There are so many places where God and Jesus speak in the bible that it would be hard to narrow it down to one passage to discuss, but God brought me to the account of Naaman (2 Kings 5) to point out all the characters who speak in love.
Naaman gets a bad rap from us because in this particular passage God is dealing with his pride and we don’t get a good glimpse of his full character. But the bible says that he was a great man, valiant, and well respected. So we need to reset our assessment of this man.
The very first character on the scene to speak in love is a little servant girl. She had been taken during a battle and forced into slavery to Naaman’s wife. It appears she had compassion for Naaman. And with her compassion she tells her master that he could be healed from his leprosy if only he would see the prophet in Samaria.
Naaman likes this idea (or he is desperate) and goes through the proper worldly channels to gain an audience with the king of Israel only to find that he can’t help him. But God! God knew that Naaman was coming and he spoke to Elisha, who spoke to the king, to send Naaman to see him. God cared about a non-Israelite and Elisha followed suit and also ministered to him.
Enter Naaman’s sin of pride. Just wash, ugh. Why can’t I wash at home? How stupid this is! But once again, Naaman’s servants must have cared for him and respected him. They cared enough to speak out in love to him while he was throwing a fit. They said, won’t you just try what the prophet said to do? And, thanks to all the people around him who spoke up, Naaman was healed.
What happened next is great. Naaman was converted. He now knew that God was real and active and cared about him. And he couldn’t stay silent. “Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel.”
Love speaks! and Love speaks up!
