"Call Me Mara"
Ruth 1:19–20
"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?” “Don’t call me Naomi,” she told them. “Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter."
Sometimes we experience pain in such a way that we can never seem to step back from it. Sometimes mind over matter just doesn't cut it so much so that we become blinded to what is around us and see only our situation. I think it's natural but we must overcome, that is an exercise in faith. Naomi didn't see the blessings that remain (her life, Ruth) and it's hard for us to expect her or even ourselves to figure out what's to come, but we can trust in God to make wine out of water, bread from stones, and sweetness from something bitter. The prophet Jonah in Jonah 4 had also been very shortsighted, he only saw what benefited him, and was always angry when the situation didn't turn out as he wanted. The Lord provided shade and when He took it away, Jonah was displeased, and said to Jonah: "You have been concerned about this vine, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight… (Jonah 4:10), he would've done better if he had heeded the wisdom of old, "Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord (Job 1:21)." But ultimately God knows each one of us, He knows our tolerances and just what we need and desire, and He is our generous heavenly Father who loves us more than we'll ever know. We can trust Him in every situation. Jesus tells us "how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask Him? (Matt 7:11)" And He invites us: "Test me in this… and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it (Mal 3:10)."
"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?” “Don’t call me Naomi,” she told them. “Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter."
Sometimes we experience pain in such a way that we can never seem to step back from it. Sometimes mind over matter just doesn't cut it so much so that we become blinded to what is around us and see only our situation. I think it's natural but we must overcome, that is an exercise in faith. Naomi didn't see the blessings that remain (her life, Ruth) and it's hard for us to expect her or even ourselves to figure out what's to come, but we can trust in God to make wine out of water, bread from stones, and sweetness from something bitter. The prophet Jonah in Jonah 4 had also been very shortsighted, he only saw what benefited him, and was always angry when the situation didn't turn out as he wanted. The Lord provided shade and when He took it away, Jonah was displeased, and said to Jonah: "You have been concerned about this vine, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight… (Jonah 4:10), he would've done better if he had heeded the wisdom of old, "Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord (Job 1:21)." But ultimately God knows each one of us, He knows our tolerances and just what we need and desire, and He is our generous heavenly Father who loves us more than we'll ever know. We can trust Him in every situation. Jesus tells us "how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask Him? (Matt 7:11)" And He invites us: "Test me in this… and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it (Mal 3:10)."
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