Our Story, His Story

In Good News Club, we recently finished looking at the book of Esther with the students. During our club time, we often begin with a snack and a time of ice-breaker discussions. This is also a time when the kids can recite memory verses to Zoe and record doing the devotional material. For the rest of the club time we’re singing songs, reviewing a new Bible verse, discussing the Bible story and then finish off with a review game.

During one of our recent ice-breaker discussions, we asked the question “what do you have control over?” I was thinking the kids would bring up things like what they wear or what they eat. Instead, one of the first answers was “what I say” and “what I think about.”

When you really get down to it, they were exactly right. We can control what we say and what we think about (aside from random thoughts that seem to flit in and out of our brains).

In other areas of our lives, we have some control, but there are so many things that are out of our control.

Open your Bibles to Ruth 1. We are going to look at the last few verses that chapter where we get to hear some of Naomi’s words - some of her retelling of her story. And yet one thing is clear, she does not have any illusion of control. She places her circumstances squarely in the hands of Yahweh.

If you remember, Naomi and her family moved from Bethlehem to the land of Moab during a time of famine. While there, her husband died. Her two sons married Moabite women and then died a few years later. Naomi urged her daughters-in-law to return to their families. Orpah left but Ruth remained with Naomi. So, we have two women - Naomi and Ruth returning to Bethlehem.

Ruth 1:19–22 ESV

So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem. And when they came to Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them. And the women said, “Is this Naomi?” She said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went away full, and the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, when the Lord has testified against me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?” So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabite her daughter-in-law with her, who returned from the country of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest.

So the women make their way back to Bethlehem and are greeted by several of the women from town. During this initial exchange, Naomi summarizes what has happened. Her summary is not unlike what many of us would do. We’ll tailor our story to fit the situation. Naomi is obviously in pain and is bitter about it. Remember, her name means pleasant and she wants to be called “Mara” which means bitter.

While the story of her life is far from being finished, she recognizes one thing clearly…

Yahweh the Almighty is writing her story

…in other words God is in control

What we have to recognize along with Naomi is that God, Yahweh is writing our story as well. He is working, shaping, fashioning our lives and the grand story that He is telling. In other words, our story is ultimately His story.

There is something in us that wants to rebuff the idea of God creating a grand narrative - and that my life is a part of it. I want to be in control. I want to do my own things.

And yet there is something else reassuring the God’s authorship. There is a patience that we can have, a hope that all that we see is not all that there is.

So, as we think about these few verses and a broader perspective on Naomi and Ruth’s stories, we get to consider several implications of God’s story-writing.

When God writes your story…

…He knows the entire story.

One of the attributes of God that Scripture reveals is His omniscience - the fact that God knows all things. In order for Him to do this, He looks at our sequential timeline from above - He sees the end from the beginning and is working His will in our lives and in the world. It’s not like we are just pawns in a grand game, but he is working his redemptive story - adjusting for our mistakes and our successes - knowing all along what we will do, how we will respond. We can glean this from the fact that God reveals things through prophets about future events.

It seems that implicit in Naomi’s testimony is her understanding that God knows times and seasons. Her testimony also reveals some other attributes of God. We can see this in the names that she uses of God. Let’s look again at verses 20-21.

Ruth 1:20–21 ESV

She said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went away full, and the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, when the Lord has testified against me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?”

Not only does Naomi use two different names for herself, but she uses two different names for God. And she uses each of those names twice.

The first and the last name she uses for God is Almighty - this is the Hebrew word “Shaddai.” Almighty or God Almighty is used nearly 50 times in the OT. As the name suggests - Shaddai is “all powerful” - or omnipotent. But this is more than just his strength, it involves how God interacts with His people. David Atkinson, in his commentary on Ruth, suggests that considering a few uses of the term Shaddai in the book of Genesis would provide a helpful context. He writes:

“First, in Genesis 17:1 we find that God confronts the ninety-nine year-old Abram with the promise of children and reveals himself as ‘God Almighty’. Here he is the God who can transform man’s helplessness into blessing, for man’s good and his glory.”

Not only was Abram old, but his wife had been barren all her life and was now far beyond the age in which people could have children. Abram and Sarai were helpless, but Shaddai was able to bless them with a child.

