GodSprings - February 12, 2016

How’s It For Me – Bitter or Sweet?

“Don’t call me Naomi,” she told them. “Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter. Ruth 1:20 (NIV)

Have you ever thought about the oyster? It takes a grain of sand and turns it into a beautiful pearl. Too often we are just the opposite—we take pearls and turn them into grains of sand. Bitterness is one such sand.  When we have been hurt or offended by someone, those feelings can quickly take root in our hearts and become resentment and bitterness, if we are not careful.

Naomi and her family, which included her husband and two sons at the time, left Bethlehem because a famine came upon the land. They decided to live in the region of Moab, just on the other side of the Jordan River. During that time, Naomi’s sons married two local girls, one named Orpah, and the other, Ruth. Life in Moab soon took a nasty turn for Naomi when her husband and two sons died. Being freed from her family ties, Orpah left Naomi and returned to her family, while Ruth decided to stay with her mother-in-law. The two women returned to Bethlehem ten years after Naomi and her family had initially left.

But Naomi’s experiences in Moab had changed her. She no longer was the same sweet woman she had been when she left. She no longer wanted to be known as Naomi, which means “pleasant” or “sweet.” Rather, she wanted to be called Mara, which means “bitter.”

We cannot control what happens to us in life, but we can control how we respond to what happens to us. In a similar series of tragedies, Job was able to say in the midst of his suffering and loss, “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.” (Job 1:21). Joseph also was able to see that even though he had been a slave and a prisoner, God meant his suffering all for good (Genesis 50:20).

Naomi, though she did not abandon God, allowed bitterness to creep into her heart. She became angry with God for her experiences. Naomi did not forget God, but she did forget that God still has a good plan and a purpose for His children, even in the hardships, difficulties, and losses that we encounter in this life. 

Was her pain real? Yes. Was she wrong to feel that hurt and pain? Not at all! But her bitterness was blinding her to the goodness of God that was still at work around her. Her bitterness made her say that she had returned empty when, in fact, she was not empty-handed; Ruth had come with her. Naomi’s bitterness could only allow her to see the negative things in life.

If we are angry with God for the difficulties we are going through, remember that God has not forsaken us; He has a good plan and purpose for everything we face. Let us leave aside the taste of bitterness and start tasting the sweet blessings we have in Christ.