"…call me Mara, for the Almighty has made life very bitter for me. I went away full but the Lord has brought me home empty." (NLT) In the first chapter of Ruth, Naomi speaks to her friends upon her return to Bethlehem from Moab, where her husband and two sons have died.
Ruth, her Moabite daughter-in-law, has relocated with Naomi, vowing to make "your people, my people; your God my God." Naomi seemed glad to have her company and yet quite unaware of Ruth's value to her or to God's plan. Ruth was young and strong, able to glean food for them both. And Ruth, in God's timing and God's way, became the grandmother of David, from whom Messiah was descended.
And yet, in the middle of the journey, Naomi, in the manner of us all, could only see through her own eyes. In her eyes, the basket she carried was empty. In God's vision, the basket was ready to be filled.
How often we walk in short-sightedness, aware only of the empty basket we carry. We see the fruit all around us that we think we need to fill our emptiness. How do we learn to see what God sees? How do we believe God is even now, picking the fruit to fill our baskets?
How do we believe, in the midst of teenage angst, that God means to give us meaning and purpose? How do we grasp the goodness He means to pour out on us in the midst of the divorce? What helps us hold on to Papa-God's hand when the doctor says, "I'm sorry."
We can gather hope from these characters in God's story who speak without knowledge, just before God fills their empty baskets with his purpose. We are all in the middle of our stories. And we are in the middle of God's great story of creation, redemption, and glory.
Papa, give us eyes to see and hearts to behold the goodness you mean to pour out on us.
How often did/do I not see the plans God had for me. The trials that I thought were abandonment were preparation for a magnificent tapestry he was weaving, a master plan that allowed experiences as preparation for a life He had well planned. There have been times when I felt all I had was this one small, thinnish thread left to hang on to, yet the Father has shown me that in His tapestry each thread has a purpose. In a recent dream, God showed me how my one thinnish thread, when given to Him, had a perfect place just as it is, in His magnificent tapestry….and that what to me looked pitiful, wrong, thin, and off to me…worthless….once interwoven in His long prepared and planned for picture, was exactly where it was supposed to be,the way it was supposed to be, the exact color and length, completing yet another part of His magnificent weaving all of us together, holding each other…supporting each other….repairing each other….extending His work through each others mercy and love for another ….and so it is in real life right now….God uses what we so often see as empty brokenness to be filled with His goodness, His love, His mercy to share with others as He restores us and others!
God is good! His love for us is amazing!
TypePadSweetie,
What a lovely embellishment on the tapestry image that so many cling to in difficult times. The
idea of weaving us all together, holding and supporting each other. Yes. Not just our own lives,
but the whole Body, being worked into beauty. Glory. Thanks.
Karen