You Are Not Cursed

“Would ye tarry for them till they were grown? would ye stay for them from having husbands? nay, my daughters; for it grieveth me much for your sakes that the hand of the LORD is gone out against me.” (Ru 1:13 AV)

Naomi felt the LORD’s hand was on her for evil and this adversely affected her two daughters-in-law.  Her belief was if they continued with her, there would be more of the same.  The fact of the matter is, nothing that happened to her was a result of any choice that she made.  Naomi left with her husband and two sons because of a famine that had hit Judah.  They left and went to Moab.  Moab was not where they needed to be.  However, it was not Naomi who made this decision.  Her husband died while in Moab and that left Naomi under the care of her two adult sons.  The word of God makes Naomi subject to her two adult sons.  These sons married wives of Moab.  Which they were not allowed to do.  Again, the choices made which resulted in her husband’s death and the death of her two adult sons were not a result of her.  Rather, the consequences of her life were caused by others.  There she sat, believing she was cursed and her daughters-in-law would continue to suffer if they followed her back to Israel.  The thing is, the unfortunate circumstances of life were not a result of God’s judgment on Naomi.  She doesn’t know it yet, but her life will be richly blessed as she will be in the line of King David, and Jesus Christ.

We can believe we are cursed because of a series of unfortunate events.  There was a program I watch when I was much younger and there was a line in a song they regularly sang which said, “if there was no such thing as bad luck, I’d have no luck at all.”  I cannot begin to tell you how many mothers feel exactly how Naomi felt.  Many years ago, we were privileged to minister to a family where kidney disease ran on the family.  It was discovered the mother was the one who carried the gene which resulted in her children suffering from kidney failure.  She beat herself up on a regular basis.  When she had to take her daughter for dialysis, she was very depressed.  When her son was struggling and needed a transplant, she took it personally.  Then she found out a grandchild was diagnosed with kidney disease.  That was the straw that broke the camel's back.  She believed in her heart of hearts there was something in her past which God felt was so horrible she was forever cursed.  The problem was, she was not suffering.  She had the recessive gene which did not manifest into disease in her body.  It skips every other generation.  The reason her grandchild was diagnosed was both parents carried the gene.  She sat in her home, often in tears, because she felt she was cursed by God for something she had not done.  This was where Naomi was.  She truly believed she would never be free from curses and those near here would be better off as far away as possible.

The Bible does teach we will suffer for the wicked choices we make.  But it also teaches those around us may not directly suffer for our choices.  The Bible also teaches every uncomfortable event is not necessarily chastisement.  Sometimes they are a trial of faith.  Sometimes unfortunate events are merely the result of living in a fallen world.  Death will come to all.  Either tragically or naturally, we shall all die.  The LORD does not have it out for us simply because someone whom we love passes away.  Passing from this life to the next is part of life.  Sickness, financial hardships, relationships that are strained; are all part of life and they might not be a result of our choices nor an indication the LORD is dealing with us. In fact, Naomi can only see the death of her husband and sons.  What she cannot see is her land and station restored when she returns.  She cannot see there is hope.  She cannot see that life is not one big curse.  She is blind to it because all she can see is the most obvious.  These things will pass.  God is a God of blessings.  Naomi is blessed because she becomes the great-grandmother of the greatest human king Israel ever had.  And she is in the line of Christ.  This would never have happened unless her husband and sons pass away.  What she saw as a curse turned into a great blessing!