Thus far in our story in the
book of Ruth, Naomi has faced some very trying times. She has
experienced a famine which forced her to move to a foreign land with
her husband Elimelech and her two sons. Once there, Elimelech died,
and now as a widow Naomi had to learn to live in this new land, Moab,
with her two sons Mahlon and Chilion or Sickly and Pining. They
married, and she continued with them for ten years, and then our
story continues in chapter one and verse five:
And Mahlon and Chilion
died also both of them; and the woman was left of her two sons and
her husband.
What?
Did we just read what we read? “And Mahlon and Chileon died also
both of them”? After so many tragedies now Naomi's two sons
died also? We do not know how or why her sons died because the Bible
is silent as to why, and when the Bible is silent it is best for us
to be silent. However, Naomi was faced with the death of her husband,
her two sons, and she is basically in a foreign country alone except
for her two foreign daughter-in-laws.
The next
words in this verse are ominous, “and the woman was left of her
two sons and her husband.” Why does it seem that sometimes
tragedy piles upon tragedy? We might think, wasn't the absence of
Naomi's husband enough? Didn't she go through enough difficulty
having to move her family to a foreign land so they wouldn't starve?
Why would God allow such horrific circumstances such as famine,
losing her husband, and now her only two sons have died as well?
Sometimes we only have to look a little while and the problems we
have are small compared to others, but these are valid questions and
they are worthy of asking.
The key
to wrapping our minds around so much tragedy occurring in one
person's life is to remember that we do not know all the story yet.
We only have a limited amount of information and cannot see the
future. Our view is mostly what is in front of us, and our Heavenly
Father has the advantage of seeing the whole story in one glance. If
the story ended here, it is tragic beyond belief, but God has a whole
different ending in mind. This is where faith comes in. This is where
a person becomes either a believer in God or an unbeliever in Him. It
is pretty simple to believe in God when everything occurs according
to our plans, however, the true believer is exposed when he or she
has tragedy and sometimes tragedy upon tragedy enter their lives. Our
dear woman Naomi has an opportunity to place her trust not in herself
or her circumstances, but in a truly loving God even when things go
wrong.
We'll
have to discover what Naomi did as our story progresses, but for now,
we shall continue our story next time. So, if you'd like to know in
advance, read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow...there is more...
Look
for the new devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From
Generation to Generation” in all major bookstore sites,
www.amazon.com
; www.barnesandnobles.com
; download
to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore
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