Mother-in-law, daughter-in-law

Tuesday July 6, 2021

Indeed, the Lord does not reject forever, but when he causes sorrow he shows compassion, so great is his goodness. In fact, it is not with a good heart that he humiliates, that he causes grief to men. Lamentations of Jeremiah 3:31-33

Mother-in-law, daughter-in-law

The Bible tells us the sad story first, then beautiful, of Naomi who, with her husband and her two sons, had gone to another country to escape the famine that was raging in Israel, forgetting that God could provide for the needs of his people. There her sons were married, then her husband and two sons died. Broken and humiliated, full of bitterness, she then returns home, recognizing that the Lord, the Almighty, must have afflicted her.

Even without having known all these misfortunes, I find myself well in Naomi. It's so easy to dwell on the past instead of accepting the consequences of our choices, isn't it ?

But Ruth the stranger took a liking to Naomi, her mother-in-law. She decides to trust this God that Naomi portrays as the one who afflicted her ! She decides to follow him and serve him. And little by little, in a benevolent complicity, Ruth and her mother-in-law find happiness again. They discover "the hand of God" which has control over everything, and can change the troubles we encounter through our own fault for good.

With my recurring doubts, I find it harder to find myself in Ruth. And yet, this simple and complete faith that she decides to put in the sovereign God leads to a new life. For the God whom she now follows is a God of love, who does not abandon those who trust in him, who saves and delivers them.

He sent Jesus to meet us and show us the way to him. This is proof that he really wants our good !

Source (The Good Seed)