The Unnamed Messenger
Imagine a stranger standing at your door making an announcement which would change the direction of your life?
In the first 5 verses of the book of Ruth, the writer (lacking all emotion) lays out the horrific facts of Naomi’s life:
•Due to famine she and her family moved from Bethlehem to Moab.
•Her husband died.
•Her son’s married Moabite women.
•Her sons both died.
Naomi was left a broken woman, in a foreign land, with her two Moabite daughters-in-law. An unnamed messenger tells Naomi that the LORD had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them back in Bethlehem.
The messenger’s name is not given but his words actually caused Naomi to change the direction of her life. This news was exactly what Naomi needed in order to prepare to return home and set out on the road to Bethlehem. Then Naomi instructed her daughters-in-law to “Go back, each of you, to your mother’s home.”
As comforting as their companionship could have been on the trip, Naomi knew what was ahead for Ruth and Orpah. She was concerned for their future and welfare. In their male-centered culture, a woman without a husband was vulnerable, without protection and daily provision. It was true that if they returned with Naomi to Judah they would be far less likely to remarry. Instead, Naomi hoped they would “find rest in the home of another husband.”
The choices of Orpah and Ruth would affect them for all of eternity. Orpah chose to go back to her people and her gods but Ruth clung to Naomi and confessed Naomi’s God.
Naomi’s relationship with her God was different than what Orpah and Ruth had ever experienced. There was something about Naomi’s God that attracted Ruth to Him. Even in the midst of Naomi’s broken heart – even in the midst of her self-confessed bitterness – God chose to use Naomi to draw Ruth to Himself. God used Naomi as an evangelist! It only takes a flicker of light to make an influence in the darkness!
I like that God can use me too, even when I am spiritually lacking, even when I struggle with the hard issues of life and find myself experiencing disappointments.
What kind of messenger are you? What is God doing in your life that could be an encouragement to others and are you prepared to share that message?
©2013, Gloria Stucky