“Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honorable because by him the LORD had given deliverance unto Syria; he was also a mighty man in valor, but he was a leper” (2 Kings 5:1).

Syria is a nation that is much in the news today. We learn of the horrors that are taking place as ISIS persecutes Christians and the terrible wars that rage among the people of Syria. Today’s verse takes us back hundreds of years ago to Syria and to a great man with a terrible problem. All of his greatness pales when the little statement is read, “But he was a leper.” No doubt Naaman faced many terrible situations and as a great leader he figured out what to do. As the captain of the army, he was decisive, organized, a man who could solve his own problems. He was a “take charge” kind of man. Except not this time. Now he had a problem that he couldn’t fix himself. He needed the Lord and of all things, a little servant girl would be used to give him direction (2 Kings 5:3). No matter how self-sufficient we pretend to be, we really do need the Lord.

For today: Every believer has situations that force him or her to trust in the Lord and depend upon Him. Bring your problems to the Lord. He can handle anything.