Daring With Ruth: 7 Days Of CourageSample

Together, Ruth and Naomi finally make it to their destination: Bethlehem, Naomi’s original home. 

The scene begins with a glimmer of excitement and hope. The entire town is “stirred” by Naomi’s return. But their excitement soon turns into something else. Naomi is different. Never mind the fact that she has arrived alone, except for a mysterious foreign girl. Her demeanor has changed. The once beautiful and lively woman is now cold, distant.

Naomi confirms the change telling her old neighbors and friends to call her Mara, which means bitter. In all of Scripture, Naomi is the only person to change her own name. Most often, name changes are instituted by God or a human ruler. Here, Naomi takes it upon herself to redefine her identity.

If you keep reading, you’ll discover something interesting. The narrator never uses the name Mara again in the entire book of Ruth. In fact, it appears that everyone continued to call her Naomi.

Name changes were meant to signify a permanent transformation. For example, Jacob, which means the deceiver, was changed to Israel, which means one who triumphs with God. The new name signified the new chapter in Jacob’s life. Naomi believed that God had resigned her to live a bitter life for the rest of her days. 

But the writer of the text and Naomi’s friends all refused to believe that would be her fate. They continued to call her by her real, God-given name which meant lovely. 

Almost as another argument against Naomi’s desire to become Mara, Chapter 1 ends by stating that the harvest season was just getting started. Everything around Naomi, even nature itself, was urging her to look beyond herself and to remember this one truth: seasons change.

Like Naomi, we will be tempted to define ourselves by the season of life we are in. Bitter, broken, sick, scared. When you begin to feel this way, stop what you are doing and take a moment to look outside. 

Before autumn, the leaves begin to reveal another color. Before winter, those same leaves find their way off their branches and onto the wind. Before spring, the snow begins to melt away. And before summer, small flower buds begin to spring up from where the snow once was. 

God has instituted a year-round reminder that life will not always be the way it is right now. When things are good, be grateful because life is short. And when things are bad, be hopeful because in the grand scheme of things, our troubles are even shorter.  

Takeaway: Life is a series of seasons. Your current trouble will eventually bloom into something good.

Prayer: You are a good God. Help me believe in your goodness, even when my small view of life only sees trouble.