Ruth 1:20-22 -- On Affliction and Progression

"And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me.
I went out full, and the Lord hath brought me home again empty: why then call ye me Naomi, seeing the Lord hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me?
So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter in law, with her, which returned out of the country of Moab: and they came to Beth-lehem in the beginning of barley harvest."
Ruth 1:20-22


This is interesting to me because I know what comes next, and even though Naomi had lost her husband and sons and seems to have been depressed and full of heartache, her daughter in law stuck with her, and through her she not only gained additional hope and purpose in her life, she and her family secured an important place in geneaology and history. I feel like there is always this really cool backstory going on that we can't see. When something happens that is difficult for us, maybe it is happening because in some way it changes things for good for other people, or for everyone. Like Joseph being sold into Egypt, right? A horrible thing to be betrayed by your own brothers and then sold as a slave, but the Lord had a plan through it all. Same with Naomi... and the same with us.

Even though we can't often see it except in retrospect, the bad things force us to change, and they are the impetus that opens up opportunities we wouldn't have seen and blessings that we hadn't known, giving us a way to progress. Let's also remember that people lost on earth are not permanently lost. They are taken home, and will be waiting for us when we are too. Doesn't mean that there is no room for sorrow and mourning, but it does mean that God's plan never gives us a tragedy that can't eventually be healed.

Today, in the midst of our trials, let's remember that even now, God has a plan, and we don't need to despair. There is a way forward somewhere. Let's find it, waiting patiently upon the Lord for his guidance and help according to his perfect timing.