Ruth 1:19-21

"So they two went until they came to Bethlehem. And it came to pass, when they were come to Bethlehem, that all the city was moved about them, and they said, Is this Naomi? And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, and the LORD hath brought me home again empty: why then call ye me Naomi, seeing the LORD hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me?"

The story of Ruth starts with her father-in-law, his wife, and their two sons moving out of Bethlehem into a country called Moab because of a famine. While in Moab, the two sons meet and marry women from that country. The women's names were Orpah and Ruth. Over time, the father-in-law and the two boys die, leaving Ruth, Orpah, and Naomi, their mother-in-law, to themselves. After the death of her husband and sons, Naomi hears that there is food again in Bethlehem, and determines to return there. At the start, both of her daughters-in-law go with her. Ultimately, Orpah returns to Moab, but Ruth remains with Naomi. The verses quoted above tell of the arrival of these two women in Bethlehem.

The conversation between Naomi and the people of the city has to do with the meaning of her name. Her name means "delight" and it is certainly a hard thing for Naomi to be called that, considering her great loss. She requests that the people of the city call her Mara, which means "bitter." She has certainly had bitter things come her way. And she wishes to be called by this more appropriate name.

Also, as she speaks, she says that "... the LORD hath brought me home again empty." Indeed, she left with a husband and two sons. She was now a widow. And widows in that time were not very well off. Except that she had some inheritance, or family, she was left to work out her existence alone. And it appears that she now had neither. But as it turns out, she was not nearly as empty as she thought. For beside her in her travels was the woman named Ruth. Her name means "friend," and it turns out that she was that and much more. Aside from her allegiance to her mother-in-law, as shown in her determination to go with her to a foreign (to Ruth) land, she was shown to have faith in the God of Israel, and took it in hand to care for her mother-in-law. But there is more. For in time, through the events recorded in the book, Naomi became grandmother (through Ruth) to King David, and ultimately was related to the LORD Jesus Christ Himself!

In the hard things of life our LORD proves Himself faithful. But the vehicle of His faithfulness, the ultimate process or person through which He blesses, is hidden to us. It may be someone or something that is right under our noses, as was Ruth to Naomi. It is not an offence to God to be sorrowful over awful events. Naomi was not being faithless. She had no way of knowing how things would turn. When it comes to such things we, too, are taken up with our concerns, seeing only the loss. But the encouragement to us in the story of Ruth and Naomi is God has not lost control. Naomi was not as empty as she thought, for she belonged to the LORD God Almighty, and He had already set things in motion to her benefit, and to the working out of His ultimate plan of the ages, the birth, death, burial, and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ.

Be encouraged! God is not finished yet!!

Simply trusting every day,
Trusting through a stormy way;
Even when my faith is small,
Trusting Jesus, that is all.

Trusting as the moments fly,
Trusting as the days go by;
Trusting Him whate'er befall,
Trusting Jesus, that is all.

HJK