*LIVING WORD DEVOTIONAL* _By Pastor Mensa Otabil_ Tuesday 10th June, 2025 *AN UNLIKELY MESSENGER* *Scripture Reading:* 2 Kings 5:1-19 > _And the Syrians had gone out on raids and had brought back captive a young girl from the land of Israel. She waited on Naaman’s wife. Then she said to her mistress, “If only my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria! For he would heal him of his leprosy.” *2 Kings 5:2-3*_ Naaman was a general in the Syrian army. The Syrians were longtime enemies of Israel who organized raids into Israelite villages and captured the villagers as slaves. On one such raid, a young girl was captured from Israel and brought to Syria. The young girl ended up waiting on General Naaman’s wife. We get the impression that the girl was well-treated and had a good relationship with her mistress. Out of events laced with war and bloodshed that ended in slavery for a young girl, the Lord revealed His redemptive purposes. In the most unlikely place and out of the most unlikely lips, God brought light into Naaman’s darkness. The young slave girl brought the word of the Lord into the home of her captors. Though captured and taken away from her people, this Israelite girl still had faith in the one true God. Captivity had not dampened her faith. Nor had captivity diminished her courage and self-esteem. She continued to believe in the God of Israel and the servant of the Lord, Elisha. We also glean from the passage that the girl was observant; she was able to discern the inner struggle of the mighty man. Let’s note what the young Israelite girl said, “If only my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria! For he would heal him of his leprosy.” There was so much certainly in her words. She knew, without any shadow of a doubt, that the Lord had the power to heal. Somewhere in her young life, she might have heard stories of what the Lord had done through the prophet Elisha. Those stories never faded in her mind even though she was now a captive in a foreign land. The lesson there for us is that we should never allow distance and separation from our church or fellowship to dampen our faith in God. Sometimes the Lord uses unusual people and circumstances to speak to us. We must have a discerning heart to hear God’s word to us. Naaman’s wife did not discard her maid’s suggestions as those of a rambling, ignorant girl. She, in turn, relayed the message to her husband. On receiving the message, Naaman passed the message on to the king of Syria. Imagine that. A whisper from a slave girl reaches the corridors of power and triggers a foreign policy response from the king. Remarkable, isn’t it? The story shows us how God can use the voice of the lowly to guide the thoughts and actions of the high and mighty. *Prayer:* _Heavenly Father, use me, wherever I am, to make others know about you. Help me to point people to you and your power. In Jesus name, *Amen!*_