Naaman - Out of the mouths of babes

2 Kings 5:2-5
Now bands of raiders from Aram had gone out and had taken captive a young girl from Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife. ³ She said to her mistress, “If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.”
⁴ Naaman went to his master and told him what the girl from Israel had said. ⁵ “By all means, go,” the king of Aram replied. “I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” So Naaman left, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold and ten sets of clothing.

 I followed the Elizabeth Smart story, as many of us did, in horror. At the time of her abduction, all of my four children were under the age of 10.  This hit home for me.  Who could possibly take a child away from her loving family?  What would become of the child? How could she move on with her life after this?

In the time of Naaman, there was an Israelite girl who lived in Naaman's home as a servant to his wife.  She was there because she was taken from her home when Aram raiders had conquered her land. I'm not sure what the girls home life was like before she was captured.  She is not mentioned anywhere else except in this passage.  But in general, I can imagine what my disposition might be towards the people who took me.  Not this girl.

This young girl tells Naaman's wife that she knows a guy who can cure his leprosy. That he is in Samaria.  Now Samaria is about a six hour drive from Aram.  I'm not sure what the time frame is on camel or horse, but I can imagine it's a fairly long journey - especially for one who's suffering from leprosy.  Here's the thing - not only does Naaman take the advice of this young girl to go on this long journey, he presents it to his boss, the king, so he can get some time off - and the king agrees to it!

God can use us at any age to be a blessing to someone else, no matter what our circumstances.  Elizabeth Smart has miraculously been able to deal with her abduction and moved on to be an inspiration to others.  Remember Whose you are and where you belong.