Barley Field

[Naomi to Ruth] “Then she said, ‘Behold, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and her gods; return after your sister-in-law.’  But Ruth said, ‘Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. 

“’Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God.  Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried.  Thus may the Lord do to me, and worse, if anything but death parts you and me.’  When she saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more to her.

“So they both went until they came to Bethlehem.  And when they had come to Bethlehem, all the city 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.  I went out full, but the Lord has brought me back empty.  Why do you call me Naomi since the Lord has witnessed against me and the Almighty has afflicted me?’

“So Naomi returned, and with her Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, who returned from the land of Moab.  And they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest.” Ruth 1:15-22

Ruth is a book most of us would have read.  I suppose because it is relatively short, but also because it is a classic story of love and faithfulness and God’s almighty hand of preparation, care and provision. 

Naomi had left Israel married and secure and returned widowed and poor.  She changed her name to Mara to express her despair and bitterness.  Nothing was worse in those days than being a widow without a husband’s ‘covering’ and protection.   

Yet, God was not surprised by the situation.  He prepared every detail of her life journey (as he does with all of us.  See Psalm 139).  He chose Ruth to be her daughter-in-law and support through this difficult time. 

Ruth’s love reminded Naomi that a ‘greater love’ surrounded and protected her in unexpected ways.  A story for all of us to keep in mind as things in our lives sometimes do not reflect what we thought they were going to be!

Take care with love, especially His, from Darlene, who still prays for you each day.