"And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me." Ruth 1:20 She had no idea that God had a greater plan, a plan that was far beyond the imagination of men. Fact though: when delight is stripped naked by bitterness, unbelief easily wraps its arms around the broken one bringing its chains of despair. But He, who is altogether lovely in His plans for His kids, is perfect in His deliverance ... if only the darkened eyes will turn to acknowledge His light.
From out of the far end of the hallway of overwhelming depression, walked a lonely and broken but resolved encourager; and together... Bitterness and Friendship locked hearts for the hope of future delights. They would move forward into the light of Faith's amazing journey, while slowly sensing a resolve that the journey was not about them. The journey's blessing would extend beyond their earthly existence, and Ruth, an outcast, would become and known as one of the direct ancestors of the Messiah (but generations after her time).
We never know this fully, BUT His plans for us are always beyond our wildest dreams. "Delight thyself also in the LORD, and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart". Ruth's story is not an isolated event that has no significance to our lives today. She must have known in her heart that she had joined herself to a family that was destined by the delights of the God of Israel. She was chosen by a son of Israel for marriage, and his banner over her was love, but short lived.
Although she was an outcast, a "less than desirable" with an estranged heritage... Illegitimacy was involved in her nationality; but she was brought into this blessed family and no doubt cherished that relationship even when that connection seemed severed by the loss of her Father n law and her husband in one fell swoop. There was potential comfort and purpose awaiting her if she returned to her people; but her desire was drawn by the wisp of eternity's sweet essence.
The prospects of the present was to be the walk with her widowed Mother n law, who at best was embittered due to the events that had waylaid them both.
The past was like a snuffed candle with a very limited time for its smoke to arise. The present was in the hands of a Kindred Redeemer who didn't even know they existed yet. And the future was where the future always is... behind the veil of promise but encircled both by the birds of song and birds of prey.
Isaiah 53:1-3 - The struggle ... A faith that founded on the appearance of success and prosperity for its proof will flounder miserably in the reality of a God who values the uprooted, the dry ground, the common, the outcast, and the insignificant... Prophetically like Jesus.
Psalm 45 - The vision of the Beauty of the King Beyond ...
John 14:1-3 - Planning for us beyond the devastation, but the perfect rescue of the Cross ...
We may momentarily want to be called Mara (bitterness), but He has sent another Comforter ... let Him walk us through the Vale... we will find ourselves in the Field of Blessing.
HLFA,
Jeff