Naomi

 

 

Somewhere in time, this week, I have been reading the book of Ruth.  I set out to read Ruth because she was noted for her faithfulness, but instead I found myself really understanding Naomi.  Naomi and her family left Bethlehem during a time of drought and famine looking for place where things were better.  I think this is a natural inclination of all of us.  If it’s difficult here, maybe we should move there and it will be better. 

The move seemed to be a good one. They were prospering in their new location.  Her sons grew and took wives. The household was full with happy laughter of a family that loves each other. Then something happens.  It doesn’t say what, but we know that her husband dies and then her sons.  She is left alone with her two daughters-in-law.  At this point, she decides to return home.

She must have been a nice woman, because both of her daughters-in-law decide to return to Bethlehem with her. As they start out, Naomi realizes she doesn’t want the girls to leave their home, so she tells them to go home back to their own families.  She has nothing to offer them. They both initially refuse, but one goes and Ruth stays.  The two travel back to Bethlehem.  Once there, her former friends and neighbors come out to meet her, but she declares to them:

Ruth 1:20 “But she said to them, “Do not call me Naomi, call me Mara, for the Almighty as dealt bitterly with me.”

This is a feeling we can all relate to.  There are times when we wonder why God allows things to happen.  It’s a hard time to travel through. It’s hard when your heart is broken over the pain and trials of this earth. Naomi felt abandoned.  Her husband and sons were dead and it felt like God had turned his back.

I don’t believe that God afflicts us. I do believe that life afflicts us.   God never turns his back. We sometimes turn away from him and think he moved. We sometimes get so focused on looking down at our misfortune; we don’t look up to where God is.  God knew her husband and sons would die and he prepared a way for this woman to get her hope back.  He prepared a way for her story to last through generations.  He hadn’t forgotten her. He was working things out for her.

Ruth, of course, didn’t leave Naomi. She traveled back to Bethlehem.  Naomi entered Bethlehem calling herself Mara, which means bitter.   Ruth showed her honor and before long, every ones opinion of Naomi changed.  No longer was she the poor little widow with no one to care for her.

Ruth 4:14 “Then the woman said to Naomi. “Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without a close relative; and may his name be famous in Israel!”

Naomi’s relative Boaz, married Ruth and together they were a family to Naomi. They are the great grandparents of King David and in the lineage of Jesus Christ.

Naomi went from bitter to blessed.  I want to encourage anyone in the time of bitterness, to not lose hope.  God has a plan and nothing we experience is wasted. It helps mold us into who God needs us to be.

Jason Gray - Nothing Is Wasted (Official Lyric Video) from jason-gray on GodTube.