Wisdom from the Most Unlikely Place

“And she said to her mistress, ‘If only my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria! For he would heal him of his leprosy.’” — 2 Kings 5:3 (NKJV)

Where do great ideas come from within your organization? Do you rely only on board room and management discussions to address your business problems? Do you search for great ideas both vertically and horizontally within your company?

Great ideas are essential in the success of any great organization; whether it is the search for a solution on how to address a customer issue, how to reduce cost or how to increase revenue. Companies with the best ideas and the greatest strategies for implementing them are the ones that are able to achieve market dominance. The problem is that many entrepreneurs think either that they are the only ones who can supply great ideas or that it can only come from management or high powered consultants. As a consultant myself, I often run across this issue. It is not uncommon for me to go into an organization and have ideas presented to me by the staff. They have been saying these ideas for years, but I get to leave as a hero when I repeat these to management. The reality is if management had only listened to their staff earlier, then they would have gained further success in their business sooner rather than later and save money. The art of great consultancy is the ability to give voice to the wisest, yet least honored people within an organization. However, unfortunately, if the employee does not have a degree of seniority in the company, their words often fall on deaf ears.

This is why Solomon wrote the following in Ecclesiastes 9:15: “Wisdom is better than strength. Nevertheless the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.”

The educated and the well-to-do are not the only ones with great ideas. All great ideas come from God, and at times they are communicated through the most unlikely people within organizations. Wise entrepreneurs and managers must have ears to hear.

Naaman, the great and honorable commander of the king of Syria, learned this lesson well. After winning a war, he came back with a young captive Israeli girl who he made to be a servant of his wife. Though Naaman was a great commander and loved by the king, he was also a leper and had tried everything possible to heal his sickness to no avail. Leprosy was a disease that not only caused physical deformity, but in addition, it caused great shame. Among the Israelites, lepers were considered unclean and in some cases cursed by God (Numbers 5:1-4).

I can imagine the various high level meetings that were conducted to come up with a solution for Naaman’s sickness, the various physicians consulted, the number of priests and magicians brought in and the amount of money that was spent. But nothing worked. One day, the servant girl from Israel, knowing how much her boss wanted to be healed, mentioned to his wife that if Naaman would only go to a prophet in Samaria, he would be healed.

According to the culture and traditions of the day, any ideas from a servant girl would normally not be considered. Furthermore, she suggests that her boss go to a country that is neither a strong nation nor especially innovative in medicine. However, this young woman had faith and knew that in that country there was a prophet who knew God, and God could heal anything. Desperate, Naaman’s wife tells her husband, her husband tells the king, and the king sends a letter to request the assistance of this prophet in healing the beloved commander.

Shortly after, Naaman makes a trip to Israel to meet the healing prophet. The prophet’s remedy is to go wash in the Jordan seven times. Naaman, who was expecting some great supernatural spectacle, is furious! He doesn’t understand why he must wash in the river of an impoverished nation of Israel? Why not the rivers of the great city of Damascus? And could it really be that simple? Nevertheless, his advisors encouraged him to obey the prophet’s instructions, and when he does, he is healed (2 Kings 5:11-15). Naaman learned that not only do great ideas come from the most unlikely people, but solutions can also come from the most unlikely places when God is in the midst.

My prayer for you today is that God will give you the grace to hear the wisdom of those unlikely people He has around you and the ability to see solutions in those most unlikely places so that you may realize His purposes for His glory.