NAOMI

NAOMI

HER NAME MEANS

"My Joy" or "Pleasant"

HER CHARACTER:

Suffering a threefold tragedy, Naomi refused to hide her sorrow or bitterness. Believing in God's sovereignty, she attributed her suffering to his will. But her fixation on circumstances, both past and present, led to hopelessness. A kind and loving mother-in-law, she inspired unusual love and loyalty in her daughters-in-law.

HER SORROW:

To have lost a husband and two sons in a foreign land, far from family and friends.

HER JOY:

To have returned safely to Bethlehem with her daughter-in-law Ruth, who would eventually rekindle her happiness and hope.

KEY SCRIPTURE:

Ruth 1; 4:13-17

HER LIFE AND TIMES:

FAMINE

Pictures of the bloated stomachs and empty eyes of children dying of hunger hover in our minds long after the television is turned off. Famine today, just as in Bible times, is the great destroyer of the weak - of helpless children and defenseless elderly. The cries of mothers unable to save their hungry children echo throughout the years, a painful reminder of our dependence on the earth for our sustenance.

Throughout Scripture God seemed to use famine to bring about his purposes. Deuteronomy 28:22-24 gives a vivid description of the famine that would come if God's people disobeyed him. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob all left Palestine because of a famine in the land. The events of a worldwide famine brought Joseph's father, Jacob, and his brothers to Egypt, where they eventually became the slaves of the pharaohs. In the book of Ruth, Naomi and her husband fled to Moab because of a famine in Israel, and, through their flight and its subsequent events, God brought Ruth into his holy plan as an ancestor of his Son, Jesus.

In the New Testament, Jesus predicted that famine would be one of the signs of the end of the ages (Matthew 24:7; Mark 13:8; Luke 21:11). In the book of Acts we learn that a believer by the name of Agabus foretold a severe famine (Acts 11:28); the next verse then reveals the opportunity this gave the believers to share with each other.

In one of Scripture's most somber prophecies, Amos told of the time when God would bring about another sort of famine: "I will send a famine through the land - not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the LORD" (Amos 8:11). In the past, God had always listened and responded when his people cried out to him, but Amos told of a time to come when their cries would be met with a frightening silence.

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?" asks Paul. "Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?" (Romans 8:35). But then Paul answers his own question with that wonderful believer's cry of victory: Nothing, not even famine, will ever separate us from God's love.

HER PROMISE

God's faithfulness to restore to fullness an empty life is revealed more in this story of Naomi than in any other biblical account. The famine and hunger that drove Naomi and her husband and sons away from Bethlehem are finally replaced with full harvests and bread baked from grain gleaned in the fields. The anguish of losing her husband and sons is replaced with the loving care and concern of her daughter-in-law Ruth, who is "better to [Naomi] than seven sons (Ruth 4:15). And Naomi's empty mother-arms are filled with the son of Boaz and Ruth. She is no absent grandmother; the Scriptures sayNaomi took Obed and "laid him in her lap and cared for him" (Ruth 4:16). (We'll hear more about this grandson in the next chapter.) 

Like Naomi, we may have trouble recognizing God's goodness and his faithfulness at times. But he is still with us no matter the circumstances.

Promises in Scripture

The women said to Naomi: "Praise be to the LORD, who this day has not left you without a kinsman-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel! 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"-RUTH 4:14-15

Though you have made me see troubles, many and bitter, you will restore my life again -PSALM 71:20

I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten.... You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will praise the name of the LORD your God, who has worked wonders for you-JOEL 2:25-26

HER LEGACY OF PRAYER

Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me -RUTH 1:16-17

REFLECT ON: Ruth 1. 

PRAISE GOD: For creating us with the power to form deep and lasting relationships. 

OFFER THANKS: For the variety of friends God has given you.  

CONFESS: Your tendency to be too busy to pay attention to your friends or too preoccupied with your own concerns to take time for theirs.

ASK GOD: To make you a more loyal and loving friend in the year ahead.

Lift Your Heart: Think about someone with whom you used to be especially close. Perhaps time or distance has eroded the friendship. As you recall the great meals,  jokes, late-night conversations, or crazy adventures you shared. Wouldn't it be great to have that person back in your life? Pick up the phone or texts to renew the friendship. If the other person seems willing, invest some energy rebuilding the relationship in the year ahead. Let your memories form a foundation for your friendship, but don't stop there - get busy making new ones. If she's nearby, have her over for a meal or a fancy dessert. If not, exchange family photos. Stay in touch by email. 

Lord, thank you for the blessing of friends who, by sharing their lives with us, double our joy and halve our sorrows. Help me to cherish the friends you've given me and to become the kind of friend others will cherish: a woman who listens, encourages, and keeps confidences; a woman who knows how to laugh and how to cry, who is loyal, forgiving, and loving.