Walk in Wisdom

Missing Identity

Ruth 1:19-21

So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem. … And the women said, “Is this Naomi?” She said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went away full, and the LORD has brought me back empty.”

Sometimes I open my Bible for a few minutes in the morning, thinking the immersion into the words will be like a quick, refreshing dip in a shallow mountain stream, but then an undertow thrusts me into rushing rapids of marvel and meaning, and all I can do is flail with one arm for stability, trying to grab some boulder or branch, while frantically swimming with the other to keep up with the current.

It’s that word “Bethlehem” that baptized my soul just now. “House of Bread,” as it’s translated. Just the sight of it brings thoughts of our incarnate Lord pouring in, of a manger in these same foothills, of Bread broken and offered to weary, famished, wandering pilgrims whose insatiable emptiness led them here. Souls like Naomi, who call out in anger, “Don’t call me pleasant, call me bitter, for I left full, but I’ve come back empty!”, but who soon hear a whisper from the deep, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest!”

Oh, Naomi—you’ve got it all backward. You didn’t leave full; you left due to famine, remember? And that famine was as much an internal condition as it was an external one. You thought Moab’s barley and the weddings for your boys and a new career for your husband would satisfy your craving for belonging, but God always had something far better. Moab’s bread molded. Those dreams rotted. And I get it: you’re angry at God for taking your livelihood, and angry at God for ending your sojourn, and angry at God for leaving you in so destitute a condition. Oh, but listen, Naomi! Listen wayward sinner! Listen lost and wandering soul! There is Bread in these hills that will never mold, and a Well of living water that will never dry up, and a deep, deep Love that is, at this very moment, drawing you near!

Oh, friend, cast your soul into the currents of that great river today, and let it carry you deeper into the heart of your Redeemer.