There’s a striking phrase in our reading from the book of Ruth - "The Lord came to the aid of his people" (1:6). The Authorized Version puts it: "The Lord has visited his people." All of us have known the problems as well as the joys of life - and they come at all stages in life’s journey.
Are you sometimes tempted to ask, "Where is God?" when faced by the news on the international scene of wars, the devastating famine or hurricane; the gross inequalities of opportunity and fortune in different parts of the world? On Mother’s Day, especially, we remember with shame how women often bear the brunt of this misery, exploitation and discrimination. The matter becomes even more pressing when one is faced with the suffering of a loved one, when the trouble that seems to afflict mankind in general comes to our own doorstep; when somehow church life or your own spiritual experience becomes dull and routine. "Where is God?" we ask.
There’s nothing like a story to bring to life the issues of this tension between God’s way and the way of the world, of searching for the pathway of faith in times when evil seems rampant and life seems meaningless. A practical example of God in action can be of enormous benefit in sustaining the believer and enabling him or her to cope with the uncertainties and apparent meaninglessness of much of this chaotic world’s history.
It’s quite possible that we can identify with the Bible story of Naomi in a personal way. Whatever our circumstances, all of us can benefit from her experience with a providential God. The book of Ruth has been called "the most beautiful short story in the world." It deals with ordinary people and unimportant matters. But it deals with them in such a way as to show that God is active in the affairs of human beings. He works his purposes out and blesses them that trust in him. If its message had to be summarized in one word, it would be the word "providence", in the sense that God is there - God cares, God rules and God provides. Faith in such a God is the common factor to all the incidents in the book. As we look at the homely character of Naomi, the sure trace of God’s providential care is found.
Looking back over the years, Naomi must have deeply regretted the decision that Elimeleck, her husband, made when he decided that he’d had enough of life in Bethlehem. Life may well have not been easy in Bethlehem, but it was going to get a lot worse as a result of his fateful decision to leave his homeland. It’s surely a timely warning to us that when we come to a crossroad in life, it’s a time to proceed extra cautiously, to take time over decisions, to ask the question "in all the circumstances, is it what God wants me to do?" Some decisions are quite irreversible - it’s like coming to a road junction and our choice determines the complete direction of the rest of our journey - and there’s no turning back!
It’s true that life in Israel was fairly uncertain. Jehovah had withdrawn his blessing from the land because the people, in their obsession for prosperity, had departed from the true religion as had been revealed to them and, instead, followed the corrupt Canaanite nation, embracing its degrading fertility-cult worship on their hilltop shrines. No wonder that God’s blessing was withdrawn and they were left to reap the wild oats they’d sown. God had promised prosperity, but it was linked to responsive obedience to his known will. The lure of the other gods was too strong so, instead of plenty there was famine in the land; instead of security there was danger from the raiding Philistines. "Why?" they must have asked themselves.
The answer is obvious: God’s people can’t split their lives into separate compartments of the sacred and the secular, with God having the sacred part, but being excluded from the rest. This is a false division. It’s illustrated by the celebrated remark of Lord Melbourne, Queen Victoria’s first Prime Minister. He had just heard a sermon from an evangelical preacher that must have convicted him. He countered it by saying that "if religion was going to interfere with the affairs of his private life, things were coming to a pretty pass and he wasn’t having it!" Now on the other hand, if we live lives of obedience and faith, while there’s no promise of a trouble-free life, there is the promise of daily bread and the assurance that there’s no need to be over-anxious about tomorrow. Faith in God does help us to cope with life’s uncertainties.
Elimeleck and Naomi had got their spiritual priorities wrong. They had forsaken their homeland of Bethlehem for the heathen country of Moab. This nation was certainly not the kind of company that a God-fearing Israelite should keep, with its debased religion, even to the extent of human sacrifice. Naomi, her husband and young sons emigrated to Moab and then tragedy struck - Elimeleck died. The sad entanglement with Moab deepened when their two sons married local girls and it was at that stage that their troubles took a real turn for the worse - the two sons died.
