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In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
So the two women went on until they came to Bethlehem. When they arrived in Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them, and the women exclaimed, "Can this be Naomi?"
"Don't call me Naomi," she told them. "Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter. I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The Lord has afflicted me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me."
So Naomi returned from Moab accompanied by Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, arriving in Bethlehem as the barley harvest was beginning.
Ruth 1:19-22
This ends our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
At the beginning of Ruth, Chapter 1, we see where a Judean woman, Naomi, experiences terrible tragedy after her husband relocates their family to Moab during a time of famine. Once in Moab, her husband, Elimelech, passes away and leaves her to care for their two sons who also die soon after marrying two Moabite girls.
You’ll remember that this series of tragic deaths left Naomi facing a life of loneliness without her husband and sons. And not wishing that her two Moabite daughters-in-law, Ruth and Orpah, would experience hardship as well, she urges them to return to their families in Moab so they at least could reestablish their lives by remarrying. We saw where Orpah decided to return home but Ruth refused to leave Naomi alone, willing to leave her family, culture, and religion behind in exchange for Naomi’s Israelite customs and God.
Well, as this first chapter ends, we see Naomi and Ruth arriving in Bethlehem “as the barley harvest was beginning”. You’ll recall that Naomi decided to return to Judah in the first place because she had heard that the “Lord had come to the aid of His people by providing food for them” (Ruth 1:6). The scriptures tell us that the arrival of Naomi and Ruth resulted in the “whole town (being) stirred because of them” with the women exclaiming:
“Can this be Naomi?"
Obviously, they were surprised to have seen her arrive alone without her family and we can feel the sorrow and grief Naomi was experiencing in her reply as she told the women:
“Don't call me Naomi…Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter. I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The Lord has afflicted me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me."
Through her words, we see clearly that Naomi is blaming God for her troubles.
It was He who had made her life bitter.
It was He who had brought her back empty.
It was He who had He afflicted her.
And it was He who had brought misfortune upon her.
Naomi’s attitude was understandable and unmistakably human, actually not uncommon even from the most firm believers. But it was also short-sighted, unwise, and disrespectful towards the Lord.
For although we serve a God of great power and wonder and miracles, we also serve a God who has never assured us that we will live a worldly life forever. In fact, He never guarantees any of us how long we will live.
The truth of the matter is that every single person belongs to God. Period. He is the One who dictates all terms of life…when someone is born and when that life will end. Only He knows how long anyone will remain alive in His earthly kingdom and we have no place dictating terms to Him or criticizing Him for what He does in His perfect way and in His perfect time.
Friends, this only underscores the importance of valuing the time we have with one another while we have it…because it isn’t going to last forever. And when we treasure our relationships with others the right way…seeing them as time-limited but true blessings from God…then we can handle loss differently because we see every day we are allowed to spend with someone as a gift, something to be celebrated in life and after death.
Maybe…just maybe…if Naomi would have had that kind of perspective on her life and the relationship she had with her husband and sons, she would have spoken differently to the women in Bethlehem. Maybe she would have told them that they shouldn’t call her Naomi but instead call her “Blessed” because the Lord had made her life so joyful, giving her a husband and two sons. Yes, she had gone away full and came back empty but at least she had a family to love and live with. Many women might never get that opportunity. And even with the deaths of her loved ones, Naomi could have seen herself as not truly being alone because the Lord had blessed her with such a loving, caring daughter-in-law who vowed to stay by her side.
Yes…Naomi had endured great affliction, misfortune, and emotional pain but the Lord was always with her through those difficult times. As we will see, His plan was in progress for Naomi and He would soon show her that He was the source of her strength all along. Indeed, soon she will change her stance on life, seeing and proclaiming that she should be called “Blessed”.
Still, in the moment, Naomi was in a place of negativity and instead of providing what could have been an inspiring testimony of great faith in God to the women of Bethlehem, instead she only focused on her bitterness and complained about her circumstances, squandering her chance to witness about the Lord’s goodness, even in the midst of difficulty.
Friends, it’s easy to grumble and whine about our life circumstances. We all could easily adopt a Naomi-like attitude and ask others to call us “Mara”, blaming a bitter life experience on the Lord.
And too often, we do just that.
And so my prayer today is that we try and learn from Naomi’s mistake and commit ourselves to remaining faithful to the Lord, no matter what happens in life. For the truth of the matter is that He never changes and He is perfect in every way, and this includes His goodness and willingness to want the best for those who love Him (Romans 8:28). When we truly grasp this, then and only then will we be able to consistently tell others to just call us “Blessed”…because that’s what we are no matter what.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.
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