25 Aug 2017
Naomi was an unlucky person.
She doesn’t appear to have been blessed by God; rather, she seems to
have been cursed. In fact, when she got
back to her home land, she told the people, “Don’t call me Naomi (which means
“sweet”), instead call me Mara (which means “bitter”), because God has dealt
with me bitterly.”
Considering all that happened to Naomi, it’s amazing that her
daughter-in-law, Ruth, wanted anything to do with her or her God. But, as we know, Ruth committed herself to
Naomi and her God. The “bitterness” of
Naomi’s situation wasn’t an obstacle to Ruth’s faith.
When we think of Jesus and all the suffering that came his
way, and his cry to the Father, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me,”
it’s a wonder that he had any disciples at all.
And yet today there are countless people who are drawn to the suffering
Jesus; who want to walk with him, just as Ruth committed herself to unlucky
Naomi.
There’s something attractive about the Lord. We know that the Christian life brings difficulties;
we see that. But we do it anyway. And it’s not because we’re gluttons for
punishment; instead, it’s because we’re drawn to goodness, to the truth, to
beauty—and the Lord is all these things.
We see the unlucky Cross in our lives, sometimes very
plainly. However, thanks be to God that
we walk by faith and not by sight, because faith turns the bitterness of
Christian hardship into the sweetness of love and fidelity.
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