Often we think that coming home is going to be a joyous, happy time. But sometimes people return home because they feel they have to and not because they are excited to do so.
Naomi was return to Israel but only because she saw no other options. She wasn't happy about coming home, in fact, we see that she told her friends not to call her Naomi "pleasant" but rather call her Mara "bitter". Naomi had no hope and saw no reason to have hope.
Ruth 1:19-22 19 So they both went until they came to Bethlehem. And when they had come to Bethlehem, all the city was stirred because of them, and the women said, "Is this Naomi?" 20 She said to them, "Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. 21 "I went out full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the Lord has witnessed against me and the Almighty has afflicted me?"
22 So Naomi returned, and with her Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, who returned from the land of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest. NASU
"BUT GOD"
When Naomi and Ruth returned we notice one key statement. It was the beginning of the barley harvest. God is about to show Naomi and Ruth just how much He cared and how He has been working in their lives. John Piper says "You can not see the soveriegnity of God looking forward only backwards" (I believe I have that correct). This is something we must understand, God does not tells us in advance what He is doing and often we only see how God worked all things for His glory. Naomi return to Israel bitter and without hope because she failed to trust God for things unseen.
Are you feeling hopeless? Now is the time to trust God. It is not trust if you know everything. God calls you to trust Him and he has shown it time and time again through the Bible and other lives of believers. He is reaching out to you, TRUST IN HIM TODAY!
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