With her two daughters-in-law she left the place where she had been living and set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah (Ruth 1:7).
Our Father, our helper and our guide, on this our earthly journey, how completely we rely on Your strength and Your power! Lord, You know that often it is not an easy road, but we think of the encouraging truth in David's prayer from the cave, "When my spirit grows faint within me, it is You who watch over my way" (Psalm 142:3).
Sustainer and faithful guide, You watch over [our] coming and going both now and forevermore (Psalm 121:8). And even though sometimes we seem to go and come full circle, we can trust Your plan.
We see this in the life of Naomi, in the account given us in the book of Ruth. Ten years after her journey of survival to escape famine in her native Bethlehem (ironically "House of Bread"), we meet her far from home in a foreign country, all hope of survival buried alongside her husband and sons.
And now with all she has left, two daughters-in-law, she must set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah (Ruth 1:7). Back to square one. Full circle. Full of bitterness. Full of grief. Full of pain. Full of trepidation. Full of everything that adds up to empty.
And yet, the depletion is still not over—until she is finally left with only one determined daughter-in-law, Ruth, who, unlike her sister-in-law, could not be convinced to return home to her own country. So now in shared vulnerability they journey together. Destitute. Empty of prospects. Empty of options. Empty of hope:
“Don’t call me Naomi,” [Pleasant] she told [her Bethlehem community] . “Call me Mara,[Bitter] because the Almighty has made my life very bitter. I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty..." (Ruth 1:20).
O Father we lift to You the ones who identify so well with Naomi. The ones who feel You have forsaken them—have made their lives bitter and empty. We lift to You the ones who have left their familiar—seeking escape, hope, opportunity, survival. We lift to You the ones who are at the end of... We lift to You the ones who are on the road back. We lift to You the ones who have come full circle. We lift to You the ones who are back to square one.
We lift to You the ones who are full of bitterness. Full of grief. Full of pain. Full of trepidation. And the ones who are empty. Financially destitute. Spiritually depleted. Emotionally stripped.
O healing God, we pray that as we journey on we would not lose sight of Your face. We pray that we would discover the beginning of Your limitless horizons when we come to the dead ends in the long and weary road.
We pray that we would trust Your hand when You bring us back to the starting place—when You have replenished the stores in the House of Bread. Help us to know that even when we don't understand the reason for the circles, and the detours, and the twists, and the turns, You put it all together in Your plan for our life and purpose.
In time, Lord, You restored hope and purpose to the distressed and impoverished widow, Naomi. You gave Naomi and Ruth a home, provided a kinsman redeemer and a husband for Ruth, and gave her a son who was to be part of the genealogy of our Lord Jesus.
Encourage our hearts from their story to trust that even in the midst of our "emptying," You are filling us with grace—that You are using us to draw others on the journey who look at our lives and want our God to be their God (Ruth 1:16). Help us to trust that at the end of what we can see, You have a plan to renew [our] life (Ruth 4:15).
Lord God, You brought a Messiah out of Mara. Help us to trust that in our lives, too, You will make everything beautiful in its time (Ecclesiastes 3:11).
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