“The women said to Naomi: ‘Praise be to the LORD, who this day has not left you without a guardian-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel!'” — Ruth 4:14
Lookout Mountain in Georgia rises more than 2,000 feet above sea level as it stretches across Tennessee and Georgia. When people stand on top of Rock City Point, they see parts of seven states: Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Kentucky, Alabama and Virginia. It’s an incredible experience to turn around and see trees, houses, cars and people down below that high place.
This mountaintop view gives us a glimpse of how God sees the world. God sees every detail of our lives, all at the same time. In contrast, our view is limited and we only see what’s happening now. Through God’s infinite wisdom, He designed the Bible to show us many stories of people redeemed from broken lives to help us not despair when everything seems to go wrong.
After Naomi and her family moved from Israel to Moab in the book of Ruth, everything went downhill. Her husband died, and then her two sons did as well. Naomi thought she would never be happy again, even though her name meant “pleasant” or “happy,” but her daughter-in-law, Ruth, did not abandon her in her helpless state.
When Naomi and Ruth moved back to Israel as widows, Naomi refused to be comforted. “‘Don’t call me Naomi,’ she told them. ‘Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter. I went away full, but the LORD has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The LORD has afflicted me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me'” (Ruth 1:20-21).
We all speak too soon sometimes, like Naomi. She did not know her daughter-in-law would gather grain and always keep her fed. She did not know Ruth would marry Boaz and give her a grandson to hold and love. Eventually, that grandson would put her in the lineage of the Lord Jesus Christ, as detailed in the Book of Matthew.
“The women said to Naomi: ‘Praise be to the LORD, who this day has not left you with a guardian-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel!'” – Ruth 4:14
— Bill Kent, Pastor of Memorial Baptist Church, Sylvania, Georgia
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