Open the Bible UK Daily

Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and in high favour; because by him the LORD had given victory to Syria. He was a mighty man of valour, but he was a leper.

2 Kings 5:1
The story of Naaman is another story from the life of Elisha. Naaman was known for his strength and courage in battle. With that reputation, he would have risen through the ranks until he became the “commander of the army.” Not many people reach these heights.
Naaman was “in high favour” with the king. Notice why: “because by him the LORD had given victory to Syria” (5:1). God gave victories to the enemies of His people!
This truth is clear in Scripture: When God’s people sinned against Him, He gave them into the hands of their enemies. Success comes from the hand of God whether a person knows Him or not.
Naaman was blessed with success, but he also had a great affliction: “He was a leper” (5:1). This terrible reality outweighed everything else. He was facing a grim future.
Leprosy in the Bible is a picture of what sin does in our lives. Sin makes us guilty, so we need to be forgiven. But sin also defiles us, so we need to be cleansed.
Like leprosy, sin starts small, but it spreads. It is hidden at the beginning, but eventually it shows. It alienates us from God and from His people. And in Bible times, there was no known cure.
As we follow Naaman’s story, we are going to see not only how he was healed, but also how a sinner can be cleansed and reconciled to God.

How have you seen the effects of sin grow and spread in your life? Have you experienced God’s cleansing and forgiveness?

God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak… to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised… even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.

1 Corinthians 1:27-29
In the miracles of Elisha, we see two truths: God’s work continues despite our foolish mistakes, and God’s work advances despite our obvious inadequacies. These truths should have three effects in our lives.
1. They should humble us
God’s work does not continue or advance because of some greatness in us. It continues despite our obvious inadequacies and our foolish mistakes. These truths should keep us humble.
2. They should comfort us
God’s story is always a story of redemption. So don’t ever let your foolish mistakes and your obvious inadequacies crush you. Use your foolish mistakes to learn wisdom. And use your obvious inadequacies to grow in faith. The Christian life is not about what you can do for God. It is about what God can do through you when you place yourself into His hands.
3. They should encourage us
If God can work through a student who can’t tell a safe plant from a poisonous one, then God can work through you. If God can work through a poor farmer whose firstfruits amount to only 20 loaves, then God can work through you.
God works through people who make foolish mistakes. He works through people who have obvious inadequacies. And that means that God can work through you.

Are the truths from the stories of Elisha having any effect in your life? How are they humbling you? Comforting you? Encouraging you?

A man came from Baal-shalishah, bringing the man of God bread of the firstfruits.

2 Kings 4:42
A farmer arrived with food for the sons of the prophets. These students are living through a famine, and this farmer says that he has brought “the firstfruits” of his harvest.
The students hope he has a really big farm! But the cart is almost empty. There’s just one sack with only 20 loaves of bread and some grain. It must have been a massive disappointment.
Elisha said to his servant Gehazi, “Give to the men, that they may eat.” And Gehazi said, “How can I set this before a hundred men?” Elisha gave the same command again, adding, “for thus says the LORD, ‘They shall eat and have some left’” (4:42-43). God multiplied the food, and “They ate and had some left, according to the word of the LORD” (4:44).
Perhaps you want to be useful to God, but you don’t feel you have much to offer. Remember this farmer. Never underestimate what God can do through your faith and obedience!
You can’t read this story without thinking about the greater miracle to which it points. A large crowd had gathered to listen to Jesus in a desert place. The disciples found a small boy with five loaves and two fish, “but what are they for so many?” (John 6:9).
The loaves and fish were multiplied in the hands of Jesus, and a vast crowd was fed. There were 12 baskets of food left over. God’s work advances despite our obvious inadequacies.
Are you facing an overwhelming task today? You can say with the apostle Paul, “Who is sufficient for these things?” (2 Cor 2:16). And you need to hear the answer: “Our sufficiency is from God” (3:5).

Do you feel inadequate for some task that you know God is calling you to? Ask God to multiply your efforts!

They cried out, “O man of God, there is death in the pot!” ... He said, “Then bring flour.” And he threw it into the pot… And there was no harm in the pot.

2 Kings 4:40–41
How can God’s work continue when His people make so many mistakes? God protects us from the worst effects of our own folly. How does He do this? Here are two ways.
1. Sometimes God protects us by His direct intervention
Flour does not neutralise poison. What happened here is like when Moses put a log into the bitter waters of Marah and made them sweet (Ex. 15). It is like when Elisha put salt in the bad water at Jericho with a similar effect (2 Kings 2). The log, the salt, and the flour were visible signs of God’s invisible work.
You see this when the soldiers came with an armed mob to arrest Jesus. Peter drew his sword and cut off the ear of the High Priest’s servant. “Jesus said, ‘No more of this!’ And he touched his ear and healed him” (Luke 22:51). God protects us by His direct intervention. His hidden hand saves us from untold disasters.
2. Sometimes God protects us through wisdom given to others
If the young student had taken someone with him who knew the plants, he would not have picked poisonous ones. Can you tell the difference between what will nourish your spiritual life and what will diminish it? This is one reason God gives pastors to churches. They can help you to know what is healthy and guard you from what might make you sick. God protects us through wisdom given to others.

Have you found wise Christian friends? Make a habit of asking them for their counsel.

One of them… found a wild vine and gathered from it his lap full of wild gourds, and came and cut them up into the pot of stew, not knowing what they were.

2 Kings 4:39
The Bible is full of foolish mistakes: James and John wanting to call down fire on a Samaritan village. Peter drawing his sword in the Garden of Gethsemane. The disciples rebuking little children for coming to Jesus.
The amazing thing is that God’s work continued despite these mistakes. And our lives have been filled with foolish mistakes as well.
Who does not regret some foolish thing we said? “Once those words were spoken, I couldn’t take them back.” Or perhaps you regret something you didn’t say: “If I had spoken up sooner, we would not be in this position.”
Maybe your mistake relates to money. You bought something and hardly use it. Now you need that money and wish you could have it back.
Parents often regret decisions we made in bringing up our children. We didn’t realise it at the time, but we were too harsh. We should have cut our children more slack.
For others, it’s the other way round. We gave our children more freedom than they could handle. Now there are behaviour patterns that will be hard to break.
Then there are mistakes we have made in ministry. Ronald Wallace says, “For many of us the enthusiasm of our early days… was often marred by misdirected zeal and by a way of approaching other people more likely to do harm than good… We did not know any better at the time.”
As with the student who put the poisonous plant in the stew, God’s work continues despite our foolish mistakes.

Can you think of a foolish mistake you made, and how God’s work continued in spite of it? Thank God that His work does not depend on us getting everything right.