Atkinson continues…

“Secondly, in Genesis 43:14, elderly Jacob in his perplexity agrees reluctantly with his distressed sons that they should return to Egypt with their young brother, back to (the hitherto unrecognized) Joseph: ‘may God Almighty grant you mercy before the man.’ Shaddai here speaks of the hope of God’s protection at a time of uncertainty.”

“Thirdly, in Genesis 49:25, Jacob’s prophecy about his sons speaks of Joseph’s coming ‘fruitfulness’ despite all ‘harassment’ and attributes this to God Almighty, who will bless you with blessings above, blessings of the deep that couches beneath, blessings of the breast and of the womb.’”

(Atkinson, 51)

Jacob would be long gone when these blessings come about. It would be up to Shaddai to fulfill them.

Atkinson’s point in these encounters is that the Almighty (Shaddai) demonstrates Himself in that way when humans are weakest and most vulnerable. Another commentator says:

Shaddai is “the God who is at his best when man is at his worst.” (J.A. Moyter)

(Atkinson, 52)

So, it may be that when Naomi refers to God as Shaddai, she is acknowledging His strength and providence in the midst of this painful time in her life. It may be that she is both blaming Him for her situation and also recognizing that He is the one who can do something about it.

The second name she uses is Yahweh. In our English bibles, this name is often translated as LORD (with small caps). This is the covenant name that God used of Himself with the people of Israel. It’s a name that is special and intentional among the Israelites. The God of Israel is not some random or unknowable deity - He is a God who is knows His people and makes Himself known to them and to us.

As we think about this in our lives, there is a sense in which the moments when it seems like life has no hope, God is still in control and is still working in us.

Philippians 1:6 ESV

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

Yahweh knows our predicament. Shaddai is able to step in during our time of need.

He is not finished with our story until we graduate to glory or He returns.

Secondly, we get to see that when God writes our story…

…He is not hindered by our commentary.

- though we might be.

Naomi seems to understand and rest in the sovereignty of God - she may not like it but she acknowledges it. It’s God’s sovereign, almighty, covenant reign that has landed her in this spot - and she doesn’t like it. She tells her friends as much.

“the almighty has dealt bitterly with me” and “the Almighty has brought calamity upon me”

She clearly blames God. Were it not for God’s will, she would have a husband, she would have sons, she would have a prospect for grandchildren, she would have provision.

And yet, God doesn’t hold this against her.

In fact, as we zoom out on her story, we get to see how God brings redemption through her pain. Eventually, He will provide for her, he will help her, he will restore hope to her. We could even say that in that very moment he was doing all of those things. He was providing by bringing her back to Judah where there was an abundance of food. He was helping by getting her to a place where help was available. He was in the process of restoring her as redemption close at hand.

There will be painful circumstances in our lives. That is all part of God’s plan. How we comment and react to those situations will have more of an affect on us and on those around us than it will on God’s plan.

Do you remember going to the doctor for a shot or a vaccination? Whether it was for COVID, tetanus, measles, polio, or any other disease the doctor was trying to prevent. How did you respond - as a child or as an adult? For some of us as kids,

we anticipated the pain, began to scream and cry, we might even shake with fright, but it didn’t change the fact that our parents had given the doctor permission to inflict this brief pain in order to bring greater wholeness. Our protests made the whole scenario more painful, but didn’t necessarily change the outcome.

Some of us may have approached the pain with curiosity - watching the needle go in, the syringe being emptied, and the needle removed - little wince, no tears.

Others may not look forward to the pain, we may shed a tear and wince at the prick, but still endure the event and move on.

Our children represented all three of those scenarios - I won’t reveal who’s who.

God is going to write His story in our lives. How we adjust and adapt to the events and circumstances that He ordains is up to us. How we react and comment about the situation is up to us as well. As the Good News Club kids said, we can control what we say. We get to seek to walk in faithful obedience. In a similar manner, Paul sought to encourage the Philippians to remain faithfully obedient in the mist of God’s sovereign work…

Philippians 2:12–13 ESV

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

So Naomi has helped us to see that when God writes our story, He knows the whole story and is not hindered by our commentary or response.

Finally, we can see that we God writes our story…

…pain is real, but not wasted.

We discussed this a bit over the last couple of weeks, but we have to remember that for Naomi and Ruth, the pain was very real. Naomi believed that in spite of the famine in Bethlehem when she left, she went “away full.” It seems that she was telling the women, we had no food, but we had family - There was no grain in the “house of bread,” but she had Elimelech, Mahlon, and Chilion. Now she is forced to return “empty.” She now has the prospect of food, but no family. In her mind, life was better then.

