Bitter Turns To Sweet

“And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me.” (Ru 1:20 AV)

One would not blame Naomi for feeling this way.  She had lost her husband and two sons.  She had an immediate source of income.  Ruth had come back with her to be a blessing and a help.  Naomi’s acquaintances and kin addressed her as Naomi.  Her name is derived from a root word that means delight or pleasant.  When Naomi wishes to be called Mara, she is not suggesting that God was unfair or unjust.  She is describing how she felt.  She no longer felt pleasant.  She felt bitter.  This is a dark place in which to be.  Again,  no one would blame her.  She left with a family and returned with none.  She left with a homestead.  She returned to nothing.  Naomi has no reason to rejoice other than Ruth who had shown compassion for her and would not allow Naomi to suffer all alone.  Her situation was caused by her husband’s lack of faith.  There was a famine in the land and they moved to Moab.  That is where Naomi’s husband and sons died.  Her situation was not caused directly by anything she had done.  Their deaths were an indirect result of moving, but who's to say they would have lived if they remained in Israel?  Too many questions and not enough answers.  What we do know is Naomi was in a very dark place that was not of her own direct making.  Yet, even in a very dark place, God can provide a way of escape that we might be able to endure.

We have seen that name before.  Mara is the name of the well of bitter water.  When Israel came out of Egypt, they traveled three days without finding any water.  You can find this in Exodus chapter 15.  They came to a well and the water was so bitter, that it could not be consumed by man nor beast.  Three days is the longest man can go without water before it threatens his life.  They began to complain rather loudly assuming God brought them out of Egypt to destroy them with thirst.  What a silly assumption.  Why would He do that?  Why would God ask us to go through a trial of faith only to end our lives at the end?  Persecutions and chastisements perhaps.  But not trials.  This was an opportunity to trust the LORD.  He loved them.  He delivered them.  He guided them.  He was not about to let them come to nothing.  This well was a teachable moment.  It appears the condition of this well was associated with the judgments brought against Egypt.  When Moses cast a certain tree into it, the waters were cured.  The lesson was if they learned to trust and follow the LORD, then the curses that came on Egypt would not touch them.  What they saw as something bitter, God turned into something sweet.  From there, God provided twelve wells at Elim.

Over the years, I have had the privilege of helping people in this situation.  Their misfortune is not unique.  There is no temptation that will ever take us that is not common to man.  If we are going through it, countless others are as well.  What Naomi went through was, no doubt, very hard to take.  The thing is, it wasn’t the hardships per se that the scriptures point out.  It is her response to those losses which the Holy Spirit reveals in our passage.  She is bitter.  She is deeply hurt.  She lost everything and placed all the blame on the LORD.  When we get like this, we must remember there is sunshine at the end of the storm.  Little did Naomi know that it would be the hand of the LORD that provided the lineage of our Savior through her misfortunes.  It would be by Boaz and Ruth that eventually David would come.  And centuries later, Jesus.  In other words, we may feel bitter about our present circumstances.  But there is no reason to.  There is a reason her friends refused to call her Mara.  They continued to call her Naomi.  She may have felt a great loss, but that loss resulted in a blessing no one else would enjoy.  She would have been part of that process that brought forth the Savior.  She lost her husband and sons so that Ruth might come to Boaz and they would continue the unbroken lineage of Adam to Christ.  Sure.  It hurts.  It doesn’t make sense at the time.  But those dark days are temporary.  There is a greater reason God is asking us to endure hardship that the feelings we have during it.  Her bitterness was turned to joy.  And yours will be, too.