What a predicament for Naomi. Here she was, a widow in a strange land, with the responsibility for her daughters-in-law, also widowed! Just think of Naomi’s position - her family had been distressed enough by the famine to uproot itself from Bethlehem for Moab; then to the loss of material comfort and security of home is added the pain, not of one bereavement, but of three! Naomi was now without home, husband, sons and fellowship. What did the worship of Jehovah mean to her now? Let no-one think that they are beyond making mistakes, because we’re all prone to wander and to stray from God’s perfect plan and purpose. A careless, hasty decision can easily go wrong.
The author of the slim volume of the book of Ruth is a great storyteller. He piles up one disaster upon another in Naomi’s life, giving his readers a real sense of shock that one person should be called upon to suffer so much. Surely it was undeserved, so unexpected. There’s a hint here to the dark side of God’s providence - that some of our pains seem unbearable; some of our circumstances so unjust and some of our questions stay without answer. But faith, we are to learn from Naomi, sometimes means a willingness to leave such questions in the mystery of God, in the confidence that he will show himself to have been trustworthy all along, even in the darkest hour.
Life has to go on and, even in the hard times, faith will sometimes mean leaving unanswered difficulties in the hands of God, but ever looking for and expecting God to work his purposes out in his own providential way. Naomi had the good spiritual sense to realise that when help came it would be more likely to come from the land of Judah than Moab. Although Naomi was physically in Moab, her heart remained in Judah, and she hadn’t allowed herself to forget God. She was alert to receive news from travellers that Jehovah had not abandoned his people. "The famine is over" they said, "the Lord has visited his people and given them food."
"The Lord has visited his people." What a lovely expression. The author of this little book is trying to tell us something important. To the person of faith there are primary causes in events, which are of far greater importance than the second causes of the actual circumstances. To the believer, God is the primary cause. It is his hand at work or his hand being restrained to which may be traced the direction of one’s circumstances.
"The Lord has visited his people." The writer might just as accurately have said "the rains had come" or "there has been an upturn in the economy" or "the threat of invasion has gone." All these could have been part of a chain of causes in the recovery of Bethlehem from the famine. But no, the report comes to Naomi in terms of the Lord’s action. Here is the central theme of the Bible - all of life is traced directly to the hand of God. When the Lord visits his people, he does so in either judgement or blessing, but here it is in blessing.
"The Lord has visited his people." To Naomi it was a sure sign to move to where the blessing was. Her feelings of hurt were still very raw. She still couldn’t understand why God had taken her husband and sons from her, but Naomi recognized that God was a providential God; that God is there and God cares, and with such faith and confidence in that God she can handle her mixed up life. In that frame of mind she sets off with her daughters-in-law to journey home in the knowledge that Jehovah has been with her in her predicament.
It wasn’t that Naomi could understand what had happened to her family. The question "Why, oh why?" must have been on her mind day after day, but the time comes when we have to accept that the pains of life have been allowed to happen by God for some purpose although not understood by us. This is where faith in God is so important.
Naomi couldn’t understand God’s providential leading, but she could and did take the problem to God. I remember reading about a theological student who was puzzled by so many things in the Bible and the Christian faith. He was constantly pestering the principal of his college and in the end he was told, "My friend, you really will have to let God know some things that you don’t!" At times like this we can take to heart the words of the hymn, "God moves in a mysterious way his wonders to perform." We may not understand his ways, but the person of faith will say "Amen". Naomi had a living faith in God and she was prepared for the possibility that her questions would not be answered.
God’s answer to life’s problems don’t come in the form of neatly pre-packaged solutions, like strips of shrink-wrapped capsules labelled for each anxiety we have - health, wealth and happiness. Like Naomi we can only take the problem to God, knowing that God will work his purposes out at his appointed time. And his timing leaves nothing to be desired. I remember hearing the director of the George Muller Foundation telling of God’s perfect timing in the provision of guidance and resources.
