RUTH 1:20-21 : So she said to them, “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?”
A growing problem in the United States is “road rage.” Between January 1, 1990, and September 1,
1996, the American Automobile Association counted at least 10,037 incidents of road rage resulting
in 218 deaths. An additional 12,610 people were injured. This is a terrible price to pay for foolishly
venting one’s anger. Yet it’s far more foolish when we become angry at God.
When Naomi returned to her home land, it was obvious she was angry with God for the losses in her
life. When her friends called her Naomi (which means sweetness” or “pleasantness”), she instructed
them instead to call her Mara (which means “bitterness”), because “the Almighty has afflicted me.”
She lamented that she left Bethlehem with a husband and two sons, but returned “empty.” She was
angry at God because of what He had allowed in God’s plan, however, Naomi was actually at the
beginning of the most fulfilling time of her life.
Soon Ruth would meet and marry Boaz and bear his child. That baby, Obed, would become the
grandfather to Israel’s greatest king, David, who would establish the lineage of-the Messiah, Jesus.
What God had allowed to be taken away from Naomi would be replaced with blessings beyond her
wildest imagination.
When you experience the grief of losing a loved one – a husband, a wife, a child – it’s easy to become
bitter and lash out at God. You think it’s all His fault. He allowed it to happen. Yet the God who loves
you is also the God who sees the end from the beginning.
He knows what He is doing. Trust Him. What has begun as a heartache for you will ultimately result in
over whelming blessings.
SORROW IS THE GARDEN IN WHICH GOD GROWS OUR BLESSINGS.