Today we are posting the third message in a three-part series by guest blogger Bryan Ridenour. Bryan is a Christian,
a husband, a father of four, and a music/youth pastor, and occasional blogger at brvan.com. He writes his blog, “as the opportunity presents itself,” he says. “I enjoy writing short stories, poetry, and biblical studies, genres that I hope God uses to encourage other believers. “
Living a life of faith opens opportunities for ministry
Question: What nudged a valiant warrior, a decorated army officer…a national hero to consider the suggestion of a lowly servant girl? Something about her life triggered Naaman’s interest in seeking out the ministry of the Prophet Elisha.
One can only speculate that the servant girl demonstrated a life genuinely committed to God. Possibly, on occasion, Naaman and his wife overheard the servant girl singing praises in her native tongue to God while she cleaned or straightened up around the house. Maybe Naaman and his wife listened in as the servant girl lifted prayer to heaven. Perhaps she showed constant respect for her masters and worked with an impressionable diligence that outshone other servants in the home. It could be that all of these observable characteristics encouraged Naaman to consider the claims about the God of Israel, and the man of God residing there.
Someone once asked Billy Graham, “If Christianity is valid, why is there so much evil in the world?” To this, the famous preacher replied, “With so much soap, why are there so many dirty people in the world? Christianity, like soap, must be personally applied if it is to make a difference in our lives.”
The servant girl allowed her life to shine for God, impacting the household of Naaman.
Titus 2:9-10 fits quite appropriately with the call to setting a godly example, even under a master or captor’s hand. “Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive.”
It doesn’t take much guesswork to teach with confidence that the slave girl lived out the truth of this verse a few thousand years before God inspired Titus to write it down.
May our lives so shine!
If you would like to read the other blogs in this series follow these links: Faith In Captivity — Part I or Faith In Captivity Part II.
For His Glory 