The Best of Times...
Naomi, her husband and two sons moved from Judah, where a famine had struck their hometown, to Moab, where there was food (Ruth 1:1). Times were good- they were able to feast and each of Naomi's sons found a mate in Moab. It was a season of joy and of plenty.
The worst of times...
Soon after though, a dark season of pain and despair reared its ugly head. A triple blow hit this once joyful woman: her husband and two precious sons died (verses 3 and 5). How could life go from being so beautiful and sweet- a season of blessings, to so dark and grim- a season of great loss and pain? It is in the later seasons that we must remember and cling to God's amazing promises to us:
Jeremiah 29:11- "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope".
Romans 8:28- "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose".
It is by living and walking in these promises that our Father leads us straight in to the discovery of His good and acceptable and perfect will of God (Romans 12:2)!
So Naomi decides to leave Moab to return to the land of Judah after learning that the famine was over. Both of Naomi's two daughters-in-law started out with her on this journey. She urged both of them to return to their mother's house and kissed them goodbye; Orpah returned home, but Ruth stayed with her:
Ruth 1:8-14- "And Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, 'Go, return each to her mother's house. The Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. The Lord grant that you may find rest, each in the house of her husband'. So she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept. And they said to her, 'Surely we will return with you to your people'. But Naomi said, 'Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? Are there still sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands? Turn back, my daughters, go- for I am too old to have a husband... No, my daughters; for it grieves me very much for your sakes that the hand of Lord has gone out against me!' Then they lifted up their voices and wept again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her".
Life never unfolds the way we predict it will. It is through these unexpected circumstances that come into our lives that we learn to trust God more- through unexpected people, tragic events, and difficult situations. Naomi had depended upon her husbands and sons, now she had to depend on Ruth, a young and widowed daughter-in-law. Naomi now had to trust that God would work through the tragedy of the deaths of the men in her life. Naomi also now had to head back to Bethlehem without her husband or sons- it was a long road home and she would have to trust God the whole way.
Naomi was returning to Bethlehem a widow with only one daughter-in-law from a foreign land. Naomi and Ruth walked the 70 dusty miles back to Bethlehem (verse 19). Naomi's friends greeted her upon entering the city asking "Is this Naomi?" (verse 19). Naomi's name means "pleasant". However, upon entering the city, Naomi replies, "Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara [which means "bitter"], for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, and the Lord has brought me home again empty" (verses 20-21a).
God works in and through every aspect of our lives. However, as followers of Christ we are not to become bitter (Heb 12:15- "looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled"). The way we respond to suffering determines whether that hurt makes our hearts bitter or better. We are commanded to:
Eph 5:20: "... [give] thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ". It's impossible to be bitter and thankful at the same time.
1 Thes 5:16-18: "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you". Pray through the tears, for God hears our cries (2 Chronicles 7:12; 1 Kings 9:3).
2 Cor 1:3-4: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God".
Teachings from Paul: Phil 4:11-13: "Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me".
It is our response to our circumstances, not the circumstances themselves that determines our joy. In the life of God's children, there is no such thing as coincidence. "There is only the great sovereignty of God Almighty, who watches over His children and guides their steps, sometimes quite obviously... and other times not so obviously" (George 147). Ruth went out in search of grain without a guide. She was alone except for God, who directed her steps to one particular field. Ruth just "happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz" (Ruth 2:3, emphasis added). She "happened to" come to the field of the man that would become her husband (Ruth 4:13)- isn't it so interesting and amazing how God works?
If we believe in our sovereign God, then we must trust that His hand is at work in all of the events, tragedies, coincidences, blessings, luck, and flukes of life. All that happens, is Him at work once again in us and through us. Times are often difficult and hard, just as they were for Naomi and Ruth, yet God was and is present, faithful, and at work in the details of their and our daily lives.
References:
"The Remarkable Women of the Bible" by Elizabeth George
All scriptures taken from "The Woman's Study Bible" NKJV
No comments:
Post a Comment