The Foundation had been requested to commence a new child-care project which would require a great commitment in time and resources. The trustees decided that they couldn’t go ahead unless they received clear direction from the Lord, and so they committed the need to God in prayer. The day came for a decision to be made, but no definite leading had been received. Then on the day of their meeting a substantial sum was received from a donor earmarked for such a project - and what was more remarkable was that the gift had been designated over 20 years before but because of legal problems over the estate it had just become available.
How wonderful is our providential God! Is this something that you can recognize in your experience? God’s gracious intervention for Naomi urges us to reflect on the way God is active in mercy in our lives. We cannot always see how, for "we live by faith, not by sight". We understand more fully from hindsight, and we are deeply thankful to God our Heavenly Father.
If we have testing experiences, well thank God, for we are in the company of his saints. Think of the testings that the galaxy of the faithful listed in the letter to the Hebrews had, and how God wonderfully provided for them. There were some who were tested to the limit and thought that they might not survive and yet still remained faithful. They knew that their providential God had not abandoned them even in their extremity. Think of Daniel in the lions’ den, of Job when he lost everything - even his family. They trusted in God, yes even rejoiced in him.
We’re unlikely to be put to the test like that, but even if we were, we have an enormous advantage in that we have moved on from the limited knowledge of God, which they knew, to the completed revelation of God in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is still a matter of faith, but we can have every confidence that he is with us. But how can we be sure?
Let me illustrate it like this: I heard a scientist explaining the mystery of "black holes" in the universe. They are stars which have collapsed and so do not emit light but nevertheless are a powerful force although not visible. The scientist likened it to a dance floor, with the ladies in white dresses and the men all in black. If the lights are turned down all that can be seen is the white of the ladies and yet we know the men are there because of the pattern of the ladies’ movements - there are unseen partners leading them.
Life’s problems are much like this. In the dark times of life, it seems the lights have been turned down and we can only see part of what is taking place, yet faith in God believes his unseen hand is still controlling events. One day the lights will be turned up and we’ll understand.
It was a very emotional moment for Naomi as she re-entered Bethlehem. All the feelings of bitterness over the three bereavements she had suffered flooded back in her mind. "Don’t call me Naomi," she said to her women friends. "Naomi means Pleasant, so call me Mara, meaning Bitter." Was she wrong in saying these hard words? Perhaps they were brought about by her husband’s error in going to Moab in the first place; may be Elimeleck would have died anyway - who can tell but God. But wait a moment. True, her husband and sons were dead, but now she was free to come back to her people and her God. True, her husband and sons were left behind, but she now had Ruth who was better to her than seven sons and soon she would have a grandson. Yes, Naomi was to find that even in her personal tragic circumstances God was showing his providential care. In fact, even in her moment of bitterness she called God "the Almighty", a name which speaks of God as the provider and protector.
The whole world is a story of suffering, sometimes undeserved and apparently meaningless. But the revelation of God in Scripture gives the assurance that God is there with his people. It doesn’t mean he is going to intervene to prevent trouble but he is there in his providential love and he cares - he is the Almighty.
God’s ways are past finding out, but through his gracious dealings with his people as they cross the case book of the pages of Scripture the principles of the loving kindness of his providential care are demonstrated. It’s all too apparent that God’s people sometimes make wrong decisions, even act foolishly, often with disastrous consequences. Thank God, his gracious providence is not bound by man’s foolishness and if we place ourselves in his hands, our God, the Almighty will yet prove himself as our provider and protector. Will you trust him, as did Naomi? She found him as the God who is there with you in the situation, the God who cares, the God who has visited his people.
It’s more than a matter of faith - it’s a fact. He came to Bethlehem in the person of his Son. He came to the first believers by his Spirit. He comes in his providential dealings with us. He comes as we seek to walk with him day by day, as we read the Scriptures, as we pray privately, and as we fellowship with other Christians. "The Lord has visited his people." Look out for him - he’s there!
