Ruth

Going through a hard time? Feeling like God has completely forgotten you? Surely we have all been through a period of tragedy or confusion in our lives.  We cry out to God and feel like he is doing everything but answering our prayers.  The book of Ruth really shows how God can use the saddest of circumstances for His plan.  Naomi had lost both of her sons and her husband in a foreign land.  She must have  felt completely alone and broken.   She knew that she was too old to remarry but  that her daughter in laws could, so she decided it would be best for her to return to Bethlehem alone.  In Ruth 1:21 Naomi says “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.” In the midst of our darkest times, it is so typical to get consumed with our emotions.  We often blame God for our problems, like Naomi, or question His existence entirely. The thought of returning to Bethlehem without her family must have been an all time low point in her life, but God blessed Naomi  with a faithful daughter in law, Ruth, who refused to leave her.  Ruth went to glean the field of Boaz and she caught his attention.  Boaz was touched by Ruth’s devotion to her mother in law.  He knew it would have been easier for her to return to her native land where she would have had a more favorable chance to find a new husband.    Ruth and Boaz were married and God blessed them with a son.  Naomi became grandmother to Obed: father of Jesse, the father of David, the ancestors of Jesus himself. Ruth 4:14-15 says “And the women said unto Naomi, Blessed be the Lord, which hath not left thee this day without a kinsman, that his name may be famous in Israel.  And he shall be unto thee a restorer of thy life, and a nourisher of thine old age: for thy daughter in law, which loveth thee, which is better to thee than seven sons, hath born him.”  Naomi may have lost her sons and husband but she gained something even more precious.  I have not faced near the heartache as Naomi, but I do struggle with areas of grief in my life.  One of my major struggles pertains to my son who has autism.  It is so hard to accept that a piece of your child is missing and that  you may never get to sit down and really have a conversation with them.  Reading the book of Ruth has shown me that God can give those who stay faithful and obedient to him even in the midst of hard times, a special blessing.  My child may or may not get better, but if I am consumed with anger and grief I will not be able to see the “Ruth’s” in my life.