Story of Grace From a Slave Girl
A Story of Grace From A Slave Girl
She said to her mistress,
“If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria, he would cure him of his leprosy.”
II Kings 5:3
She was not a major character in the Bible, not even a minor character. Only a few verses mentioned about her. But there is a very great moral lesson to be derived from her life. Her life can cause tremendous impact to the world. The few verses written about her reveals so much about the graciousness and kindness in her heart. I am referring to the slave girl from Israel brought into the household of Naaman.
This slave girl from Israel was once held as a captive by the bands from Aram. The Lord had given victory to Aram through Naaman who was commander of the army of the King of Aram.
As captive of the bands , the slave girl could have experienced harsh treatments and could even experience to have been raped by the bands of Aram. The girl was brought to the household of Naaman to serve as a slave.
The slave girl has a great heart. The girl has no hatred in her heart. Instead. She became an instrumental for Naaman to receive his healing from leprosy. Knowing that Naaman is the commander in chief of the army who attacked Israel, the slave girl instead of being revengeful of what has happened even became compassionate towards Naaman. She imparted to Naaman’s wife information in order for Naaman to obtain healing from leprosy through prophet Elisha.
What a great heart she has, a heart of compassion for her enemies. Though seemingly a simple passage in the scripture, but it is a demonstration of what a Christian’s heart should be. Our heart should reflect that kind of heart which keeps no record of wrong, which does not retaliate with evil, intead it’s the heart that provides help and healing..
Corrie Ten Boom being a victim of the evil NAZI regime, she experienced so much hardships and sufferings in the NAZI concentration camps. Inspite of this she does not hesitate to go back to Germany to preach the Gospel to the poor German soldiers.
Corrie Ten Boom went to Darmstadt, Southeast of Frankfurt to help a church organization renovate a concentration camp. It was a small but a great start. Once after Corrie talked in a church the people got up silently as they always did in Germany and filed out. But working against the flow was a man coming toward Corrie. He looked familiar. No ! She wanted to scream. The man stopped in front of her smiling. “ What a fine message, Frau ten Boom. I am so glad to hear our sins are forgiven. “
The very man was at Ravensbruck! He was one of the guards who watched coldly as Corrie and her sister Betsie filed past, naked and degraded. She remembered him distinctly. Corrie could not speak. She pretended to be preoccupied. The man went on confidently. “ You mentioned you were at Ravensbruck. So you won’t believe but I was a guard at Ravensbruck. However after the war I became a Christian . God forgave me. Will you forgive me ?”
He extended his weathered hairy hand . It was as repulsive as a snake. Oh how hard it was to be in Christ at times like this thought Corrie . She had a thousand reasons to hate this evil man . Corrie had to forgive him or God would not forgive her. It was perfectly clear in the Bible. She looked at the man’s repulsive hand. She extended her hand, “I forgive you.” Warmth flooded over her. It was intense . She felt herself glow with love. She was powerless. It was God’s love just as Paul wrote in the fifth chapter of Romans :
“And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit whom he has given us.”
The greatest demonstration of love for an enemy is God’s love for sinners. As it is written in Romans 5:8.
“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this, while we were still sinners Christ died for us. “
The most offended person in the universe is God, no person in the universe has been tremendously offended as God. God has received the greatest number offenses throughout all time. Men have offended God repeatedly throughout all generations. Considering the most saintly among men may offend God in his thoughts, words and deeds only three times a day. For one year that is equivalent to 1095 offenses multiplying 365 by three. Considering the average lifespan of man of 70 years , 1095 multiplied by 70 gives 76,650. A man may offend God in his lifetime at least 76, 650 times. Considering the number of people who have existed in the world since the time of Adam and Eve. Today the world has a population of about six billions. The Lord has already received billions of offenses from men throughout all the generations of men. Isn’t God the most offended person in the universe and men are among his greatest enemies ?
But God despite with so much offenses received from men, did not withold forgiveness, did not condemn the world, but rather he gave his one and only begotten Son to provide salvation for men. As it is written in John 3:17 :
“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world but to save the world through.him”.
God’s love for the world is indeed the greatest display of love for enemies. As it was depicted in the story of the slave girl and Corrie ten Boom, God’s love for our enemies must be reflected in our hearts. This is one of the greatest testimonies of Christianity.
