Faithful Man: Devotions for Living in Faithless TimesSample

When You Need to Embrace Vulnerability

In 2 Kings 5 we meet Naaman, a powerful leader with a terrible problem: he had leprosy. When an Israeli servant girl suggested Naaman seek healing from Elisha, a Jewish prophet, Naaman had a decision to make: humble himself and take her advice, or keep going his own way? And then when Naaman met with Elisha, he didn’t like the prophet’s advice. Once more Naaman had to humble himself. 

When God says, “No,” we may find ourselves in a position like Naaman’s: a position of need. A position in which we have a problem we cannot fix for ourselves. And when God says, “No,” we may need God and His people to see us through. Of course, we’d rather God do the helping with His own hands, right? We don’t want to be a burden to other people. But God often sends us comfort through humble human hands. And accepting help from other people can be uncomfortable, embarrassing, even painful.

Our wise Father envisioned a church family where we would all meet one another’s needs—giving what we can and receiving what we need. Paul described the interplay God desires like this: “He has given each one of us a special gift through the generosity of Christ. . . . He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love” (Ephesians 4:7, 16 NLT). 

If you struggle to accept help when you are hurting, I hope you’ll consider a new perspective: when you gratefully accept kindness from others, you are actually giving something. You are giving other Christians an opportunity to honor God with their gifts. When you are vulnerable, you allow other people to fulfill their God-given roles. To use their gifts.

Let’s take a lesson from Naaman, a strong, capable person who suddenly needed to embrace advice and generosity from others: letting people give to you doesn’t mean you are a “needy” person. And even if you do have a season or seasons when you need more help and encouragement than usual, know this: being needy for a time is not wrong. Being needy for a season is not burdensome. We all have times when we need. Your turn to give will come around again, and when it does you’ll be able to give with your whole heart, remembering the grace you yourself have received from God and His people.