A WORD IN SEASON TO THE WEARY
9th February🌷🌷
“…there was a famine in the land …of Bethlehem – Judah”
(Ruth 1:1)
Those were days of spiritual darkness in the land of Israel. If you compare the opening words of Ruth chapter 1 with the closing words in the Book of Judges, you can understand something of the conditions prevailing in the land at that time. “ In those day there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes”. When there was famine in the land Naomi and her family thought that by running away from these troubles and going to the land of Moab, all their problems would be over; they had no thought of seeking the will of God. They were being governed only by “that which was right in their own eyes”. Even today, for the sake of money and worldly prosperity, many believers neglect the fellowship of God’s children. For a time, everything went well with Naomi and her family. They had more food than they had in Bethlehem. But soon death came into the family; and the two sons went and married women of Moab.
One can easily see that the cause of all the failures in Naomi’s family was that they had despised the fellowship of God’s people, and had gone away from them. First Naomi’s husband, Elimelech, died. Naomi thus became a widow, and she had no control over her sons. There was no one to guide the two young men in the proper path, and they married women of Moab. We are more exposed to temptations when we are alone, than when we are in the company of other children of God. When we are with other believers, we are strengthened by their prayer and fellowship, and thus better equipped to face the devices of the enemy. So never neglect the fellowship of God’s people. Disobedience to the Word of God and to divine principles invariably brings us into loss and this, in turn, leads to sorrow.
It was only then that Naomi began to think of Bethlehem-Judah. It dawned on her that she would be better off in Bethlehem than in this strange country. She realized that her place was Bethlehem and that she had done wrong in coming away from the land of God’s promise. Whatever be the failures in our lives, when we truly repent of them, and are willing to put things right, we find God working on our behalf turning our failures into triumphs. Unknown to Naomi, God was working behind the scenes. Her Moabitish daughter-in-law Ruth became the channel through whom His Son may be brought into the world, thereby revealing the riches of His mercy. But before He could do any of these things, Naomi should return to the land of God’s promise. The moment she decided to return, God began to work. In the same way, whatever be the failures in our lives, when we decide to return to God, He will change our sorrow into joy, and reveal the riches of His grace through us.
