Big Lessons from a Little Maid #1

When Things Go Wrong...

And the Syrians had gone out by companies, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid; and she waited on Naaman's wife. 
 And she said unto her mistress, Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy. 2 Kings 5:2-3 (for the full story read the whole chapter)

How would you feel if you were kidnapped, taken to a different country and made a servant in a household that worships idols?

How would you like to be the only one in your area who believes in and worships God?

How would you feel toward God? Would you still believe in Him?

Would you change to become like the people you are now around?

 

I can't imagine how this girl must have felt!

Surely she must have had moments of feeling confused, discouraged, angry and maybe even abandoned by God.

But instead of losing her faith in God, it grew stronger. After all, God was all she had left!

Instead of losing her faith, she helped others to find it.

I hope you'll never be in a situation like this, but you may have other troubles which seem just as big. A family member or friend who has died. A move to a new area or country. Living in a family that is broken up. Having parents who aren't Christians. Hearing bad news. Friends that hurt you. Someone that has let you down etc.

What difficulties are you going through at the moment?

Are you feeling like this girl might have felt?

Will you be like her and keep trusting in God?

Will you stand up for God even if you're the only one doing it?

 

This girl didn't have a complete Bible like us to read. I don't know if she even had any of the Bible to read or if she could even read. I doubt she had any way to meet with other people who believed in God. She was far away from her parents and family.

How much more do we have than this girl? If she could still keep trusting in God in her circumstances, how much more should we??

Difficulties come in our lives for a purpose. If we let them turn us away from God, what do we have left? Instead we can turn to God and watch for the rainbow in the clouds. What happened as a result of the little maid living in this house?

So why does God allow hard times? Maybe the same reason that he allows rain to fall. A beautiful garden would be a desert without rain. As an old Proverb goes, “All sunshine makes a desert.” And if you only had good happy times in your life, what kind of person would you turn out to be?