Christianity Oasis Forum

[cimi]

May 8
Friday


IN EVERY BAD
EXPERIENCE

READ:
2 Kings 5:1-15
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Now I know that there
is no God in all the
earth, except in Israel.
__2 Kings 5:1-15
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When I rear-ended a truck with my nearly new car, positive thoughts did not immediately come to mind. I was thinking primarily of the cost, the inconvenience, and the injury to my ego. but I did find some hope in this thought, which I often share with other writers: "In every bad experience, there's a good illustration."

Finding the good can be a challenge, but Scripture confirms that God uses bad circumstances for god purposes.

In 2 Kings 5, we find two people who had bad things happen to them. First is a young girl from Israel who was taken captive by the Syrian army, Second is Naaman, the commander of the army, who had leprosy. Even though the girl had good reason to desire bad things for her captors, she offered help instead. Israel's prophet Elisha, she said, could heal Naaman. Eager to be cured, Naaman went to Israel. However, he was reluctant to follow Elisha's humiliating directions. When he finally did, he was healed, which caused him to proclaim that Israel's God is the only God (v.15).

God used two bad things--a kidnapping and a deadly disease--to change Israel's enemy into a friend. Even when we don't know why something bad has happened, we know that God has the power to use it for good. __Julie Ackerman Link
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````````````````````His purposes will ripen fast,``````````````````
```````````````````````Unfolding every hour;````````````````````
``````````````````The bad may have a bitter taste````````````````
```````````````But sweet will be the flower. __Cooper``````````````
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God is the master of turning burdens into blessings.

***************Today's Bible Reading __ 2 Kings 5:1-15***********

Now Naaman,
commander of the army of
the king of Syria, was a great
and honorable man in the
eyes of his master,.... but a
leper.

2 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.

3 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,"...

9 Then Naaman went with
his horses and chariots, and
he stood at the door of
Elisha's house. 10 And Elisha
sent a messenger to him,
saying, "Go and wash in the
Jordan seven times, and your
flesh shall be restored to
you, and you shall be clean."

11 But Naaman became
furious, and went away and
said.... 12 "Are not the...
rivers of Damascus, better
than all the waters of Israel?
Could I not wash in them
and be clean?" So he turned
and went away in a rage.

13 And his servants... said,
"My father, if the prophet
had told you to do something
great, would you noat have
done it? How much more
then, when he says to you,
'Wash, and be clean'?" 14 So
he went down and dipped
seven times in the Jordan,
according to the syaing of
the man of God; and his
flesh was restored like the
flesh of a little child, and he
was clean. 15 and he returned
to the man of God... and
stood before him; and he
said, "Indeed, now I know
that there is no God in all the
earth, except in israel...."

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

God's healing of Naaman is but one of the Old Testament examples
of God's care for those who were not of the children of Israel. God
also showed His concern for Nineveh (see Jonah 3), redeeming a
corrupt pagan culture by His great compassion. __Bill Crowder