3. How God uses financial disaster

A famine caused a husband and wife to leave Bethlehem and relocate to Moab.

The move to Moab seems to help the family. Elimelech and Naomi, with their sons Mahlon and Kilion and their daughters-in-law, Orpah and Ruth, were quite happy in Moab. However, disaster struck again some years later.

First, Elimelech died, and then both sons died, leaving the three women in a desperate situation. In the society of that time, the death of supporting male family members greatly impacted the women economically. The situation seemed hopeless, and they concluded, “the hand of the Lord has gone out against us.” They suffered again from a lack of food.

Naomi leaves Moab hoping to find food in Bethlehem, where she had heard that the famine was over. The town was excited at seeing them again, but Naomi said, “Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made life very bitter for me. Why call me Naomi when the Lord has caused me to suffer and the Almighty has sent such tragedy upon me?”

She went on to say, “God has brought me home.” She sees all these unfortunate events of famine and death as somehow a work of the Lord.

The story has a happy ending. Ruth meets Boaz, and they get married. Boaz acts as a kinsman - redeemer! They have a son and name him Obed. Obed is the father of Jessie, the father of David, which is mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus Christ.

We see that God was using these economic conditions to physically move people to the locations they needed to be and to meet people they needed to meet.

God uses economic difficulties to prepare people for His glory. Those situations are painful, but in all things, we see that God uses the waste products of life to make something beautiful! God is in the recycling business!

What begins as a tragedy of death and sorrow ends in the birth of new life and the resurrection of hope. This story mirrors the gospel!