God Smiles
by Dodie Davis
dodied@glcanoka.org
Rebekah heard the familiar sound of the tiny silver bell and sat up suddenly, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Her mistress needed her! What time was it? Had she overslept? She threw off the warm sheepskin and stood up quickly from her sleeping mat on the floor. She hurriedly exchanged her night robe for a white toga and grabbing a bright blue sash, lying on the stool by her bed, knotted it around her waist.
“Oh God who smiles on me, help me to be your servant today and show my master and mistress that you are the one and only true God who made the universe and each one of us for Yourself.” Rebekah whispered the words as she slipped her feet into well-worn leather sandals and left the room.
It seemed like such a short time ago that she had sat beside her mother in their home in the land of Israel and heard her say, “Rebekah, the great prophet of God, Elisha, is coming to our home today and you must be very respectful to him. She had only been 5 years old and had stared in wide-eyed awe at this thin, old man with the wrinkled, brown skin, piercing eyes and bushy, white hair and beard. He had noticed Rebekah staring at him and had smiled and patted her gently on the head. “Little one, God smiles when he looks on you.”
Rebekah had never forgotten that meeting and those words. She liked thinking of Jehovah as the God who smiled on her and not the God who was thunder and lightning on Mt. Sinai, frightening the people of her past and demanding obedience as she had heard so many times in the synagogue.
Now here she was, 10 years later, living in the land of Syria as a servant. She remembered well the day she had been walking toward home with her water jug balanced on her head, thinking about what she would do with this beautiful day now that her chores were finished. And then the whole world went black. When she opened her eyes she found herself riding on the back of a horse behind a soldier, hands tied around his waist.
And that was how, captured and spirited away from her home, she had ended up as a servant in the house of Naaman, commander of the entire army of the King of Syria and heard from the other servants’ whispers that CAPTAIN NAAMAN HAD LEPROSY!
Oh, she was so homesick at first. She had cried herself to sleep every night for two weeks and had begged her mistress to please let her go home. Her mistress had stroked her hair and wiped away her tears with the corner of her robe. “I can’t send you home, little one, but I can promise you that you will be treated well here. My husband is a good man. He saw how lonely I was without any children of my own and he gave me you. You are a gift to me!”
That night Rebekah had dreamed that she was back with her family in their home and suddenly the old prophet had appeared and again patted her on the head and repeated the words, “God smiles when He looks on you, little one”.
The next morning she woke up to brilliant sun streaming in the window and over her pallet on the floor. “Maybe,” she thought, “This is Jehovah telling me He is smiling at me. Does He mean for me to think of myself as His gift to these people who don’t even know about the God who smiles?” Somehow it comforted her to think that she was in the right place surrounded by God’s smile.
Now, a cool breeze brushed her face as she sped across the open atrium to her mistress’s bedroom. The early rays of the sun were just beginning to creep across the marble floor. She heard the birds starting their morning songs out in the gardens and vaguely heard the soft splashing of the fountain in the middle of the atrium. No, she hadn’t overslept…it was early yet. What could her mistress want so early?
Rebekah knocked on the door twice and opened it. Sounds of sobbing filled the room. “Oh, my lady, what’s wrong? Are you sick? Has something happened?”
“Rebekah! My husband’s leprosy is getting worse. Last night a spark from the fire landed on his hand and he didn’t even notice it. He has a deep burn now on his hand and he can’t even feel it. The servants are starting to avoid getting too near him and he’s afraid the king will say he is not fit to lead the army any longer. We have been praying to the gods every day and offering
sacrifices but he just keeps getting worse.”
Rebekah could hardly bear to see this woman who had been like a second mother to her, suffering so. What could she do to help? Oh, she wanted these people to experience the smile of the true God who loved them just like He loved her. “Jehovah God,” she prayed silently. “Show me how I can help my master and mistress.”
Almost before she finished praying it came to her. Of course! God’s prophet–Elisha!
If anyone could help, he could. He could even heal Captain Naaman’s leprosy. She was sure of it! She had heard many times of the miracles Elisha had performed. Why, he had even brought a dead boy back to life.
“I know who can help you!” Rebekah gasped. Her eyes shone with excitement. There is a prophet of God living in my homeland of Israel. He can heal your husband’s leprosy. Tell him to go see Elisha.”
A week later the King of Israel received a letter from the King of Syria. He broke the seal, opened the letter and read it. His mouth dropped open in shock and he shook his head in dismay.
