First Steps – April 5, 2021

(Ruth 1:20-21)
20 “Don’t call me Naomi,” she told them. “Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter.
21 I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The Lord has afflicted me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me.”

(Ruth 4:13-17).
13 So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When he made love to her, the Lord enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son.
14 The women said to Naomi: “Praise be to the Lord, who this day has not left you without a guardian-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel!
15 He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and who is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth.”
16 Then Naomi took the child in her arms and cared for him.
17 The women living there said, “Naomi has a son!” And they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.

Naomi’s life is a picture of hardship, death, tragedy, redemption, restoration, and resurrection. A little bit of everything rolled up into one. She and her family moved to Moab in search of a job. Her hometown experienced a famine which led to an economic depression. Not long in this new city, her husband died. A decade later, her sons died. She was the epitome of destitution.

Ruth, her daughter-in-law, stuck by her side through thick and thin. Eventually, they moved back to Naomi’s hometown as beggars. Long story short, Ruth met Boaz, they became married and had a family. In those days, the offspring of Ruth and Boaz was Naomi’s guardian-redeemer, an influential relative who provided and protected a family line. Normally they would redeem land that was sold in a crisis or would provide an heir so that a family line could continue. Eventually, her guardian-redeemer became the grandfather of King David.

Though your life probably doesn’t look exactly like Naomi’s, I’m sure it has some common elements. There will be hardships, tragedies, death, but there can also be redemption, restoration, and even resurrection. God’s plan for everyone is that none would be lost and that all would experience the power of the resurrection. This week may your thoughts be drawn to the hope and power of the resurrection.