The Book of Naomi

If the Holy Spirit had been so inclined to have written a Book of Naomi, what would be the theme? 

I cannot forget experiencing a shocking loss and going through some reeeeaaally dark days. I would have never thought I could feel that heartbroken and yet, so numb and out of touch. Months later, I spoke to a great man of faith who'd lost his child. He had experienced a black uncertainty that caused my experience to pale. And in the Book of Ruth, we meet Naomi. A woman who, with her husband and sons, leaves her homeland to escape famine. However, her husband dies, her sons take wives but then die also, and this Israelite woman is left far from home and grieving with her two daughters-in-law. I imagine her staring blankly at them, unable to offer any comfort or explanation. She decides to head home. 

Well, it's not the Book of Naomi, it's the Book of Ruth, and chances are, you probably know what happens next. Ruth, one of her daughters-in-law refuses to let her go alone; she insists on living with Naomi in Judah (Ruth 1:16, 17): 

For wherever you go, I will go;
And wherever you lodge, I will lodge;
Your people shall be my people,
And your God, my God.
Where you die, I will die,
And there will I be buried.
The Lord do so to me, and more also,
If anything but death parts you and me.

Beautiful, isn't it? Such love, such devotion. What would be the Moabitess Ruth's prospects of finding a husband among God's people? And what sort of life would this young woman have hanging around her mother-in-law's friends and working day after day to support the two of them? If anyone had cause to be bitter... But in verse 19, as Naomi arrives in Bethlehem, her family greets her with excitement. Is this Naomi? Naomi responds (v. 20, 21):

Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, and the Lord has brought me home again empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the Lord has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me?

Some extract from this that Naomi was grieved over the decision she and her husband had made years before to escape famine: this was God's judgment, since all she had experienced since leaving Judah was loss. I wouldn't say that was wrong, and I can't say that in the midst of her grief that wouldn't have come to her mind. (Lord knows, as I was grieving LOTS of things I could have done better occurred to me.) We left God's land and God's people and placed ourselves outside His blessing. What did I expect? But, perhaps, this was simply grief talking. Her insistence that Ruth stay in Moab, find a husband: selflessness or misery? My life is over; you still have your youth. Call me Mara: a self-imposed sentence or the inability to remember life as Naomi without that crushing ache? Don't remind me of the hope I once had, the life I thought would never end.  

I think it's important Naomi does not equate her situation with the enemy or some vague sense of misfortune. She says this is God's doing. In order to claim God has dealt bitterly with her and yet, has brought her home, she must have faith she is still His own. In order to place all of her grief within His purview, she must believe He is at work, He is sovereign, and that He has some sort of role in her life. Even if it is to bring grief for the sake of judgment or testing or greater blessing or testimony. It is in her grief, in her pain which is so keenly described for us here, that we see her faith. One does not blame anything they refuse to acknowledge or give thought to anyone they believe is not present.        

And God shows her great mercy through her daughter-in-law, Ruth. The Book of Ruth. Ruth ministers to her mother-in-law and her mother-in-law pours into Ruth. They build a life together; Ruth's hope and energy, Naomi's faith and wisdom, and a kinsman redeemer. The blessing the women of Judah spoke over Naomi and her new grandson celebrates the new life and the sustenance restored to her --in fact, not restored, but multiplied! to her --despite the sorrow she had known. 

Grief does not mean we have lost our faith or doubt our God; it simply reminds us how much we need Him. 

An Offer You Don't Want to Refuse

There's an old expression in the church, something about "laying out a fleece." It refers to asking for a type of clarification or sign --Did I hear You correctly? --from God. It originates with the account of Gideon in Judges 6. The angel of the Lord appears to him as he is threshing wheat not on the threshing floor as one would expect, but in the winepress, to hide it from the enemies of Israel, the Midianites. This angel addresses Gideon as a "mighty man of valor" (v. 12) and says he has been called to save Israel from this fierce army that has demoralized God's people and decimated their land. But Gideon isn't as certain about all this as the messenger seems to be: Show me you are who you say you are and that I will be so equipped (v. 17). Gideon prepares a sacrifice and the angel of the Lord consumes it. Message received. 

