"Call me Mara..."

Today finds me thinking about Naomi. I turned to the book of Ruth this morning in an attempt to avoid Judges which is where I’ve been for about a month now. Something in me just didn’t have the heart to read about one more battle, you know? Funny, though, how Ruth is a story that is set in the time of the Judges.

And yet, what captured my heart and attention this morning had more to do with Naomi than Ruth. Everything in Naomi’s life seems to have gone bottom up—she’s lost her husband; both of her sons have died; and she’s living alone in the land of Moab far away from her family and hometown of Bethlehem. While she has the comfort of her daughters-in-law, she is very aware that not to release them to go find husbands while still in their youth and beauty would be stealing their own futures. As I got caught up in her world, I really felt the weight of Naomi’s seeming aloneness: “She said to them, ‘Each of you go back to your mother’s home. May the LORD show faithful love to you as you have shown to the dead and to me. May the LORD enable each of you to find security in the house of your [new] husband.’ She kissed them, and they wept loudly.” (Ruth 1:8-9)

And then there is that beautiful moment where Ruth steps up to the plate, pledges not only her love to her mother-in-law, but to serve and follow the God she had come to know through Naomi. Also worthy of note, the Hebrew words Elohiym and Yahweh are used here signifying the difference between the gods of Ruth’s country.

Naomi can’t seem to persuade Ruth otherwise and takes her back to Bethlehem with her. Naomi’s friends and family, while they welcome Naomi back home, are quick to notice the change in Naomi. Her name meaning pleasant, she tells her old friends, “Don't call me Naomi. Call me Mara [bitter],” she answered, “for the Almighty has made me very bitter. I left full, but the LORD has brought me back empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the LORD has pronounced [judgment] on me, and the Almighty has afflicted me?” (Ruth 1:20-21) To those who knew this once vibrant and agreeable woman, the hardships and blows of life it seems were obvious to all.

In reading this interchange many different times before, I would have blown over Naomi’s reaction chalking it up as an inappropriate response to her circumstances fixing my focus instead on Ruth who seems to have it all together. But today I couldn’t brush away Naomi’s response. Today I saw Naomi in a different light. I seemed to hear her say,

“You know what? Life hasn’t turned out as I expected. Yes, I left here during the famine full of hopes and dreams knowing in the land of Moab Yahweh would provide for my family. And He did for many years. But now, I’ve lost everything and I’m returning in pain. Yahweh has brought this into my life. I don’t hate Him. I’m not running away from His affliction. If I wanted turn my back on Him I would have stayed in Moab and embraced her gods. But, He has indeed emptied my life. I have nothing but the clothes on my back and the love and friendship of this dear daughter, Ruth. Despite the fact that everything in my life hurts right now and I can’t see beyond the emptiness I’ve been given, I’ve come home to Bethlehem….a place where I can recharge…a place where Yahweh is providing for His people. For now, this is all I can see.”

Maybe I heard Naomi’s heart differently today because it gave a description into the current state of my own. It was good to hear…both hers and mine. At this point in Naomi’s Story, she can’t see beyond her current circumstances. And while I don’t yet know the end of my Story, I do know the end Naomi’s. It’s a good one, ending as she never would have expected and even more joyous than she ever would have imagined bearing eternal fruit in the line of Jesus.

If you think about it, without Naomi, there would be no Ruth, you know? While I often want to dismiss Naomi and focus in on Ruth, Ruth’s passionate pledge to Naomi came, I believe, as a result of seeing up close Naomi’s devotion to Yahweh. I think Ruth saw a woman still trusting in Yahweh and willing to return to her home country because Naomi knew that’s where Yahweh dwelled. Despite Naomi’s fallen countenance, Ruth saw a woman who was still clinging to her Elohiym.

Thanks, God, for using Naomi’s pain for good and for helping me to see my heart and be honest with where I’m at currently. Thanks for the picture of Your heart for the nations through Naomi’s relationship with Ruth. Thanks for seeing me, caring for me, and sharing Your heart with me…