Once or Twice
. . . she heard that the LORD had taken note of His people and given them food. Ruth 1:6 JPS
Had taken note – Once or twice in life it’s nice to hear something from the Lord. Two times is the extent of direct mention of God in the story of Ruth. Yes, the Lord is active in the lives of these people, but it is quite unusual that there is so little direct mention of Him. For the most part, life in and around Bethlehem goes on just as usual. People deal with one form of crisis or another. Circumstances change. Things happen. There is no spiritualized awareness of the consequences of God’s hand. Life just happens.
That’s the way it is for almost all of us. And perhaps that’s the way God prefers it. He moves invisibly among the lives of men to accomplish His purposes. Try to imagine what it would be like if He didn’t disguise what He is doing. Would Naomi have gone to Moab if she knew that her husband and sons would die there? Would she have elicited a paradigm case of hesed from Ruth if she knew it would take the death of a son to bring about these circumstances? Would Ruth have gone to Bethlehem if she knew in advance what life would be like as an outsider at risk? Go even further back. Would Lot and Abraham have separated if they both knew all the ins and outs of God’s purposes over the course of generations to bring about the story of Ruth and the eventual birth of David? No, my guess is that no human being would sign up for the plan if he or she knew all the details in advance (with perhaps one exception). Maybe there’s a very good reason why we feel we are left in the dark so many times. Maybe it’s because if we knew, we would choose not to cooperate.
This verse doesn’t really say that God noticed the plight of His people. The verb is paqad. It means “to visit, to exercise oversight or to attend to.” It isn’t that God somehow forgot about the record book for Bethlehem and then one day suddenly noticed what was happening. God had oversight responsibility all along. But God’s oversight doesn’t always line up with the way men would like things to happen. The people of Bethlehem didn’t want to experience a famine, but that doesn’t mean the famine wasn’t part of God’s oversight. The famine created the circumstances that led Elimelech and Naomi to Moab – and to Ruth. That’s oversight. The death of her two sons lead Naomi and Ruth back to Bethlehem. That’s oversight. But before you object, “How can God’s oversight include the death of these three men?” let me remind you that in Hebrew thought whatever God does is good. We don’t set the standard. He does. And what He does is the definition of good. So God’s oversight, no matter what that might entail, is good.
Naomi doesn’t think so. She is bitter. She is discouraged. She is disconsolate. But there is this tiny ray of hope in her words. God has oversight. He has visited His people. Maybe all isn’t lost yet. Maybe.
I suspect that most of the time we are like Naomi. We can’t see beyond our own pain. We don’t think tomorrow will be better. We only imagine what we know now will continue forever. But we have this tiny ray of hope. Maybe somehow God will visit us. It’s not a life-altering rock-solid statement of faith. It’s just a miniscule desire to have a peek at what He is really doing. But most of the time, what He is really doing is invisible – and for good reason. We are left with this. What God does is good. Period.
How’s Naomi doing in your life today?
Topical Index: Ruth 1:6, take note, visit, oversight, paqad, good
“He is the Rock, His work is perfect;
For all His ways are justice,
A G-d of truth and without injustice;
Righteous and upright is He.” (Deut. 32:6)
“…He never fails…” (Zeph. 3:5)
Have I been blinded by own and others pain? I believe we all could say yes to this question. At the same time, pain has driven me to God and His Word in a way that has shaped me for His purposes.
Have I always been a willing partner in the process?
Pain our own and others does cause blindness, but I belive this is the way we learn to truly see.
Dr. Paul Brand with Phillip Yancy wrote a book about Pain–The Gift Nobody Wants
Yeah, its a gift in ways we might never imagine. Consider leprosy, the disease that causes people to become unaware of sensations that would otherwise invoke an immediate response. For example, when a leprosy patient’s hand is lying on the a hot oven, burning, he or she doesn’t know enough to remove it! Or their eyes dry out, because without blinking, thus stimulating tear ducts, the eyes don’t stay moist and become painful, blindness eventually follows. For most it is a slight pain stimulant, we may not be aware of that type of pain, but our brain recognizes it. Not so with leprosy.
God allows us to have pain because it helps us recognize where we are infected or hurt. Without pain, we would never go to the doctor–nor to God.
Nor would we ever sympathize with others in physical or emotional pain, — how can we learn compassion with no experience?
I once read the testimony of a man who within 6 months of going to the mission field lost both his wife and his son. Other things went wrong for him as well. Found recorded on the last page of his
diary was written how sometimes he wondered why so much sadness was necessary in his life. Then he said he realized that because his hands hung so low in sadness, that others–sadder than him–were timidly reaching up to grab his hand and receive comfort.
Overall, pain is something we need to be thankful for. Without it, life would be lots more difficult and shorter. God has reasons for everything He does. (Ps. 9:8) God has plans for everyone, and pain is an incredible (and unwelcome) gift. When will I be mature enough to thank Him for it, I wonder.
Naomi was swallowed up in her pain that she was blinded to everything else. Ruth could truly see because she was blinded by her love for Naomi.
We can allow pain to blind us so we cannot see or we can allow pain to open our eyes to see.
True
Naomi is not doing so good in my life this week……thanks for this post really needed to read it and remind mysef of Yah’s ways in our lives in order to bring about his purposes.
Skip – hope you saw my message on the other post re being re-instated on’word for today’….please when you get a chance email me as to the best way to get back on it. Ta