Sometimes we may get the
idea in our heads that we know exactly what the Lord is doing when in
reality we know nothing about what He is doing. God tends to work
outside our understanding, and we interpret what appears as His lack
of work as Him being absent, aloof or even against us. Such is the
case with Naomi. She has faced famine, moving, the death of her
husband and two sons, and now she has two daughters-in-law living
with her who desire to travel back to her home country. Naomi has
tried to convince them to stay in their own country by telling them
that for her to marry and have sons is unreasonable for them to wait,
and today in chapter one and verse thirteen she produces an even
stronger argument that places Naomi in a position of
misinterpretation. Naomi said:
Would you tarry for
them till they were grown? would you stay for them from having
husbands? no, my daughters; for it grieves me much for your sakes
that the hand of the LORD is gone out against me.
Naomi
again appeals to her daughters-in-law's, Orpah and Ruth's, common
logic: “Would you tarry for them till they were grown? Would you
stay for them from having husbands?” In other words, are you
going to wait for Naomi to have sons, watch those sons grow and
mature, and then marry them when they become of age? Naomi is making
practical sense. It would take a number of years for this process to
come to fruition, and to allow for this to work both Orpah and Ruth
would have to avoid being married to other husbands. It just doesn't
make sense, and Naomi knows it.
However,
then Naomi makes a statement that takes this understanding too far.
She says, “no, my daughters; for it grieves me much for your
sakes that the hand of the LORD is gone out against me.” Naomi
gives the reason for her plight and tragedy, “the hand of the
LORD is gone out against me.” Naomi feels that God is against
her. She has been through trouble after trouble, and it seems that
nothing but tragedy is following her. If we were in her shoes we
might make the same conclusion, however, Naomi cannot see the entire
plan. She cannot see what God has in store for her just a few verses
away. She doesn't know that God has seen her affliction, observed her
broken heart, and is preparing a platform that will amaze her down
the road.
Sometimes
we are like Naomi. Our circumstances are tragic, and our situations
of difficulty pile upon one another over and over again. It seems
that God Himself is against us, but even as it was with Naomi, God
has a plan that He is working on even when we are in our darkest
hour. We are not all-knowing, and He is. We are not all-powerful, and
He is. We are not everywhere present, and He is, and although we may
believe that the hand of the Lord is against us, we may simply be
misinterpreting what seems to be terrible difficulties for God's
moving us to a place of blessing.
Nonetheless,
this is the argument Naomi used with Orpah and Ruth, and next time we
shall see what affect her words had upon them, so 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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