That is a similar attitude that the people of Israel had during the Exodus. At various times they would complain to Moses and by extension to God - stating that they may have been slaves but they had food in Egypt.

Naomi’s pain was real. The Israelites hunger was real.

In a similar way, our pain is real.

But why does God use pain in our lives? Why can’t he simply provide some course correction?

Have you ever noticed that every good story had a point of conflict, a point of pain? It’s the arc of the narrative that provides interest and growth. It’s the key to the story that makes the resolution at the end worth waiting for. The pain or conflict in a good story provides an opportunity for the characters to grow or learn while they overcome an obstacle. Aristotle even said:

We cannot learn without pain.

Aristotle

Now, as God writes His story in our lives, He does not use pain as something to make the story interesting and our lives difficult. He uses the pain with a purpose. I think God may use the pain to strip away from us the things that keep us from depending on Him. Naomi may have viewed Elimelech and her boys as her providers - not God.

pain drove her back to God - she acknowledged that He was in control. She recognized that God had visited His people and provided food after the famine. In a similar way in our lives, God uses the pain to draw us to Himself. The Apostle Paul helped us to see that.

2 Corinthians 12:7–10 ESV

So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Max Lucado has said:

7 Your pain has a purpose. Your problems, struggles, heartaches, and hassles cooperate toward one end—the glory of God.

Max Lucado

It’s Not About Me (2004)

Max Lucado

pain drove her back to God’s people - Naomi did not return to an empty town - she returned to her town, to her people, to God’s people. As we discussed briefly last week, God has placed us in a covenant community for a reason. When we are in pain, we can and should cry out to God, but we should also reach out to each other.

pain drove her back to God’s redemptive plan - As we will see more clearly in the coming weeks, God didn’t only bring Naomi and Ruth back to feed them, He brought them back to fulfill his purpose in them. The narrator gives us a little foreshadowing here as he notes in Ruth 1:22, “it was the beginning of the barley harvest.” It’s providential that we are looking at this now as the barley harvest in Israel would have started in late April - and the harvest was just beginning. God will provide food, but where will he provide it? We’ll get more into that next week as we get to meet Naomi and Ruth’s redeemer.

Friend, if you’re not yet a follower of Christ, I want you to think for a moment about your pain. Sure, maybe the pain in your back or that headache, but also the pain in life. While God allows that pain to exist in the world, we also have to recognize that the pain that is there is because of our sin. Creation is corrupted by the sin of humanity. Paul writes that creation groans for a future redemption a future relief (Rom. 8:18-25). The sin of humanity affects so much of life and affects our lives for eternity. How do you deal with the problem of that pain - the pain of evil? This is where the pain of sin can and should push us back to God. As we will see in a few weeks, God redeemed Naomi’s pain through the help of a redeemer who purchased her out of her depravity and provided for her. Jesus Christ did that for us. He entered into our pain and took on our sin so that by faith we might be purchased or redeemed into a hope of eternal life.

Romans 5:8 ESV

but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Naomi could have stayed in the desert of Moab, away from God away from God’s people and away from God’s redemptive plan, but she responded through the pain to what the sovereign God almighty was doing. Will you? Will you remain in the desert of your sin or will you respond and repent, trust in Jesus?

Closing thoughts

Beloved, God is not finished the with the story that he is writing in our lives. Be patient and persistent through the pain and the turmoil. Trust him through all that he calls for you to encounter. Cling to Shaddai, the God who is at his best when we are at our weakest, and His people/church through the difficulties, and watch God bring redemption in a beautiful way.

Let’s pray.

Benediction:

2 Corinthians 13:14 ESV

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

Questions for reflection and discussion:

Read: Ruth 1. (focusing on verses 19-22)

What is Naomi’s initial testimony regarding her present situation?

Why does she want people to call her Mara?

What is significant about the names that she uses for God?

Why is trusting/believing in the Sovereignty of God important - especially in the midst of pain?

Kids’ Connection Questions:

Topic: The Armor of God - the shoes of peace

Scripture: Eph. 6:10-12, 15; Luke 22:47-53; John 18:1-11.

What are the shoes of peace?

What is the gospel? (Holy God, sinful man, Christ, response)

How does the gospel bring us peace?

How is that peace like shoes?

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