~Old Testament Scenarios~
Ruth
“No, my daughters; for it is harder for me than for you,
for the hand of the LORD has gone forth against me.”
Ruth 1:13b (NASB)
"Stuck In Grief? You Don’t Have To Be"
Crushed under the strain of her recent widowhood and shattered after burying her two sons, Naomi, to say the least, was truly in a low state of depression. Crippled by spiritual and emotional pain, Naomi speaks out and orders her two daughters-in-law, Ruth and Orpah, to go back to their own people in Moab. Naomi had heard the famine in the land was over so she was returning to Bethlehem (her homeland). Naomi wondered why these young women, these newly widowed daughters-in-law, would want to continue with her as she was experiencing this spiraling adversity, afflictions, and what she perceived as God’s hand against her.
Have you walked the road that Naomi traveled? Brokenhearted and feeling impoverished by being asked to let a loved one go? The heartache seems almost suffocating? At times, it’s as if you’ve been knocked over with this grief journey you’ve been asked to wander through. Are you trying now to get up and hold on? Like Naomi, when we’re exhausted by our suffering, we can spew out honest pain from our soul (which is good), but we can also have a blurred perception of God’s goodness. Many times grief can draw down and narrow our vision and tunnel it to the “thing” that hurts the most. We can lose hope and forget that God has a plan and a purpose for us…even in our suffering! When we’ve become sidetracked by our pain, we need to be careful and not forget to look up and see our loss/circumstances with a more heavenly vision. Fall into the arms of Jesus, He understands your pain. The Lord experienced everything that we would go through in order to feel and understand our situations. Go to Him—He’s waiting!
At the time, Naomi may have thought God was out to get her because of her family’s disobedience by leaving their homeland Bethlehem (“House of Bread”) when a severe drought hit. Then when they traveled east into Moab (“Washpot”) an idol-worshipping enemy territory, they were definitely out of God‘s will. But in time, Naomi saw just how God works within those difficult circumstances, works even through our poor choices by bringing about a better purpose…a bigger purpose. Ruth goes back with Naomi where they are both saved when Ruth married a family relative. Boaz, their kinsmen redeemer saves both women from the desolation of poverty. Through Boaz and Ruth’s child, the lineage that would produce King David was begun. From that same line the mother of Jesus Christ would be born.
Like Naomi, have you found yourself blaming God for your situation? We naturally do that in our suffering. Pain in our soul and/or our bodies can leave us with a bitter taste. But, we must work that out and get beyond it by asking for the Lord’s help. It can take some time, but remember, God is not in a hurry. He is the lifter of our head and our hearts and He is our High Priest who experienced all that we have had to suffer. We can freely run to Him. You’ll find that He is ready to embrace you with much love and even use you in a grander way than the shattered dreams that were lost. Call out to Yahweh Rophe (Hebrew for “The Lord Who Heals”) for restoration. He always gives new life.
This is your day; God has given it to you. What will you do with it? Will you chose to become “unstuck” by your grief? Although you may seem to be in this hard place for a really long time, trust God is working out a progressing maturity in you and better yet, a deeper dependency, a closer intimacy with Him.
"Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort
and good hope by grace,
comfort and strengthen your hearts
in every good work and word."
2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 (NASB)