2 Kings 5:4-6 (NLT) So Naaman told the king what the young girl from Israel had said. “Go and visit the prophet,” the king of Aram told him. “I will send a letter of introduction for you to take to the king of Israel.” So Naaman started out, carrying as gifts 750 pounds of silver, 150 pounds of gold, and ten sets of clothing. The letter to the king of Israel said: “With this letter I present my servant Naaman. I want you to heal him of his leprosy.”

Naaman was the commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was an excellent officer in the eyes of his king. Somewhere along the line, he got leprosy. He was told that there was a prophet in Israel that could help him. He went and told the king of Aram and after hearing about the prophet, the king thought it would be a good idea to send Naaman to Israel with a letter addressed to the king of Israel. The prophet they had heard about was Elisha. Both Naaman and the king of Aram believed the news about Elisha so much that they took action. As we know from reading the whole story in 2 Kings 5, Naaman was indeed healed when he went to see the prophet.

The thing that got my attention from this story was the fact that people knew about Elisha and his connection to God. It’s interesting that news about him even spread to another country outside of Israel. That’s what happens when you have such a close relationship with God that He uses you to do extraordinary things in His name. Word gets out about people who have a living relationship with Jesus. When you have that kind of relationship with Him, the Lord uses you to accomplish great things and people hear about it. Think about the fact that the news about Elisha got to the ears of a king! I believe that the king must have somehow checked out what he heard about Elisha, because no king would take the chance to look foolish to another king and others around him by taking action on hearsay. He must have heard from others about the many things that God did through the prophet. In the end, their action paid off as Naaman was healed and was able to continue to lead the army of Aram without missing a beat.

That leads me to a question that we need to consider. Does anyone know about you and your relationship with God? When someone is in trouble and needs help, do they think about you? Let’s keep it simple and not consider people who are outside of the circle of people who know you or who live in another part of the country. Just within your circle of family, friends and acquaintances, do people know about your close relationship with God? Do you have a close relationship with God? I can safely guess that if you do, people find their way to you when trouble comes knocking at their door. While it may not be a commander or a king in another country that hears about you, those that are around you should know that you can call on your Lord and Savior, Jesus, on their behalf. You don’t have to make that happen on your own. All you have to do is to be a true disciple of Jesus and your life will speak for itself. I pray that people will hear about our love and our faith in Jesus and will know to come to us in their time of need. They will be able to not only receive what they need, but will also have the opportunity to find a relationship with Jesus themselves. That’s what happened to Naaman, and that is what will happen when the word gets out about you and your amazing God!

Pastor Joey Vazquez