Reclaiming the Truth
13 “So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When he made love to her, the Lord enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son. 14 The women said to Naomi: ‘Praise be to the Lord, who this day has not left you without a guardian-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel! 15 He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and who is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth.’”
Redeeming the Time
Naomi finds herself returning back to Bethlehem with these words, “Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter. I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty.” Ruth 1.20-21 This cup of bitterness is all Naomi could see, understand and feel. Naomi could only see the current day of empty sorrow and deep grief. Little did Naomi know that she had returned to the land where there was currently no King, but one day she would hold in her arms a grandson named Obed, the grandfather of King David, the line of our Messiah.
Do you find yourself living in this space where despair wins, the story seems to have cut you short, and you give in to the bitterness of circumstances? It may all appear to be empty with no light in sight, yet may we learn from the plot of this story that our God is always working. The famines do not go to waste, and the pain does not go in vain. Just as our God made a way and brought Naomi to a place of praise once again, may it remind us that He hasn’t changed. He is worthy to be praised today, even now.
Reflection
- Are there spaces of allowances in your story that keeps you captive with bitterness and despair?
- How have the allowances in your story guided your living?
- Who do you believe God is in the allowances of your story?
Resting in His Redemption
Rest and receive the prayer of Hannah in 1 Samuel chapter 2
“My heart rejoices in the Lord;
In the Lord my horn is lifted high.
My mouth boasts over my enemies,
for I delight in your deliverance.
There is no one holy like the Lord;
There is no one besides you;
There is no Rock like our God.
Do not keep talking so proudly
Or let your mouth speak such arrogance,
For the Lord is a God who knows,
And by him deeds are weighed.
The bows of the warriors are broken,
But those who stumbled are armed with strength.
Those who were full hire themselves out for food,
But those who were hungry hunger no more.
She who was barren has borne seven children,
But she who has had many sons pines away.
The Lord brings death and makes alive;
He brings down to the grace and raises up.
The Lord sends poverty and wealth;
He humbles and he exalts.”
