Scripture
reference: Ruth 1
Ruth
is one of my favorite books of the Bible, so I’m sure I’ll come back and write
more articles about this book. For this article and the next one to appear on Stones on Fire, we’ll be focusing on only
the first chapter of Ruth.
When
Naomi went with her husband and two sons to live in a foreign land (Ruth 1:1),
I’m certain she never thought all three of the people she loved most in the
world would perish there in Moab, leaving her alone in a land that wasn’t her
home (Ruth 1:2-5). Yet, that’s exactly the situation in which she eventually
found herself. How devastating would it be to first lose her husband and then,
ten years later, have to bury both of her sons as well? Her tender heart must
have felt wrenched from her chest and filleted into a trillion pieces.
Sorrow
is a tough beast, one not easy to conquer. I wonder if shock accompanied Naomi’s
grief as “she arose with her daughters-in-law” (Ruth 1:6) in order to return to
her homeland of Judah. One thing I know for sure is that she somehow, in the
midst of her deep heartache, was able to clasp a tiny ray of hope:
How
difficult do you imagine it would be to stare at three headstones
belonging to the loved ones you most cherished yet still hold on to the hope
that God would bring you back safely to the land He was blessing, to live once
again amongst the people He called His own? In the face of devastation, it isn’t
easy to cling to hope, but that’s exactly what we must do in order to find the
next thing God’s calling us to do in obedience to Him.
The
good news for Naomi was that she didn’t have to begin her journey alone. In
addition to God, Who I believe was calling and leading her to return to her
home country of Judah, Naomi was accompanied for a time by her
daughters-in-law, Ruth and Orpah (Ruth 1:4, 7). What an encouragement the women
must have been to her! Even though they were both grieving as well—it was their
husbands (Naomi’s sons) who had perished, after all—they still chose to walk a
ways with and, in so doing, encourage their mother-in-law. How that must have
brought a measure of comfort to Naomi’s soul!
In
the next few verses, Ruth 1:8-13, Naomi showed a variety of emotions and
character traits. First, she encouraged her daughters-in-law to each return to
their mother’s home, which revealed Naomi was not only attempting to be strong
enough to travel on her own but that she was also considerate of Ruth’s and Orpah’s
futures, which would be least trial-filled should they remain in their own
homeland rather than moving into a foreign-to-them country.
Next,
Naomi blessed the ladies, saying, “The Lord deal kindly with you, as you have
dealt with the dead and with me” (Ruth 1:8). It isn’t always easy to dig deep
inside ourselves to encourage or bless others when we are in grief mode. It
takes monumental will power to do so in those moments, and it might have cost
Naomi some strength and energy she needed for the journey before her in order
to wish her daughters-in-law well in the remaining years of their lives.
When
Ruth and Orpah offered to abandon their own people and return to Judah with
her, Naomi then turned a bit despondent (Ruth 1:11-13). Recounting ones losses
will do that to a person. For at least a few minutes, Naomi dwelled on the fact
that she’d not only lost to death her husband and two sons but also any chance
of having more children or any way to provide second husbands for Ruth and
Orpah. When she cried, “No, my daughters; for it grieves me very much for your
sakes that the hand of the Lord
has gone out against me!” we see just how low her sorrow and recounting her
losses brought her. I believe dwelling on her grief, her loss, her sorrow
swiftly dragged her into a deep depression—one so dark she felt even God had
turned His back on her. That’s a scary place to be, where all hope is ripped
from our grasp, whether by someone else’s hand or our own, as might have been
the case for Naomi (since she allowed her mind to get carried away in the grief
that apparently tried to consume her).
Over
the next several verses, Ruth 1:14-17, Orpah decides to return to her mother’s
house and Ruth shows determination for remaining with Naomi. Facing a sorrowful
farewell couldn’t have been easy, knowing she’d probably never see the one
daughter-in-law again. Nor could it have been simple to accept the other’s
company when all Naomi wanted was to be alone with her sorrow, perhaps to
wallow in it for however many more miles the journey was back to her native
land. Maybe that’s why “she stopped speaking to [Ruth]” in verse 18.
The
remainder of the journey apparently gave Naomi too much time to think of her
lost husband and sons, because when Ruth and she arrived in Judah, in the city
of Bethlehem, she had become embittered about her situation:
“Do
not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with
me. I went out full, and the Lord has brought me home again empty. Why do you
call me Naomi, since the Lord has testified against me, and the Almighty has
afflicted me?” (Ruth 1:20-21)
Unfortunately,
at this point in time, Naomi had not taken the encouragement of Ruth’s
accompanying her on the journey to be a ray of hope from God that He still had
good plans for her future. Rather, she let the negative thoughts churning in
her mind sour her mood, disposition, and outlook so much that she wanted her
longtime friends to call her by a different name, one that means “bitter” in
Hebrew (instead of the name Naomi, which means “pleasantness”).
It’s
sad to see that she felt that God was dealing with her harshly, yet it’s so
easy to view things that way in our day and time too, when trials that test our
mettle come at us full force. It is incredibly hard to see that even in our pain
and suffering, God loves us immensely and is using the trials to refine our
hearts and character so we may better serve, reflect, and glorify Him. When our
hearts ache so much we wish we could die to escape the pain, that’s when God is
stripping out all the nastiness we have inside of us, if we let Him. But that
means we have to let go of our
sorrow, pain, bitterness, and grief. We have to release it into the fire so it
may be consumed… and we won’t be.
Why won’t we be burned up in the fire?
Because God has a hold on us that is stronger than any flame or earthly
trial, and He has good plans for our future (Jeremiah 29:11-13).
Lessons
Learned
*
When trials of pain and sorrow come our way, we should go through the grieving
process BUT not let it consume our thoughts, or else we will become embittered
and angry at God. Instead, we should make concerted efforts to grasp the hope
God shines in our lives in those moments… even if we have to squint really hard
to find it.
*
Even if we’re hurting, it’s important that we reach out to encourage other
people. In doing that, we not only cheer their spirits but also our own.
*
We experience pain and grief for the reason of having our character and souls
refined. It might be excruciating at times, but we must remember that God sees
the biggest picture and has good plans for us. If we can hold on to that
promise in Jeremiah 29:11-13, then we may also hold on to the hope that
brighter days are coming, which might encourage us to let go of our pain a
little bit sooner, which will in turn lighten the weight we carry on our
shoulders.
How
may you apply these lessons to your daily life this week?
The next Lessons Learned article will be on Stones on Fire on Sunday, April 7.
March's reading challenge celebrates Artists and Musicians!
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