How Christians should face difficulties

Sometimes we go through a life experience that can leave a bitter taste. It can be a financial crisis, a betrayal of a friend, or even the death of a loved one. It can even be something that you did not see coming, something that you did not have control over, something that was unfair. 

This was the case with Naomi in the Bible. She was married, had two sons, moved to another country because of famine and there she lost both her husband and two sons. Coming back to Bethlehem Judah, "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." Ruth 1:19‭-20 

And all the while, daughter-in-law Ruth was accompanying Naomi and witnessing this whole event. 

Fast forward through the book of Ruth we see that although Naomi had this bitter experience, she saw an opportunity in their customs and traditions, to give Ruth a chance at a better life. The field in which Ruth picked up grain, belonged to Boas, who was a relative of her deceased husband.  

“The man is a close relative of ours, one of our redeemers.” Ruth 2:20 ESV 

It so worked out that Boaz redeems (marries) Ruth, and they had a son. "Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without a redeemer, and may his name be renowned in Israel! 

Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her lap and became his nurse. 

And the women of the neighbourhood gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi.” They named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David." Ruth 4:14‭, ‬16, 17 ESV 

I am sure that when Naomi nursed Obed, she tasted a sweetness that came with nursing her grandson, a sweetness that soothed the bitterness she experienced when she lost her husband and sons. Our lives, like Naomi's, are filled with bitter-sweet experiences. May we not get stuck in the mud of bitterness, but may we see honey-sweet opportunities despite it. 

Don't despise the bitter in life. Don't isolate the bitter moments and focus on them, but mix them in with the sweet and life will be more palatable.

I want to end off with Rom 8:28 with a bitter and sweet remark: 

And we know that for those who love God all things (bitter and sweet) work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

#alwaysintune 

@Always.in.tune