This morning, in the Zoom prayer for Nation to Nation, Kevin and Julia Garratt, now working in Thailand among the refugees fleeing from My, had been teaching their teams that Jesus said we should love our enemies and pray for them. That was a difficult concept because the war is so brutal and devastating. However, one young girl told them later that as she tried praying for her enemies, she was overcome with love and said she now knew how Jesus felt toward them.
Similarly, Neil's sermon topic this evening was "Send the Man to Me." He read the story in 2 Kings 5 of Naaman, the officer sent to the king of Israel from the king of Aram to cure Naaman of his leprosy. The servant girl of Naaman's wife was a captive from Israel who said, “If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy (v. 3).”
Aram was continually at war with Israel, but Naaman was desperate to be healed, so he talked it over with the king. The king of Aram loaded Naaman with expensive gifts and sent him to the king of Israel, stating,
2 Kings 5:6-8 “With this letter, I am sending my servant Naaman to you so that you may cure him of his leprosy.”
As soon as the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his robes and said, "Am I God? Can I kill and bring back to life? Why does this fellow send someone to me to be cured of his leprosy? See how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me!"When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his robes, he sent him this message: "Why have you torn your robes? Have the man come to me and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel." [NIV]
While Neil and I were visiting by phone, we mentioned how that passage demonstrates God's heart for loving even our enemies. "While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." [Romans 5:8] Before we gave our hearts to Jesus, we were all his enemies, but he loved us that much! Neil mentioned in his sermon that even the sweet young girl who led the worship had done things and said things that would seem evil in the presence of a holy God. She smiled at Neil and nodded in agreement.
If you are familiar with the story of the enmity between Israel and Aram in 2 Kings, you will remember that the king of Aram continued to send raiding parties into Israel but Elisha kept warning the king of Israel where they were attacking. Finally, the king of Aram demanded to know which of his men was a spy. Although he isn't named, it might have been Naaman who told the king of Aram that Israel's prophet told their king the very words the king of Aram said in his bedroom!
So the king of Aram told his army to go after Elisha. Elisha's servant opened the tent door, and the whole army was outside. But Elisha asked God to open his servant's eyes, and he saw the army of the Lord above them. The Lord struck the army of Aram with blindness, and Elisha asked who they were after. When they said it was Elisha, he offered to bring them to him. He led them right into the city of Samaria and asked the Lord to open their eyes. The king of Israel wanted to kill them, but Elisha advised the king to set a banquet for them and send them home. That was the end of the skirmishes between Israel and Aram. Talk about setting a banquet before us in the presence of our enemies! What do we have to fear as the times get tougher?
Also, it is interesting that the king of Israel understood that only God could cause a man to die and bring him back to life again. And that is exactly what occurred when Jesus died to pay for our sins in full, saying, "It is finished," as he gave up his spirit on the cross. We pray that you may all have a wonderful celebration of Good Friday and Easter Sunday remembering our God who loved us enough to die for us and come back to life again to prepare a place for us in heaven when we put our trust in him.
Prayer:
- Lord, we thank you for healing Neil's stomach and helping him sleep all the way through the night.
- We thank you for Neil and Francis leaving Nairobi Sunday afternoon before the roads flooded with torrential rain on Sunday night.
- Lord, please protect the people in this village in NW Kenya, where the rain began falling as they closed their service tonight around 11:00 p.m. We ask your protection for that village whose downtown was washed away by flooding just a few months ago.
- Lord, we also pray for the people in Baltimore, Maryland, where a long bridge was accidentally destroyed by a huge container ship crashing into a supporting pillar, shutting down this major shipping port on the eastern seaboard of the US.
- Father, we thank you in advance for the Holy Spirit that you are pouring through Neil and Francis as they minister.
Love,
Ruth