“What?” He looked at the scribes and aides standing respectfully around his throne. “This is impossible!” (shout angrily)
“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?”
The king shouted and raged and in a final gesture of frustration, ripped apart his royal robes.
Several weeks went by and then one day the king of Israel received another letter. This message was from Elisha the Prophet and it simply said, “Why have you torn your robes? Have the man come to me and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel.”
So that’s how it happened that a few days later Naaman and a whole troop of his soldiers and servants rode up to the front door of Elisha’s house in their chariots. Almost immediately a servant appeared in the doorway and asked them what they wanted. Naaman’s horses stamped the ground as Naaman leaned over the side of his chariot and said, “I was told to come to the prophet Elisha and he would heal me of my leprosy.”
The servant bowed respectfully and disappeared inside the house. In a few minutes he came back out. “My master says that you are to go wash yourself seven times in the Jordan River and your flesh will be restored and you will be clean.”
“Wash myself in that muddy, old river?” Naaman could hardly believe what he was hearing. “Now wait just a minute! I thought the prophet would come out and call on the name of his God and wave his hand over me and I would be cured. And furthermore, if I have to dip myself in a river why can’t it at least be the CLEAN rivers of Damascus–not the dirty river of Israel?”
Gehazi, Elisha’s servant, stood there respectfully, head down and hands behind his back. He didn’t say a word but he was thinking to himself,
I don’t blame him one bit. I wouldn’t put one toe into that dirty, smelly water. Why is my master doing this to this man?
Naaman waited but Gehazi didn’t move and so finally Naaman whirled his chariot around and motioned for his men to prepare to leave.
How dare a lowly Israelite, prophet or not, dare to treat the commander of the entire Syrian Army like that?
Just then two of Naaman’s servants approached him.
They bowed respectfully and waited for permission to speak.
“Well, what is it?” Naaman was struggling with his anger and disappointment.
“Excuse us, my lord, but we were just thinking that if the prophet had asked you to do some great and difficult thing, wouldn’t you have done it? But instead he has asked you to do a very simple thing–just wash in the river and you will be clean. Can it hurt to at least try it?”
Naaman’s anger began to fade. Maybe they were right. After all, it was an easy thing to do. But it sure would make him look silly if nothing happened. All his soldiers and servants would be watching. Naaman struggled with his thoughts.
Was there really only one true God who created everything? Would he take pity on one man and heal his leprosy? Or was the prophet, Elisha, just trying to make him look like a fool?
Naaman hesitated for a minute and then stepped out into the Jordan River. Mud and bits of debris swirled around his legs. He kept going until he was waist deep in the water. Then he took a deep breath and lowered himself up to his neck. Ugh! He stood up quickly and looked at his arms. The tell-tale white patches and ugly burn scar on his right hand were still there.
He glanced at the men standing on the shore staring at him. This was SO humiliating. A large black bird cried hoarsely from the dead branch of a fallen tree as if mocking him. Clouds moved across the sky and blocked out the sun. Naaman shivered with disgust and lowered himself once more into the tepid water. Again he examined his arms–nothing.
Three…four…five…why seven? What was so special about the number seven? But each time Naaman dipped down in the water he felt conviction growing in his heart that this was right and something was about to happen.
As he went down for the sixth time he found himself praying to this unknown God of Israel. “If you are the only true God please accept my little bit of belief and heal me.” Now he felt the water close around his body for the seventh time. He trembled with both fear and excitement and shut his eyes as he stood up out of the water.
He couldn’t look…yes, he could…he had to!
Slowly He opened his eyes and held out his arms. The white patches were gone and the red scar of the burn had completely disappeared. His skin was smooth and tan and as healthy looking as when he had been a boy.
A thrill of pure joy shot through his being and he raised both fists in the air in triumph. “I’m healed! My leprosy is gone!” Naaman didn’t notice that the sun had broken through the clouds and seemed to be smiling on him.
On a late afternoon, that same week, Rebekah was summoned to her mistress’s room by the familiar sound of the little bell. When she entered the room she saw Captain Naaman sitting by his wife. There was a smile on both their faces and her mistress’s eyes were shining with glad tears. Captain Naaman stood up and came quickly toward Rebekah. He took both her hands in his and kissed them. Then he held out his arms so she could see that there was no evidence of any leprosy.
“Your God has smiled on me, Rebekah, and now I know that there is no god in all the world except the GOD OF ISRAEL.”
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