There is no way to ‘hang-in’ with God
Published 1:35 am Friday, January 16, 2009
By Staff
There was a biblical Old Testament character named Naomi (Ruth 1:2). Naomi's husband was named Elimelech. They lived in Israel, in Bethlehem which means "house of bread."
The bread ran out in Bethlehem during a famine (Ruth 1:1). Naomi's husband decided to take his family, that is, his wife and two sons, and move to Moab, because he heard there was food there.
Naomi's first act of "hanging in" with God was to follow her husband's leadership.
While they were in Moab, Naomi's husband died. Both her sons married girls from Moab, but both sons died in Moab also. Naomi was now stranded in Moab with two foreign daughters-in-law and no visible means of support. Naomi heard that there was food in Bethlehem so she prepared to go home (Ruth 1:6).
It is most difficult to return to the place you are from, especially if you go back in apparent failure.
Naomi discouraged her daughters-in-law from going back with her because she believed and declared, in Ruth 1:13, "the LORD's hand has gone out against me!"
Naomi's statement was not God-defying; it may have been a recognition that the calamity that had come her way may have been a result of the actions of her family. Going back to Bethlehem may have been an act of returning to God and to her roots. Somebody said, "When things are out of focus, go back to the basics." Naomi was possibly exercising the age-old wisdom of, "If you think you left God's will, go back to the place you left it."
When Naomi discouraged her daughters-in-law from going back with her, one agreed to stay in Moab, but Ruth would not leave Naomi and came back to Israel with her. When Naomi arrived in Bethlehem, the people were amazed. Naomi was very honest with them, in Ruth, chapter 1, verses 20-21, when she told them she believed the Lord's hand had gone out against her.
Naomi and Ruth arrived in Bethlehem during harvest. Naomi and Ruth both knew that poor people could freely glean behind the reapers. This was an act of believing in God's providence. Naomi was faithfully following God's plan for her time of poverty.
Naomi did not plan which field Ruth was working in, but it was no coincidence that Ruth ended up in the field of a kinsman of her dead father-in-law. When Naomi heard that Ruth was working in the field of Boaz, she faltered not in faith but instructed Ruth how to put herself in the place of God's blessing by exercising the law of the "kinsman redeemer," which provided that a near kinsman was responsible for the care of widows in the family or clan.
"Hanging in" with God takes faith and patience. You must go and do things against hope. Naomi and Ruth persevered and God provided a righteous man in Boaz who went to much trouble and great lengths to fulfill his role as kinsman redeemer.
The rest, as they say, is history. Ruth married Boaz and became the great-grandmother of King David who was a direct ancestor of Jesus Christ. Ruth, a foreigner, became a key link in the lineage of the Savior.
Naomi exercised humility in being willing to return to Bethlehem. She exercised faith and perseverance in accepting God's place and provision for her as a poor widow. Her "hanging in" with God literally opened the windows of heaven for her and her family.
When things seem dark, go back to the basics of declaring who God is and simply taking the next step with Him. God is the only "sure thing" there is.