I am reading a book called, A Loving Life, by Paul Miller. I haven't read the entire thing but I am to the point where I have to write about it to secure its contents in my own heart. The general idea of the book is the story of Ruth and Naomi. The book takes us on the journey of Ruth and Naomi traveling back to Bethlehem after Naomi's husband and sons die. Ruth is committed to Naomi. Ruth will become God's hands and feet of love and mercy to Naomi despite her bitterness.
Today my heart relates to Naomi.
She aches.
She hurts.
She believes in Yahweh- God.
She believes that God is all powerful.
She believes that God is good.
She struggles with a God who is truly powerful and perfectly good.
How could her life come to such an end?
"Naomi's feels anguish precisely because she believes God is the one who is in control." "A lament grieves that the world is unbalanced. It grieves the gap between reality and God's promises. It believes in a God who is there, who can act in time and space." Naomi loves her God and trusts her God yet doesn't understand how her God could allow this loss, this devastation enter into her world.
Mr. Miller says that Naomi's raw emotion would make most of us very uncomfortable. When tragedy happens in someone's life, our first instinct is to remind others, "God is in control," "Have faith". But there are times in life when words don't matter. I remember it all to well. I remember sitting in a room full of people in complete silence. All you could hear were my sniffling tears and later my deep sobs as I cried out to God. No one in our close knit group knew what to say that wouldn't sound, "cliché" or insincere. So what did those people do? These people, my faith family, sat close by and wept with me. They rubbed my back, handed me tissues and wept alongside me. They didn't have to have an answer. I didn't need answers this side of heaven. Only God could tell me why this was truly happening to me. I can relate to Naomi.
I know how God restores Naomi in the end. I know that in the end, her greatest grandson, Jesus, comes to redeem all of us. That is why I chose this song. It is a reminder that our scars- those things that have brought us grief or pain- are those things that God uses to remind us of His power and His goodness. No matter where we are in life we can rest assured God is good and He is all powerful.
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