In verse 20 of Ruth chapter 1, Naomi tells her friends to call her Mara. It means bitter and I totally get that request. I’ve grieved for family members and friends before, but nothing compares to the grief of losing a spouse.
I have a friend at church who lost her husband a month after I lost mine, so we’ve gone through it together, comparing notes as we go. We’ve chosen different ways of dealing with the aftermath, but the results haven’t been drastically different.
We were both told the second year is the hardest and it was. After we got through the second year, I told my friend, “If anyone tells me, no, the third year is really the hardest, I’m going to punch them in the throat.” (Disclaimer: I’ve never actually throat-punched anyone before, but I won’t deny that I’ve been tempted a time or two.)
Then our third anniversary of being widows came, and we both looked like we’d been to war. Anxiety hit me like never before and she walked around with her arm in a sling for a couple of weeks trying to ease the pain caused by pinched nerves.
Does this mean God wasn’t there for us while going through those tough times? No, it doesn’t. It also doesn’t mean that we were down and depressed for the whole three years. In fact, there were more good days than bad.
We all have valleys. We all have times of struggle. Those are the times a Christian will lean on God the most.
Just like He saw me and my friend through, He was there for Naomi too. In this part of the book of Ruth, she is bitter. She could have chosen to stay there but she chose to lean on God and by the end of the book, she is rejoicing. Did she still miss her husband and sons? Absolutely. But her grief didn’t outweigh her joy.
Whether you’re grieving or just going through a hard time, lean on God and He’ll see you through.
I wrote a study guide on the book of Ruth. You can find the link here-https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FN6B7YP1 This blog series will follow along with each section of the book. I plan to post every Monday. If you’d like a reminder, please sign up to receive notification.
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Andrea Boyd 