With so much happening in the world of late, with tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanoes, tornadoes, flooding, and hurricanes, to say nothing of the poor economy and high unemployment rates, it is, indeed, a dark time in many of our lives.
But maybe our own challenges aren’t so global in nature. Maybe it is more personal: The loss of a job or the death of a loved one. Or perhaps it’s a bad medical diagnosis. Whatever it is, we are left in the clutches of the disaster, and suddenly we find ourselves asking, “Why should I go on? All is lost. Why should I even get up in the morning?”
This 5 part series will be addressing this question, and my hope and prayer is that throughout this series, you, too, will regain your reason to go on!
Today’s devotional will take us to the book of Ruth, to a woman named Naomi, a woman who truly had no reason to get up in the morning.
First of all, she had been forced to flee her home with her husband and two sons due to a dire famine in the land:
“Now it came to pass, in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem, Judah, went to dwell in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons … and they went to the country of Moab and remained there.” (Ruth 1:1-3 NKJV)
But while in Moab, her husband died! “Then Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died; and she was left, and her two sons.” (Ruth 1:3-4 NKJV)
This, of course, left Naomi a widow, and the plight of widows in the Old Testament was appalling. In fact, they were considered among the lowest classes in ancient Israel. The Old Testament recognized no inheritance rights to them, and as a result, widows were among the most vulnerable of the Jewish population. The male relatives who inherited all of her deceased husband’s estate were supposed to provide for her, however there was no way of ensuring that this provision was carried out! They truly lived at the mercy of others.*
But Naomi’s problems went even deeper than being a simple widow. She was a widow outside of her homeland. Thus any possible provision was back in Israel!
Naomi did have two male children, and I’m sure she counted her blessings every day for them. But they, too, died: “Then both Mahlon and Chilion also died; so the woman survived her two sons and her husband.” (Ruth 1:5 NKJV)
Now Naomi truly has nothing. No husband or sons to provide for her, no inheritance, far from home.
Do you still wonder if Naomi had reason to get up in the morning?
Consider the words she spoke when she decided to return to Israel: “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 NKJV)
No, Naomi, or Mara as she is now called, didn’t see she had any reason whatsoever to go on.
But the story doesn’t end here. You see, one of Naomi’s daughters-in-law, Ruth, returns to Israel with Naomi. She marries Boaz, Naomi’s kinsman, and her future, and the future of Naomi are now secure. And then Ruth bears Boaz a son: “And they called his name Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David.” (Ruth 4:17).
These circumstances seemed good to Naomi. She must have felt that her life had turned around, for not only was her provision secured, but she also had been given a male heir to carry on the name of her husband. In fact, it was said to her, “Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without a close relative; and may his name be famous in Israel!” (Ruth 4:14 NKJV)
But the glory of the story went beyond even this. Obed was the grandfather to King David, and ultimately, an ancestor of Jesus Himself.
Friends, if Naomi hadn’t passed through those hard times, Ruth would never have come to Israel. She would never have married Boaz, and David’s grandfather would never have been conceived! God was able to bring something beautiful out of all the trouble Naomi was forced to go through!
So what was Naomi’s reason to go on?
Simply this: “He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.” (Eccl 3:11 NKJV)
What can we learn from this story?
Without our hard times, God can’t work the miracles He needs to work in this world! We can’t see the “end” of our circumstances, but our job is to believe in the creator God and put our faith in Him, ever knowing that no matter what it is that we face, He will make something beautiful out of it! That, friends, is our reason to go on!
Join us next Thursday for REASONS TO GO ON, Part 2: Consider Sarah
In His love,
Lyn
Lyn Chaffart, Speech-Language Pathologist, mother of two teens, Author and Moderator for The Nugget, a tri-weekly internet newsletter, and Scriptural Nuggets, a website devoted to Christian devotionals and inspirational poems, www.scripturalnuggets.org, with Answers2Prayer Ministries, www.Answers2Prayer.org.
* Taken from http://hi-in.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=115205678517160&topic=275 – Lukitto, Plight of Widows
(To access the entire “Reasons to go On” mini-series, please click here.)