“Naaman, commander of the army for the king of Aram, was a great man in his master’s sight and highly regarded because through him the Lord had given victory to Aram. The man was a brave warrior, but he had a skin disease.” (2 Kings 5:1 CSB)
Devotional
That word “but” does a lot of work in this verse. Everything before it reads like a highlight reel. Commander. Great man. Highly esteemed. Valiant warrior. By any measure, Naaman had made it. And then the sentence turns on a single word and lands somewhere painful: but he had a serious skin disease.
Most of us have a “but” in our story. Something that sits quietly behind all the things we present to the world. Maybe it is the anxiety that follows you into rooms where you look completely fine. The marriage that looks solid from the outside. The career success that does not fill the thing you thought it would fill. We get good at holding the two halves of the sentence together, the impressive half and the private half, and hoping nobody looks too closely at the second part.
What strikes me about this verse is that God is already in it before Naaman even knows he needs help. The text says it was through Naaman that the Lord had given victory. God was working in and through this man’s life before his healing, before his humbling, before any of it. That is worth sitting with. God was not waiting for Naaman to get it together. He was already present, already moving.
The “but” in your story is not a disqualifier. It is often the very place where God does His clearest work. Not because suffering is good in itself, but because it is where we finally stop pretending the first half of the sentence is enough.
Reflection
I spend a lot of energy managing how my story sounds to other people. I lead with the victories and quietly carry the “but.” I want to be honest today about what I am actually carrying, not just what I am presenting. And I want to trust that God sees both halves of my sentence and is already working in the part I am most ashamed of.
Prayer
Father, You see the whole sentence, not just the parts we are proud of. Thank You that You were already at work in Naaman before he knew he needed You, and that You are already at work in us the same way. Help us stop hiding the “but” and bring it to You instead. We trust that You are not put off by it.
The Daily Promise 