"Up, Abba, Up"

Regrets, Naomi had plenty of them. "If only" haunted her every thought. If she had never left Bethlehem would she still be a wife and mother or even a grandmother. But, what good would these questions and regrets get her? Look, her feet have already brought her back to the town of her birth: "So the two women went on until they came to Bethlehem. When they arrived in Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them, and the women exclaimed, “Can this be Naomi?”  (Ruth 1:19-20).When they arrive in town, everyone gathers around them. I am sure Naomi was quite anxious at being seen. I am sure she wanted to be  invisible- not be seen. Naomi seems like a person who tends to retreat from others, especially when she has been hurt. In fact, at times,  she just simply wants to give up on relationships. Being hurt, she simply  does not "want to come out and play." 
Have you ever seen an infant intent on climbing  into a mom's lap or literally climb the dad's leg to get in his arms?   I am like that child. I want up, now Abba. I don't want to be with others. I just I want my Abba.  But, in the end, Abba  tells me, "Down, Mella, down."  My Abba says,"Iron sharpens iron" (Proverbs 27:17). God does not want me stunted, so like the gifted and talented student who will benefit more from public school than homeschooling, I am sent out into the germy, complicated world of real-life with all my fears and inadequacies, but with the companion of the Holy Spirit holding tightly my hand and a whole company of mighty angels.

Eventually, God opens Naomi's eyes to her blessing: “The LORD bless [Boaz]!” Naomi said to her daughter-in-law: “He has not stopped showing his kindness to the living and the dead.” She added, “That man is our close relative; he is one of our guardian-redeemers.” (Ruth 2:20).  Is she the dead or she is being resurrected? At this point of the story, the jury is still out. Will Naomi embrace God's provision for new life or stay stuck in her pain and misery? After praise literally explodes from Naomi's lips for the provision of Boaz, she then blesses Ruth, whom she now calls daughter: Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, “It will be good for you, my daughter, to go with the women who work for him, because in someone else’s field you might be harmed”  (Ruth 2. 22). She begins to think of Ruth and not just herself.

Finally, Naomi becomes an active agent in her future; she moves from victim to victor; oppressed to champion. She gets her eyes off her loss and lack and embraces the concerns of Ruth.She declares, “My daughter, I must find a home for you, where you will be well provided for.  (Ruth 3:2).  Now Boaz, with whose women you have worked, is a relative of ours.  Naomi becomes an agent of God's grace and unknown to her, her own salvation: Then Naomi said, “Wait, my daughter, until you find out what happens. For the man will not rest until the matter is settled today”  (Ruth 3:18). Ruth follows Naomi's instructions. After Ruth and Boaz marry, Naomi is not forgotten. God restored her life: "Then Naomi took the child in her arms and cared for him.  The women living there said, “Naomi has a son!” And they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David" (Ruth 4:16-17). Her faith is resurrected.

So, I am sure you are wondering what happened to that little girl I spoke of earlier. As God unclings her limbs from his waist, pulling her gently one arm at a time from her death grip around his neck where she has climbed and made a perch, she finally walks quietly down the path where Y'Shua is waiting. She hopes to meet you there someday.

Signing off,

M.J.