No Service Is Insignificant

“And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it?  How much rather then, when he saith to thee, wash and be clean?”  II Kings 5:13

Naaman was the military commander in the Syrian king’s administration.  His might and valor had brought independence to Syria, but he was afflicted with leprosy, a debilitating disease which causes loss of feeling in the skin and eventually ulcers form.  Nerves are also affected causing paralysis of muscle tissue.  Naaman’s wife had a young Jewish maiden, taken in captivity, who served as a lady’s maid.  The maiden told Naaman’s wife that there was a prophet in Samaria who could bring healing to Naaman.

When Naaman heard that, he discussed it with the king who urged him to go to Israel.  The king assumed it was the king of Israel who had these healing powers and sent a letter to him requesting that he cure Naaman.  He also sent silver, gold, and clothing.  The king of Israel, Jehoram, son of Ahab and Jezebel, was insulted by the letter and assumed the king of Syria was trying to provoke him to war.  When the prophet Elisha heard what had happened, he sent word to the king of Israel requesting that he send Naaman to him.  The king obliged, and Naaman ended up on the doorstep of Elisha, but Elisha did not greet him.  He sent his messenger instead who told Naaman to go wash in the Jordan River seven times, and he would be healed of his leprosy, an easy, simple command for him to follow.

Instead of obeying, Naaman was angry.  He expected Elisha to come out, call on the LORD God, wave his hand over him like some magician, and Naaman would instantly be healed.  He then asked why he couldn’t wash in one of the rivers in Syria.  He considered the Jordan River sub-par to those of Syria.  He left Elisha’s doorstep in a rage.  However, his own servants had more confidence in Elisha’s words than he did.  They asked him, “if the prophet told you to do some great thing, wouldn’t you have done it?  Why won’t you do this simple thing?”(paraphrased).  Naaman reconsidered and obeyed Elisha’s command resulting in his complete cleansing from leprosy.  He also recognized the God of Israel as the only true God.

Naaman’s insistence that he do some great thing was a symptom of his pride.  He did not want to humble himself, even to cure his leprosy.  Sometimes we are guilty of thinking that we must do some great thing for the Lord in order to promote and build up His kingdom, but, as the old saying goes, it’s the little things that make a difference.  To do the lowly tasks with joy and without complaining is a mark of humility within the heart of a servant of the Lord.  If all believers insisted on doing the more important, more noticeable tasks, then much of the work in edifying the church would be lacking.  Obedience is built upon doing the small, seemingly unimportant tasks.  No service to the Lord is insignificant in His eyes.