There are only two books in the bible named after women, Ruth and Esther, in the Old Testament. I personally love them both, but the Book of Ruth is the one from which I draw the most relatable encouragement. I marvel continually at Ruth’s devotion to her mother in law, Naomi. I’m also deeply in awe of Ruth’s humility, but Naomi is the example that speaks to me more prominently. Her sadness is epic, and I can so relate to it. If you’ve never been in a situation where you stand to lose everything that’s important to you, or you’ve never had a sho’nuff wilderness experience, then you might not glean that much from Naomi’s plight. But if the sadness of dealing with constant pressure from every direction is mounting, and you just don’t have it in you to hide behind a smile anymore, there’s a good chance the wisdom in Naomi’s record might lift you up.
Recently, I witnessed a deeply saddened woman thank those who had prayed for her. Even though she shared that she was incredibly burdened, she never gave the specifics of her situation. When asked about them she said, “I want to thank you all for your prayers, but there’s no need for me to provide details because no one can do anything about my pain any way. Only God can help me.” Some were offended by her statement, but it revealed that her mind and heart had sunk to an almost unreachable place. This is a place where it becomes very challenging for faith to make contact. It was a place near the street of hopelessness, in the proximity of desperation, and dangerously in route to the territory of fear.
I’ve been to this location, and I don’t wish to visit it again. Naomi was living there. Her husband, Elimelech had moved his family to Moab, away from Canaan, a place known as ‘the land of milk and honey.’ There was a temporary famine in Canaan, which demonstrates to us how far God’s people had ventured away from His Word and the blessings they would have received from following it. The land of milk and honey, known for plurality and bounty, was reduced to be a land where hardly any food could be found. This was a state they were unaccustomed to experiencing and it scared Elimelech, so much so that he said adios to his homeland and move to a place where idolatry was rampant.
Elimelech didn’t consult God about this move, and this gives us a little insight about his usual habit patterns. Moving your family is a significant decision, so this allows us to see that Elimelech was quite at home with allowing fear to call the shots. Others in Canaan stayed put, and they got through the famine intact, but Elimelech, Naomi, and their boys moved away and didn’t pack the most important thing they owned, which was God’s statues. They got to Moab and forgot who they were. Elimelech died after the move, and his two sons married Moabites women. God forbid them to intermarry into nations practicing idolatry, but because they had allowed His statues to slip away from their hearts, they disobeyed God’s Word.
Naomi was in a terrible fix, having lost her husband and two sons who were sickly and died young. A widow was looked upon as being blessed if she still had sons. During this period of biblical history, respectable women couldn’t work, and the sons would care for their widowed mothers, but Naomi had lost this and was incredibly grieved. It is why she was so sad, but in her grief, she never considered the reasons she had been attacked so severely. In the Courts of Heaven, the devil brought a case against her; he sought to wipeout the destiny God had for Mahlon and Kilion, her two sons. The wages or payment for sin is death, and because they dipped into idolatry, the enemy stole their lives.
There are two very significant truths that we often overlook in our sadness. One of them is that the devil has caused it and has figured out the way to keep us down. The other significant truth is that the weapon he uses to keep us down is the case against us in the Courts of Heaven. The possibility exists that there is something we have done in the past and we are continuing to do in the present that we haven’t repented for. Remember, the devil has no foot-hole lest we provide it. Disobedience is the way the devil has an opening into our lives.
All of us, every person living, has sin in their life. 1John 1:8(NKJV) says, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” We all have negative baggage that is contrary to God’s Will, some we know about and there’s also some stuff that’s still hidden. To the extent that any of it is causing us to be unhappy, and it is hindering our faith, we have to address it spiritually. We underestimate the cost of allowing this aspect of negativity to persist. It is causing more damage than you and I can quantify. Our physical, emotional, mental, and most importantly spiritual well-being can be impacted by a remnant of fear that we do not intend to address.
We can’t avoid having some sadness in life, but when it persists, there’s almost always something we’re holding on to that needs to be released. Like Naomi, we don’t always see this, and will blame God erroneously. Naomi’s name means ‘pleasure’, but she felt that God had dealt with her unfairly. When hearing that the famine was over, she returned home, but her sadness was so deep that she no longer wanted to be called ‘Naomi’ by those who knew her. In Ruth 1:21(NLT), she said, “I went away full, but the LORD has brought me home empty. Why call me Naomi when the LORD has caused me to suffer and the Almighty has sent such tragedy upon me?”
I’m sure folks asked Naomi, “Why are you so sad?” Her answer was one of blaming God for the harshness and suffering of her life. She didn’t consider the reality that she and her husband, Elimelech, had abandoned God’s command, and had allowed their sons to do the same. Disobedience will give the enemy an opening to land an attack, and it is often severe. Elimelech and Naomi had a choice, they could have stayed in Canaan and believed God to survive the famine just as many others had done. They chose to flee without consulting Him for direction and guidance. It’s a lesson for us, so let’s not ever make this mistake.
Sadness is not the root cause of our unhappiness; it is our response to what the enemy is doing. Instead of responding to the damage the enemy is trying to cause, we need to respond to the deliverance God continually offers through the Lord Jesus Christ. Naomi figured this out. She used her wisdom and kindness to bless Ruth, and thereby opened up a channel for the blessing of God to get through. You and I cannot heal ourselves. We have an internal helper through the person of the indwelling Holy Spirit. He will lead and guide us to ALL truth, and this includes the truth that will help us confront the pain of our sadness, release it, and be healed from it in the powerful name of Jesus Christ!■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
“Why Are You So Sad?”, written by Reverend Fran Mack, edited by Kim Times for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2019. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! SMS is dedicated to inspiring and encouraging Christian Women through the Word of God.