Day 23 — The Servant Girl Who Spoke Up

“At this time the Arameans had gone out in bands and had taken a young girl from the land of Israel, and she was serving Naaman’s wife. She said to her mistress, ‘If only my master would go to the prophet who is in Samaria, he would cure him of his leprosy.’”

— 2 Kings 5:2–3 (BSB)

We don’t even know her name. The Bible just calls her “a young girl.”

Soldiers from the country of Aram had raided her village in Israel and carried her away. She was taken far from her family and made a servant in the house of a powerful army commander named Naaman.

Imagine how she must have felt. Scared. Lonely. Missing her mom and dad. Working for the very people who had taken her from her home.

Naaman was a great and respected man. But he had a terrible problem: he had leprosy, a serious skin disease with no cure in those days.

This young girl could have thought, Good. He deserves it, after what his soldiers did to me. She could have kept quiet.

But she didn’t. She said to Naaman’s wife, “If only my master would go to the prophet who is in Samaria, he would cure him of his leprosy.”

What a brave and kind thing to say! She cared about the man who owned her. And she trusted her God, even far from home. She knew God’s prophet, Elisha, could help.

Her words were passed along, all the way to the king. And Naaman traveled to Israel to find Elisha. At first, Naaman was too proud to do what Elisha said, which was to wash seven times in the Jordan River. But finally he did, and his skin was healed and became like the skin of a little child! Naaman declared, “Now I know for sure that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel.”

A powerful general was healed and came to know God, all because a young servant girl was brave enough to speak up.

You might feel small. You might think no one listens to kids. You might be in a hard situation you didn’t choose. But God can use your words, even a single sentence, to change someone’s life. Don’t underestimate what one brave girl can do.

Think about it: Why do you think the servant girl wanted to help Naaman, even though he was her master in a foreign land?

Try this: Is there someone who needs to hear about God, or needs help you could point them to? Be brave and speak up this week.

Dear God, thank You for the brave servant girl who spoke up. Help me trust You even in hard places, and help me care about others, even people who aren’t kind to me. Use my words to point people to You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.