The Almighty Hath Dealt Very Bitterly With Me

And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, and the LORD hath brought me home again empty: why then call ye me Naomi, seeing the LORD hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me? (Ruth 1:20)

Ever been there? Have you ever felt like you have just blown everything and therefore just about as worthless as dirt? This is where Naomi was. Some years earlier she and her husband had made a decision that had changed their lives forever. Times were tough in Israel and the grass looked greener in Moab, so they loaded up and moved there. Their intentions were to “sojourn” there – just stay long enough to get back on their feet. No one ever intends to stay in sin when they enter into it, but somehow you lose your way and end up staying a lot longer than you ever thought you would. For Naomi and her family the months turned into years and life began to change things. Her husband died and her two sons married women of Moab and then they died also. Now Naomi is left alone with her two daughters-in-law. She hears that the Lord has visited His people in Israel and determines to go back home. She returns to Israel with one daughter-in-law while the other turns back to her people in Moab. Upon returning to her country after at least a 10-year absence everyone was astonished to see her. Without a doubt she had changed drastically in her appearance. The things that had happened to her are the things that turn the hair gray and put wrinkles on the face. “Call me not Naomi,” she said, which means “pleasant.” “Call me Mara,” which means “bitter.” She was in that valley of feeling like she had totally messed up everything and lost the blessing of God forever. When you are in that place you just can not see any hope of ever being back in the blessing of God again.

You see, circumstances have the ability to blind us. When circumstances are bad we begin to lose sight of everything but the impossible circumstances around us. Our dreams are gone. We don’t know where they went, but they somehow vanished while we were looking at these circumstances we are in. Without a dream we find ourselves without hope, also. No dreams, no hope …that leaves only one thing – bitterness. We know how harshly other people judge and so we know what they are thinking of us. That magnifies the bitterness even more. The devil climbs on our shoulder and assures us that God thinks we are as useless as other people think we are, …and we believe him. “What use would God have for a loser like me?” “I have been a fool and I have squandered my opportunities and now I am left alone.” Then go to church somewhere and some preacher will assure you again that God will laugh at your calamity and mock when your fear comes. You will be promised that God has drawn a line and if you have crossed that line there is no hope for you. So it seems to be a closed case. You are done …that’s it. All that is left for you is a life of bitterness.

It is a wonderful thing that the story of Naomi is in the Bible. This little story gives hope to those who have lost everything. It proves the devil is lying when he tells you that God has forsaken you and it rebukes those who misrepresent God by saying He laughs at calamities. Naomi did not realize that the means of her deliverance was already in place and even at hand. Ruth was all that she had when she left Moab, but Ruth was all that God needed to bring Naomi back to the place of blessing. Boaz was already farming his fields and the present circumstances were only temporary. Naomi was simply blinded by them and could not see any way out. When will we learn that just because we see no possible way out of our problems God can and God will make a way for us?

When Naomi was in Moab she was out of her place. She was not a Moabite and she did not belong in Moab. Her deliverance began when she made the decision to return to her own place and her own people. Any child of God will find that their deliverance will also begin when they do the same thing. If you get involved with the world and grow cold to the things of God and the people of God you are sojourning in Moab. You need to pick yourself up and head back home. Go back to church and the people of God. It was hard for Naomi to walk back into town destitute and poor, but somehow she mustered the courage to do so. The people were astonished to see her, and she told them to call her Mara because God had dealt very bitterly with her and the Almighty had testified against her. She could not hide the fact that she went out full and had come again empty. She was just honest about it and did not try to convince everyone that she did not feel bad about going to Moab and she had a good time while she was there. If you have wrecked your life and ended up empty because you thought life would be better in Moab you need to understand that there is still a place among the people of God for you. You need to understand that even though there may be people who criticize and ridicule, God is not that way, and God has some people who are not that way either.

Ruth went out to gleam in the fields in order to obtain something for Naomi and herself to eat. What else could she do? “ …and her hap was to light on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz, who was of the kindred of Elimelech.” Here you see that God intervened on their behalf. Of all the places to gleam she “happened” to light on the part of the field that belonged to Boaz? That is a thing we call “Divine Providence.” It is something too big for us to understand completely, but it is the evidence that God gives us from time to time to prove He is “with us.”

Boaz is not just another Israelite – he was actually only half Israelite. His mother was Rahab the Harlot. (Matt. 1:5) Since his mother had found the grace of God it is pretty obvious that he understood how possible it was for a young woman from Moab to find the Lord, also. Because of Ruth’s reputation as a virtuous woman she captured his attention right away. God had prescribed in the Law of Moses what should be done for the widows and how they should be redeemed by a near kinsman. Boaz was a near kinsman, but there was one who was nearer than he. When given the opportunity to redeem the land of Naomi’s husband and sons he was anxious to do so until he found out that the deal included taking Ruth the Moabitess to wife. He said he could not do that without “marring” his inheritance. This gave Boaz the chance to be the kinsman redeemer and he wasted no time in making Ruth his wife and taking Naomi in, also.

So the bad circumstances turned to very good circumstances very quickly. Naomi is not bitter any more and she does not ask to be called Mara anymore. It happened because Naomi returned to the place of God. As soon as she was back in the place of God she began to have hope because of the people of God. When Naomi found out that Ruth had gleaned in the field of Boaz and that he had taken notice of her and showed her such kindness her heart must have leaped with joy and hope.

And Naomi said unto her daughter in law, Blessed be he of the LORD, who hath not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead. And Naomi said unto her, The man is near of kin unto us, one of our next kinsmen.  (Ruth 2:20)

With new hope in place of the despair she began to have hope that there were people of God who were really real. She reached out again to the law of God and the people of God and found deliverance.

Then Naomi her mother in law said unto her, My daughter, shall I not seek rest for thee, that it may be well with thee? {2} And now is not Boaz of our kindred, with whose maidens thou wast? Behold, he winnoweth barley to night in the threshingfloor…  (Ruth 3:1-2)

Naomi gave Ruth instructions about how to go to Boaz and what to do and say, trusting that he was a man of God who regarded the law of God and would gladly do what God had instructed. There are people like that, you know. I know there aren’t many, but there are some. They are the kind that God uses as agents of grace. They are there even when you can not see them because of your circumstances. You will not find these people in Moab, though. They do not live there. You must come to the place of God to find this kind of people. They are among God’s people.

So if you consider your circumstances and feel that “bitter” would be a better name for you, then you need to think about what God did for Naomi. Follow her example and put your faith in the Word of God and make sure that you are among the people of God.

And the women said unto Naomi, Blessed be the LORD, which hath not left thee this day without a kinsman, that his name may be famous in Israel. {15} And he shall be unto thee a restorer of thy life, and a nourisher of thine old age: for thy daughter in law, which loveth thee, which is better to thee than seven sons, hath borne him. {16} And Naomi took the child, and laid it in her bosom, and became nurse unto it. {17} And the women her neighbours gave it a name, saying, There is a son born to Naomi; and they called his name Obed: he is the father of Jesse, the father of David.  (Ruth 4:14-17)

Naomi is now holding a baby boy who will be the grandfather of David the King of Israel. She doesn’t recover what she lost, but she is blessed with things she never would have had otherwise. In place of bitterness she now has blessedness. In place of despair she now has hope. In place of emptiness she now has her arms full again. See how circumstances can change?