Reflection
Ruth 1:11-13
(Rth 1:11 ESV) But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb that they may become your husbands? (Rth 1:12 ESV) Turn back, my daughters; go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, even if I should have a husband this night and should bear sons, (Rth 1:13 ESV) would you therefore wait till they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, for it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that the hand of the LORD has gone out against me.”
Discussion
There is this vibe through these verses of the hand of God being against Naomi. Sometimes we get the message that God is all sunshine and lollipops, like a big vending machine that just wants to shower you in good blessings. We also see in the Bible that God is holy. He will accept nothing by holiness from His people. When we disobey there is judgment and consequences. We have to answer for our wrongs.
I feel more and more like the concept of personal responsibility has been kicked out of our culture. The right blames the left, the left blames the right and we are all here in the middle paying the bill for all of it.
Naomi seems to have that mindset. That she has been done wrong by God who is against her, and maybe that is true. She did willingly disobey His specific instructions. She did drag her family along with that disobedience. In the first few chapters of Genesis we see Adam and Eve willingly disobey God launching all of mankind after them into a cursed state.
Yet somehow also there is the measure of hope. There is the longing for return. There is a road to redemption. There is amazing grace for us from an amazing God.
Connection
How does that amazing grace of God shower over your life, even when you fail to live up to His standard?
What can you do as a child of God to seek more and more His glory in your daily life?
How can we, as believers, live with a mindset of heavenly things, not a focus on the things of the earth?
What is one area of your life God is calling you away from for His glory?
Expansion
The Father
God the Father has eternally existed in the past and will eternally exist forever in the future. He alone is the sovereign creator and supreme ruler of everything. He is unchanging, omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient and entirely holy in every capacity.
Genesis 1:1, Exodus 3:14, Genesis 1:26-27, Isaiah 40:28, Romans 11:36, Malachi 3:6-7, James 1:17-18, 1 Kings 8:27, Jeremiah 23:23-24, Hebrews 13:5, Matthew 28:18-20, Job 9:19, Revelation 19:6, Luke 1:37, Isaiah 40:28, Isaiah 40:13-14, Psalm 147:5, 1 Timothy 1:17, Jude 1:25, Romans 11:33-34, Romans 16:27, Isaiah 6:3, Revelation 4:8, Psalm 111:9