Influence From The Bottom

One of the most powerful leaders in the Bible is a person we never even learn the name of. She’s a young Israeli girl taken captive, forced into slavery, and placed in the home of Naaman, a high-ranking Syrian commander with leprosy. And yet her quiet courage becomes the turning point that changes everything.

We walk through 2 Kings 5 and trace how a single, bold sentence travels from a servant to a household, from a commander to a king, and finally to the prophet Elisha. Along the way, we talk about why Naaman almost misses his miracle: pride, expectations, and the offense of a simple instruction to wash in the Jordan River seven times. The story is a sharp reminder that God’s help often comes packaged in humility.

If you care about Christian leadership, integrity, and real influence at work, at home, or anywhere in the chain of command, this short morning devotional will reset your mindset.

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Transcript

Welcome To Starting Right

SPEAKER_00 0:10

Good morning and welcome to Starting Right. I am Danny Mack, and I'm going to be here every Monday to Friday to help you get a great start to your day. So grab your cup of coffee, sit back and relax for the next five minutes as I help you start your day by starting right.

The Bible’s Hidden Influencers

SPEAKER_00 0:34

The Bible really is an amazing compilation of scripture. It's composed of 66 different books and letters that are brought together and cover thousands of years of history. Within its pages, we hear the stories of hundreds of people, people like Abraham and Moses and David and Paul and Jesus. But we also hear stories of hundreds of others. Many of them appear anonymously, and we really don't know much about them. They're sort of a blip in the story. They show up for a moment and then they disappear again. And I like to talk about some of these people because some of them had tremendous impact and tremendous influence. If you follow the podcast, you know that I talked on occasion about how leadership really is influence, being able to influence people. And sometimes those who are in the lowest position or seem to be the least significant can have influence on those people that are above them and over them and can make a tremendous impact in their lives.

Naaman’s Illness And A Slave Girl

SPEAKER_00 1:33

I want to talk about just such a young lady today. She appears in 2 Kings chapter 5. She was a young Israeli woman who had been captured by the Syrians and brought as a slave back to Syria. She was sold to a military leader by the name of Naaman, who then gave her to his wife to be his wife's servant. Naaman was a very powerful and well-known officer in the Syrian army. But Naaman had leprosy. And when this young Israeli slave heard that her master had leprosy, she said to Naaman's wife, If your husband could go and see the prophet in Israel, he could be healed. Well, the wife passed the message on to Naaman. Naaman went to his king, who wrote a letter to the king of Israel, who was all upset because he felt that he couldn't heal Naaman. But Elisha was the prophet, and he knew what was happening. And so he told the king of Israel, Send Naaman to me. So Naaman arrived with a huge caravan bearing gifts for Elisha. But Elisha didn't even come out and meet him. He just told Naaman, Go and bathe in the river Jordan seven times. Naaman got kicked off. He didn't want to just bathe for seven times. He didn't want to do that. The Jordan River was an ugly, dirty river. Well, some of the other servants convinced Naaman to go and do what the prophet had said, and Naaman was healed. But none of that would have happened if the young servant girl had not spoken up about what she knew her God could do.

Three Traits That Build Influence

SPEAKER_00 3:05

So I want to tell you three things that made this young servant girl so special. First of all, she had absolute faith in her God. Can you imagine the kind of courage it would take for her to go to her mistress and say to her, you know, if your husband goes and visits this man of God, I know that he can be healed. That's a bold statement. And that bold statement comes from a place of strength within her character and strength within her faith in who God was. And despite the fact that she was not in the position that she personally would like to be in, she was a slave, she had not lost faith in who God was and what God could do, and she was willing to declare it. Secondly, she had made herself credible in how she reported what she knew to her mistress. In other words, if she'd not been a good worker and a good faithful worker, when she took her suggestion to Naaman's wife about going to visit the man of God, the wife wouldn't have listened to her. She had worked well and made herself credible. First Thessalonians chapter four verses eleven and twelve are really important for all of us. It says Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders, and so that you will not be dependent upon anybody. This servant girl was able to win the respect of her mistress and of Naaman to the point that when she made this suggestion to them, they were ready to listen. Thirdly, is a bit of an assumption, but I believe that when Naaman came back home and he was healed and no longer had the leprosy, I believe that the slave girl was just as happy and excited as anyone else there. She would be celebrating the healing that her master got because of the direction and the hope that she had given. This young girl, although she was a slave, had decided to live her life in a way that showed her character and her strength and her credibility, so that when she had the chance to influence, to actually lead her masters, she could do that, and they listened to her.

Integrity In Any Position

SPEAKER_00 5:20

Let's become people of that kind of integrity and influence. Wherever we are in the chain of command and allow God to work through us to impact the people around us. Have a great day, my friends. We'll talk again tomorrow. Thank you for listening today. And I invite you to join me Monday to Friday right here on Starting Right with Danny Mack.