Sometime later, the enemies of Israel prepare for a full invasion. Gideon, under the power of the Holy Spirit, summons the troops and they assemble behind him. I can understand Gideon's hesitancy from this point; you've got your family, countrymen looking to you for leadership against this bloodthirsty legion of warriors and just days ago, you were hunkered down trying to keep your meager provisions from being discovered just to feed your family. This is really happening. Again, Gideon seeks a sign: If You will save Israel by my hand as You have said... (v. 36) Gideon acknowledges God has promised this, but... but what? but he really didn't believe it? but that was weeks ago? but things have gotten much worse? but "have you looked at me lately"? Friend, I wish I could pass judgment on Gideon, But the knot in my stomach every time I'm called to do something out of my comfort zone, every time I'm called to speak a difficult word or walk through an unpleasant season tells me I am no more confident in God's presence or promises than Gideon. So, Gideon asks for more: a fleece wet with dew while the surrounding ground remains dry (v. 37). And again, a dry fleece while the ground is wet with dew (v. 39). Both times, it was so.

Let's see what happens next. In Judges 7, we read that God whittles the army of Israel, the army under Gideon's leadership, the army that will go up against the hordes of Midian, down to its bare bones. Not once do we read of Gideon objecting to the process --even when God settles for a measly three hundred (v. 7)! But it gets better. That night, God spoke to Gideon again. Arise, go down against the camp, for I have delivered it into your hand. But if you are afraid to go down, go down to the camp with Purah your servant, and you shall hear what they say; and afterward your hands shall be strengthened to go down against the camp (v. 9-11). Gideon takes God up on the offer. After all of the demonstrations, after this entire process of preparing Gideon and his men, Gideon chooses to peek behind the curtain; he chose the blessing that would strengthen him for the upcoming battle.

Have there been times I've doubted? Yes, without a doubt 😉. I've questioned. I've panicked. I've stared at the ceiling and rehashed conversations until the wee hours of the morning. But God has proven Himself again and again. It has been my self-sufficiency and mistrust that have let me down. It has been my pride that has distracted me from great faith. But God knows my heart. He chooses to love me and have compassion on me even when I have been far from Him, even when I have doubted His goodness. He has held out mercy to me. He has offered to me the blessing that would strengthen me for the battle ahead. And, be assured, the God who has promised to never leave or forsake His people will do the same for you. Choose the blessing. Take His offer.  

  

Midweek: Who Brings the Victory?

Now Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great and honorable man in the eyes of his master, because by him the Lord had given victory to Syria. He was also a mighty man of valor, but a leper.

~ 2 Kings 5:1

Naaman's master considered him a great and honorable man, why? Because by him the Lord had given Syria (Aram in other translations) victory over its enemies. Now, if we are at all familiar with the battles and the means by which God's people went to war recorded in the Old Testament, we read something like this and think of Naaman, bowing before God, asking Him or thanking Him for a great victory. Is that what this is saying?  

Maybe what's being said is that the king of Aram knew God and he gave thanks to God for the victory granted his nation through such a mighty and capable leader. But history does not bear that out. Judges 3:5-11 tells of the pagan neighbors of Israel and how God used these nations (eventually sending a deliverer) to trouble Israel and turn their hearts back to God; Aram-Naharayim (Mesopotamia in the NKJV) was such a neighbor. God's people were at war with the people of Aram for generations. With that information, not only does the possibility of Syria's king attributing victory to God diminish, so does the possibility of the commander of the king's armies attributing victory to the God of Israel. That leaves only one person, the writer of 2 Kings.

It's really interesting that, in the context of a heathen victory, of the triumph of Israel's enemy, this writer of Scripture recognizes that it is the Lord who gives and the Lord who takes away (Job 1:21). I don't always think that way. I see the wicked "wickeding", I see the blasphemers blaspheming, I see the moneygrubbers moneygrubbing. And I seethe with indignation or, if I take the time to see them through the eyes of God, I pray for and pity them. But I rarely stop to recognize that in their lives, at the very moment they have made a huge profit on the sale of their home or benefitted yet again from the system or taken that dream vacation --You know, the one that was my dream --or won a legal battle, that God is working. So, when I begin to recognize the sovereignty and movement of God in the lives of those who deny He even exists, I have to ask myself, Why not? 

