Outcasts

Day two hundred eighty-six

It was nice to sleep in my own bed!  I woke up this morning feeling like I got the rest I needed and I'm ready to take on the day.  So I thanked Father for the comforts that He has put in my life that make my life easier.  I am so grateful for all the little blessings that He gives me each day that make things go a little smoother than they would have.  It is awesome to feel His love for me in each blessing!  

2 Kings 7:3-11

The Situation
Verse three introduces us to four unlikely rescuers, the Four Lepers.  These guys are outcasts. They have a disease that kept them at the lowest part of their society. These are the most unlikeliest men to rescue an entire city, but that’s what they’ll do.

At this point in the story the Samarian's have been surrounded by the Syrian army for so long that the people inside the city walls are starving to death.  There is a sense of hopelessness in the city and the people are doing things that make us cringe (eating babies and dove poop, etc.).

But here are four lepers who are used to suffering not only physically because of their disease, but emotionally also.  They would have been separated from the rest of society as soon as their disease was discovered.  They lived just outside the city wall, and would survive on the garbage that was thrown over the wall. The problem these men now faced was that no one was throwing their garbage over the wall, for they were eating it themselves because of the famine. 

These four men had basically 3 choices in the situation they were in. They could enter the city, but there is no food there, so that would do them no good. They could remain outside the city wall, and again that would do them no good. Or they could surrender to the Syrians, and maybe they would feed them, and the worst that could happen is that the Syrians would kill them, but they were dying anyway from starvation, so that was not such a bad choice.

The Choice
In light of the situation, they decide that they should go to the Syrian army and see what happens. They figure they have nothing to lose.  If they stay they die, if they go, they might die, but they might live.  So why not go?  They were done doing nothing!

I like these guys - they’re willing to take a little risk or two. Instead of just staying with the normal  and predictable, they’re willing to try something new.

Have you ever felt like the social outcast?  I have.  There have been times in my life where a group of people didn't like me because I was smart, or poor, or religious, or some other reason that they thought up.  It was lonely and sometimes I felt like I was emotionally starving.  It is awkward to be in a group of people and be treated as if you don't exist.  You think a lot about what is wrong with you and you have to fight to keep yourself from believing that the way you are being treated is okay.  You do reach a point where you have to decide that doing nothing about the situation is not acceptable.  You learn to take a little risk and try something new.  And sometimes it works out! 

Back to the four lepers...When they get to the Syrian camp they find that the army has been called away and has left all their supplies behind.  They find food, money, horses, everything they need to survive and more.  They go tent to tent for a while building up a little stock pile of goods, when the realize that they’re sitting on all this food and loot, while the people are starving back in the city. They’ve got the most incredible news that can save an entire city and they can either sit on it or share it.

Remarkably, these four men choose to share the news in spite of how they had been treated.  Why would they do such a thing?  Why not just take the stuff and live out the rest of their days in comfort?  Why save a people that didn't care if they lived or died? 

The Lessons
The actions of the four men say a lot about their character.  There was still goodness inside them even though they had been treated so poorly.  They chose to not let the hardships of their lives harden their hearts.  They were filled with compassion for the people of the city.

I wish I could say that I have always reacted to life's hardships in a positive way, that I have put the needs of the many in front of my needs, but I have entertained thoughts of revenge every now and then, especially in my younger years.  I am pretty sure that I would have done the same thing and shared the message of hope with the people in the city, I couldn't live with the guilt if I didn't.  The questions is, would I have had the appropriatete intentions?  What would be in my heart?

The four lepers, these outcasts of society, show us that God can use anybody. I have had  personal experience with this.  I was a bit of a social outcast at school, because I chose to stand up for my moral values.  I didn't dress inappropriately, I didn't swear, I didn't drink, I didn't have sex, you get the picture.  I was not part of the popular crowd and it was often lonely. 

However, years later I would run into one of my classmates and he would share with me some of his thoughts about high school.  Now I was not friends with this guy in school, in fact he would often pick on me, but he had changed over the years and I was willing to listen.  As we spoke I shared with him that I didn't really like myself that much in high school.  His response surprised me.  He said, "What was wrong with you in high school?  I thought you were fine."  What?  This coming from a guy that picked on me!  Of course I needed to know what he meant by that, so I asked. 

I was shocked to hear that he actually respected my choices in high school.  He wished he had been strong enough to be his true self. He apologized for his behavior and thanked me for being a good example.  The cool guy was thanking the social outcast!  

I will always remember that conversation.  For years I thought that there was no purpose to all the pain and tears of my high school years, but in reality God was using me the whole time to make a difference in those around me. The same is true for the lepers.  They probably didn't realize they would impact not only the people in the city, but all the millions that have read their story in the scriptures and learned from them.  Being a social outcast was not an easy thing then and it's not an easy thing now. God knows that using the outcasts to do His work has a greater impact on the lives of all those involved.  Score one for the outcasts!