly upbringing. Yet God had a bigger plan since He often works in unconventional ways to accomplish His purposes. In this way today's story is similar to Esther.
Think for a minute. A young,
unidentified servant girl is giving instruction to the
famous commander of the Syrian army. This commander
goes before his powerful, authoritative king to ask
permission to obey his servant girl’s instructions to
visit a prophet in Israel. Naaman then had to humble
himself before God and obey the seemingly "foolish"
instruction given to him by Elisha. It would seem that God
wanted to teach him that he really wasn't all that
powerful after all, and he needed a good dose of humility.
Naaman submitted to Elisha’s strange instructions to dip in the Jordan River seven times. After he fully obeyed he then received the healing his wife’s servant girl had told him about. After his healing he stood before Elisha and proclaimed, "Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel". (We can't help but wonder if he lived the rest of his life with this faith outlook!)
Naaman’s miraculous story is one of God accomplishing His will in ways that we can’t always understand and in a time frame according to His plans, not our own. And you never know who He will use, even an unidentified servant girl.
Now this had to be a statement of faith since Jesus, in recounting the story in Luke 4:27, tells us, “And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed – only Naaman the Syrian". Thus the servant girl did not know of other people being healed of leprosy through the prophet Elisha, but she had courage and enough faith in God that He would bring about the needed healing through the prophet.
By inference we could assume that this young girl had brought this up to Naaman’s wife before when she said to her pleadingly, “If only….” She had likely bore this burden for some time and brought it to God in her intercessory prayers.
As a good servant, she desired the health and welfare of her master, though she was forced by her captivity to live in a country foreign to her godly upbringing. Yet God had a bigger plan since He often works in unconventional ways to accomplish His purposes. In this way today's story is similar to Esther.
Think for a minute. A young,
unidentified servant girl is giving instruction to the
famous commander of the Syrian army. This commander
goes before his powerful, authoritative king to ask
permission to obey his servant girl’s instructions to
visit a prophet in Israel. Naaman then had to humble
himself before God and obey the seemingly "foolish"
instruction given to him by Elisha. It would seem that God
wanted to teach him that he really wasn't all that
powerful after all, and he needed a good dose of humility.Naaman submitted to Elisha’s strange instructions to dip in the Jordan River seven times. After he fully obeyed he then received the healing his wife’s servant girl had told him about. After his healing he stood before Elisha and proclaimed, "Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel". (We can't help but wonder if he lived the rest of his life with this faith outlook!)
Naaman’s miraculous story is one of God accomplishing His will in ways that we can’t always understand and in a time frame according to His plans, not our own. And you never know who He will use, even an unidentified servant girl.
If You can
use anything Lord You can use me
If You can use anything Lord You can use me
Take my hands, Lord and my feet
Touch my heart, Lord and speak through me
If You can use anything Lord You can use me
If You can use anything Lord You can use me
Take my hands, Lord and my feet
Touch my heart, Lord and speak through me
If You can use anything Lord You can use me
Be encouraged today, (Hebrews 3:13)
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily
prayer: Father, we
know that "the prayer of a righteous man is
powerful and effective" and so is that of a young
servant girl. Help us to know that as we pray we
can trust You to hear and answer our prayer in
Your time and in Your way. We want to also
remember that our time in prayer is not just for
the benefit of those for whom we pray, but it is
also powerful and effective in our personal
relationship with You. Keep us humble, faithful
and ever-trusting just like the servant girl who
bore the burden of Naaman’s leprosy. She is an
example of one who was used of you just as You
want to use us in making a difference in our
sphere of influence. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily
prayer: Father, we
know that "the prayer of a righteous man is
powerful and effective" and so is that of a young
servant girl. Help us to know that as we pray we
can trust You to hear and answer our prayer in
Your time and in Your way. We want to also
remember that our time in prayer is not just for
the benefit of those for whom we pray, but it is
also powerful and effective in our personal
relationship with You. Keep us humble, faithful
and ever-trusting just like the servant girl who
bore the burden of Naaman’s leprosy. She is an
example of one who was used of you just as You
want to use us in making a difference in our
sphere of influence. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Today's
Suggested
Music and Supplemental Resources
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Scripture references are from The Holy Bible: New International Version. © 1984 by International Bible Society; NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. and the King James Version.
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