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus reasons that the rain falls on the just and the unjust. Rain that waters crops and quenches thirst; rain that saturates and brings mold to vulnerable little seedlings and ruins a double-header. Why not celebrate the goodness of God in the lives of all people? Why not give thanks that His kindness is meant to lead mankind to repentance? Why not use my frustration over their myopia and my grief over their reticence to thank God for His pursuit of them? to thank God He is still active in their lives, sparing them (particularly when they are my loved ones)? Why not use my human response to nudge me toward prayer for these individuals? My frustration should not cause me to give up hope or turn my back on interceding for them. My grief is not --Praise God! --a final grief. As long as I have breath in my lungs, I have opportunity to pray others, too, will recognize it is God who is sovereign over all things. That He has brought healing to buy them time, that He has brought prosperity that they might eat, that He has surrounded them with friends that they might know relationship, and that He has given them rest from their labors that they might, in those peaceful days of reflection, lift their eyes heavenward and know Who has brought the victory.      

Welcome! Please Come In

My mother was something of an omnivert; at least, that's what they're calling it these days. Mom would come to life when doting on the retired folks in her little snack shop each day. She would decorate --the shop and herself! --for every holiday or event. She loved having conversations with even the surliest of customers, teasing out of them a smile or a snort of concession. When it came to peers and social settings, however, she was a little less luminescent. She'd agree to show up to a party and cancel last minute. She was master of the Irish Goodbye (or French Exit, depending on your country of ancestry). She'd fidget in her seat during the functions she was forced to attend and vow, once she left, it was the last. Being something of an "omnivert" myself, I've come to realize this has less to do with energy or personality, and more to do with control or gaining the upper hand. If I feel comfortable with folks, I can hang all day; if I'm intimidated, uncertain, or feel unwanted, I want out of there as quickly as possible. Seriously, do you know anyone who isn't like that? Good relationships start with feeling wanted and safe.

In Genesis 7:1, ADONAI said to Noach, “Come into the ark, you and all your household; for I have seen that you alone in this generation are righteous before me. God told Noah to join Him where He was. Feeling wanted, safety, right? Mind you, this is the God who says to His people again and again, I will never leave you of forsake you. Meaning, where God was when He called Noah to Himself, is where He was going to stay. Does this mean God was holed up in a cabin awaiting the end of the deluge as Noah and his family did? No, God summoned Noah and his family to join Him in the ark; He Himself is the ark! That's what I call safety! After decades of gopher wood, pitch and, perhaps, a crazy amount of harassment from the neighbors, Noah moved into his new home and waited for rain --whatever that is. He had no clue how long they would be on board, where their journey would take them; but they had God. His plan was to spare them, to welcome them, to remain with them, to shelter them, and for His people to be in Him. That includes you and me! We do that through His Son, Jesus Christ who is God. He calls us into relationship, to follow where He leads and be where He is; and we are safe, at peace in His presence. Feeling wanted, safety.

1 Corinthians 1:30, 31 tell us, But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption— that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.” Like Noah, we don't round up the animals, we don't plot the course, we don't even close the door. Christ beckons us to come and we --I pray --come to be in Him. So long as we remain in Him and He in us, we experience fullness of joy; we are able to do all He commands. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. We are made new and are no longer condemned to death. Romans 8:1 says, There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. We might even be willing to go where we won't necessarily have the upper hand. Because we are wanted by the God of the universe; because we are safe in the One True God who is sovereign over heaven and earth.

Uncomfortable, perhaps dangerous situations? We are in Christ! Sure, the skies may darken, the storms may come, the waves may roll us about, and we might have no idea where we will land, but we can remain in Him. For God to shelter, guard, and guide Noah and his family as their smelly, cacophonous zoo rocked and bumped over a water-covered world was HUGE!! Every one of us can be in Him as well. Our first step is to simply Come.