by Justin Morton
Every day of our lives we are involved in many different things. Most of the time, we probably consider the majority of what we do to be rather small, at least in the grand scheme of life. We wake up, get ready, go to work or run our errands and involve ourselves in various other activities. Eventually we come home, spend time with our family and read or watch TV before we wind down and go to bed. We do all this only to get up and do it all over the very next day, Lord willing.
In 2 Kings 5, we read about Naaman, the commander of the Syrian army. This man had a pretty serious problem; he was a leper. Leprosy involved various forms of skin disease, with the worst kind of leprosy bringing about an unwanted life and fate. We can only imagine the thoughts and fears Naaman must have felt. Perhaps with very little hope, he woke up day after day to the reality of his life. Until one day, everything changed.
A little girl, who was captured from Israel during one of the Syrian raids, told her master, Naaman’s wife, about a prophet in Israel who could cure his leprosy if only Naaman were with him. Eventually, Naaman found himself at the door of Elisha’s house where he was told what he needed to do in order to be cured of his leprosy (2 Kgs. 5:9-10). Although he wanted to ignore Elisha’s words at first (2 Kgs. 5:11-12), he eventually followed through by dipping in the river Jordan seven times. His flesh became like that of a little child (2 Kings 5:13-14).
Naaman’s health and life were restored all because a little girl did something rather minor. She simply shared what she knew about the prophet of God. While she may have considered her actions to be small, what the servant girl did was actually really big. She shared certain news that saved Naaman’s life.
It’s easy for us to consider the things we do throughout our day as minor or of very little importance. Yet those very small things can sometimes make a huge difference. As we go about our daily lives, may we look for those seemingly small windows of opportunity where we can say a good word for Jesus. You never know, those small actions might end up making a really big difference eternally.