How would you choose to react if a bitter situation gets you down? Let us trust in God and look forward with anticipation. Rev Winnie Ong uses the story of Naomi to encourage us.
It has been almost two years that the COVID-19 pandemic has hit the world very hard. Our culture of self-sufficiency and being in control has been challenged: people are dying and among them are friends and loved ones. Businesses are closing, and jobs are becoming scarce. Social gathering and congregation worship are limited. When will these setbacks end?
When a Situation Turns Bitter
The Bible encourages us to trust God, but our experiences can tempt us to doubt God. I am reminded of a Biblical character Naomi, whose spirit was broken by her losses. Her emigration to Moab seemed the answer to her family’s survival when a famine hit her homeland. She had sold the last of the family property to start a new life in a neighboring country. How promising and bright the future had looked then. But now life held no meaning when her husband and their two sons passed on.
When the women in Bethlehem greeted Naomi upon her return, negative words spilled from her lips. “Do not call me Naomi (‘pleasant’), call me Mara (‘bitter’), for the Almighty has made my life very bitter. I went away full, but the LORD has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The LORD has afflicted me and the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me.” (Ruth 1:20-21).
Trust that God is Working Out the Good
Are you also bitterly depressed like Naomi because you feel that God has removed everything that is important to you from your life? That is a normal reaction in grief. When we are going through painful experiences, it is hard to be convinced that God is making something beautiful, something good, out of the broken pieces. But wait, don’t lose heart. Allow the Holy Spirit to bring comfort to you and assure you that our heavenly Father is working out the good in the world even if it is not that clear right now.
Your Choices
In this pandemic, we have no choice but to wait for it to end, but we DO have a choice in how we wait. Some people wait out a difficult time in a spirit of rebellion. They go through it angry and discouraged. They make their displeasure known to all who will listen. Others wait out a difficult time in a spirit of resignation. Life loses all meaning and perspective for them, so they become cynical about life. They trudge forward with a dull and listless spirit.
However, there is a right way to wait on God in our trying and difficult times – wait in anticipation. Let our heart and mind agree that a bright morning will appear when the night and its shadows pass away. Instead of looking down and feeling hopeless, look up and watch for signs that God is working out His plan in the New Year.
Wait Patiently For Him
In the story of Naomi, we see those signs. He ended the famine in Bethlehem – “Naomi heard that the Lord had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them…” (Ruth 1:6). There is an appointed time, a fixed time in the future that cannot be rushed or delayed. An appointed time means that God has a fixed and ordered time to act decisively in our lives. Its occurrence and duration are ordered by God and not by us. So let us wait patiently for Him.
God Sent People to Help Us
Although Naomi had nothing to offer her daughter-in-law Ruth, the younger woman loved her and chose to stay with her. It is said of Ruth that “she loves [Naomi] and is better than 7 sons” to her (Ruth 4:15). God has planted people in our life to reach out to us. Let us not push them away.
Naomi’s close relative Boaz married Ruth and their firstborn son Obed became Naomi’s son (Ruth 4:17). This child became the grandfather of David, who later became king in Israel. And Naomi became the great-grandmother of God’s favorite king.
Yesterday we experienced loss and heartaches; today there is already healing and joy. Despite the scares of the pandemic, we must not lose hope that God hears our cries and will answer our prayers to see better days in the coming year.
Rev Winnie Ong is Associate Pastor of Lifeline Family Church, in charge of the CARE cells. She is also the Network Representative of Global University (USA), a distance learning Bible College. She is married to Rev David Wong and they have two adult daughters. Winnie preaches and teaches in English, Cantonese, and Mandarin.
