Message: “Empty” from Pastor Martin Chappell

Ruth 1:19-22

July 31, 2022

 

Ruth 1:19-22 CSB

19 The two of them traveled until they came to Bethlehem. When they entered Bethlehem, the whole town was excited about their arrival and the local women exclaimed, “Can this be Naomi?”

20 “Don’t call me Naomi. Call me Mara,” she answered, “for the Almighty has made me very bitter. 21 I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the Lord has opposed me, and the Almighty has afflicted me?”

22 So Naomi came back from the territory of Moab with her daughter-in-law Ruth the Moabitess. They arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.

 

Bitter

• Naomi was not the same woman who left Bethlehem 10 years earlier.
• Stress and grief had taken their toll on her appearance, v. 19.

19 When they entered Bethlehem, the whole town was excited about their arrival and the local women exclaimed, “Can this be Naomi?”

• She felt she had left with a full life but had returned completely empty.
• Her journey had begun with hope and possibility.
• Warren Weirsbe: she returned with empty hands, an empty home, and an empty heart.
• Life had changed Naomi’s whole outlook on life: Naomi/Pleasant to Mara/Bitter, v. 20.

20 “Don’t call me Naomi. Call me Mara,” she answered, “for the Almighty has made me very bitter.”

 

Confused

• Naomi blamed the hardships of her life on God, v. 21.

21”I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the Lord has opposed me, and the Almighty has afflicted me?”

• By focusing too much on herself, she became confused about who to blame.
• She was struggling in her faith.
• Lord: covenant God of love and mercy.
• Almighty God who is all powerful – capable of helping in any situation.

• There are two ways to view Naomi’s confusion.
• She could have been experiencing God’s discipline.
• If so, she failed to see the good God intended, Hebrews 12:11.

11 No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

• She may have lost her trust in God and now everything in life was confused.
• As Solomon drifted away from faith in God, his life lost meaning (Ecclesiastes).

 

Hopeless

• It is clear that Naomi had lost hope for any return to a good and normal life.
• Pain and suffering had robbed her of hope and joy in life.
• She could not control what happened in her life but she could control her reaction.
• God is greater than any hardship or pain of life.
• If Naomi had opened her eyes to God, she would have seen she wasn’t empty, v. 22.

22 So Naomi came back from the territory of Moab with her daughter-in-law Ruth the Moabitess. They arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.

• They were returning to God’s promised land at a time of hope and plenty (barley harvest).
• Consider all that Naomi still had: life, possibility, Ruth, God Almighty (El Shaddai)

 

Live It Out

Life is hard.  How can we avoid becoming empty like Naomi?

• Change the way you look at the hardships of life, James 1:2-4.

2 Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 And let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.

• God allows/uses hardship to make us better.
• Tests of faith help us learn that we can overcome pain/suffering through God’s help.
• God doesn’t want us to be empty but to be full of all that makes life meaningful, v. 4.

4 And let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.

• Naomi never lacked what she needed, she just didn’t see it.
• God is faithful and will ALWAYS provide EVERYTHING we need.

More Messages from Pastor Martin Chappell