“When God Asks a Little Thing…”
Aren’t we all ready to “do something for God”? Something “flashy…something that everyone could see us do…” But what happens when God asks us to do “a little thing”? Is it “too little”? Maybe it will be so little “that no one would notice” except you and God.
There is a great story in 2 Kings 5, about the captain of the Syrian host, Naaman. He had won many battles, was fearless, and was loved by everyone...but “he was a leper.” The Syrians had fought against Israel and taken many slaves, and one of those slaves was a little girl. Her name is not mentioned in the Bible, but God used her for a great miracle.
The little girl told her mistress that she “wished someone would send her master to the prophet, the man of God in Israel, to be healed of his leprosy.” One thing led to another. The King of Israel got a letter from the King of Syria, asking him to “heal his captain, Naaman, of leprosy!” This seemed like “a plot of war” to the King of Israel because he could not make this happen for his enemy, the king of Syria. The prophet Elisha found out and sent for the mighty Naaman, who came with a host of chariots, an army and lots of gold and silver, to “heal him of leprosy”!
Elisha didn’t even go out to meet Naaman! He just sent his servant to tell Naaman to do a little thing… “Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean.“
Naaman was so angry that he threw a fit and decided to leave “without going to the river Jordan.” He was in such a rage that he preferred to leave with leprosy rather than “to do something little” that God asked of him. But his servants spoke to him and said, “If the prophet had bid thee to do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it?” (If God had asked you to do “a great thing,” you mean to tell us that you wouldn’t have done it? But He is just asking you to “do a little thing”!)
Naaman dipped in the river Jordan seven times and was completely healed of leprosy…for doing a little thing! Never despise the small things that God asks you to do…there is always a reason! Have a wonderful day! Sherry