Beyond the Weekend

March 31 | Naomi: Emptied Out

March 31, 2020

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE

“I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty.”  Ruth 1:21a

Read: Ruth 1:6-22

Listen: Ruth 1

TODAY’S MESSAGE

Naomi doesn’t sugarcoat her feelings. She is blunt, brutal and articulate. She has lost everything with the death of her husband and sons in a foreign country. In those times, it’s a life and death situation unless a widow has family to take her in. She is so low she blames God and doesn’t hold back. Her response to hard times is very human.

Many of us are upset and angry in this health crisis. We wonder how God could have let this happen. We aren’t certain of the end and what will happen next. We worry about our losing our businesses, keeping our jobs and having a roof over our heads. It’s okay to share our real feelings with family and close friends. But family and friends aren’t supposed to hold our emotions—God is.

Naomi is emptied out, and God is pleased to meet her right where she is. He not only provides a daughter-in-law to stick with her but a home, nation and family to return to. Her circumstances are shifting and changing (just like ours) but God’s promises are not! “For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.” Isaiah 41:13. We can be grateful he has made the same promises to us.

IN YOUR CHAIR TIME TODAY

Offer God a prayer like this, “Father, today I feel emptied out because of ________. Help me remember you are the God who provides. Help me not to fear, but to trust you with what I can’t see. Amen.”


Download a printable PDF of the BTW week here.

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