HARD TIMES - Naomi
When I was about 10 years old, I was playing at home after school when Dad arrived home. In the back of his car was our dog Jamba, who was a golden retriever. He had been to the vet and she was very old. The vet had put her down. This means that the vet had helped her die a painless death. Jamba was in the back of the car on a blanket just lying there. She looked asleep but was actually very stiff. We had a burial for her in the backyard and it was very sad.
Death is a hard thing but why is it so hard? Is it the pain that the person goes through when they are dying? No. It is because they have left the earth and never to return. We miss them. We have to keep living, keep going and it is so hard without them.
What do you think?
WHO AM I?
Clues:
I am a woman in the bible
I moved away from my family to a new land
I was beautiful but did not have any children for a long time, even though God promised me offspring
I ended up having my son Isaac when I was about 90 years old
Story Time!
Naomi suffered the loss of her husband Elimelech after moving from Israel to Moab because of a drought. Women typically didn’t work or own land in those days and had to rely on men to provide for them, and so she was able to rely on her 2 sons to look after her. They got married, but within 10 years, both of her sons also passed away.
Look at Naomi’s situation. She had her sons’ 2 wives - Ruth and Orpah - who could look after her as they were young and could forage for food, but was missing her sons and husband and living in a strange land!
Naomi decided to return home to Israel, as she had heard that the drought was over and there was rain and food there. She told the daughters’-in-law to stay in Moab and remarry and to not worry about her. Orpah bid them goodbye but Ruth insisted she continue to look after Naomi.
When they arrived home, their friends welcomed them but Naomi told them:
“Then she told them, “Don’t call me Naomi any longer! Call me Mara,[e] because God has made my life bitter.I had everything when I left, but the Lord has brought me back with nothing. How can you still call me Naomi, when God has turned against me and made my life so hard?””
Ruth, the Moabite daughter-in-law who came to Israel with Naomi was blessed by God because of her kindness and loyalty to Naomi. God blessed her with a wonderful new husband who was very generous and kind and took care of Naomi also. Ruth had a baby boy.
After his birth, the women said to Naomi:
Praise the Lord! Today he has given you a grandson to take care of you. We pray that the boy will grow up to be famous everywhere in Israel. He will make you happy and take care of you in your old age, because he is the son of your daughter-in-law. And she loves you more than seven sons of your own would love you.
Naomi loved the boy and took good care of him. The neighbourhood women named him Obed, but they called him “Naomi’s Boy.”
When Obed grew up he had a son named Jesse, who later became the father of King David.Here is a list of the ancestors of David: Jesse, Obed, Boaz, Salmon, Nahshon, Amminadab, Ram, Hezron, and Perez.”
This Psalm is most certainly true for Naomi and is true for us also:
Bible Passage: Psalm 34:17,18
“The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them;
he delivers them from all their troubles.
The Lord is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”
Naomi suffered for a time, but then her life was able to go on and there was blessings in the end. If you are going through hard times now, or whenever, remember that it is usually only for a season and that you can get through it.
Expect hard times to come.
Learn lessons God has to teach us from them.
Trust God to look out for us.
Cry out to God and he hears us.
Question Time!
What kind of hard times might you expect to come in your life?
What reminders can you give yourself to help you get through it?
