Quote for the Day
“It is more bitter for me than for you …”
Today's Prayer
This week pray for those on the road to focus on an attitude of thankfulness to God. Ask God to give both those on the road and those at home a hope and joy founded in God’s grace and mercy in their lives.
Ruth 1:8-15
Ruth 1:8-15 (NIV)8 Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back, each of you, to your mother’s home. May the LORD show kindness to you, as you have shown to your dead and to me. 9 May the LORD grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband.” Then she kissed them and they wept aloud 10 and said to her, “We will go back with you to your people.” 11 But Naomi said, “Return home, my daughters. Why would you come with me? Am I going to have any more sons, who could become your husbands? 12 Return home, my daughters; I am too old to have another husband. Even if I thought there was still hope for me-even if I had a husband tonight and then gave birth to sons- 13 would you wait until they grew up? Would you remain unmarried for them? No, my daughters. It is more bitter for me than for you, because the Lord’s hand has gone out against me!” 14 At this they wept again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-by, but Ruth clung to her. 15 “Look,” said Naomi, “your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with her.”
Message
As we discussed last week, it seems that Naomi is making the right choice to return to . At the same time, her attitude is very disconnected from God. First, she gives up all hope of finding satisfaction in the family God had placed her with. She is in difficult circumstances, living with two daughters-in-law and no husbands between the three of them. Next, she blames God for it. In verse 13 she says, “It is more bitter for me than for you, because the Lord’s hand has gone out against me!” [emphasis mine] In effect, she is saying, “Woe is me! You don’t have life as bad as I do! God is opposed to me!”Too many times we see this attitude among believers. I think it is due to a lack of vision and closeness to God. Yes, she saw God’s direction to go back to , yet she sounds like she is going out of discouragement or spite, not because she sees God’s provision. As we listen to God and seek His will, we MUST have an attitude of thankfulness and gratefulness to God. Do we look around to see how God has blessed us compared to others? Contrast Naomi with Job: from riches to begging on the streets, and yet he praises God no differently while in despair. Our attitude about big things (and yes, Naomi faced some big things…loss of her husband and two sons) comes from our closeness to God, and I believe that relationship is also reflected in little things. How is your attitude about everyday life and circumstances? You can be assured if it is bitter and resentful towards God (and others) in the daily frustrations and difficulties, it will be even more so when the real challenges of life come along.Many questions will never be answered in this life, but this life will be far easier to live day by day if our attitude flows from a close relationship with God Almighty. Naomi chose to obey God with a poor attitude. How will you choose to obey God this week?
