by John O’Malley
“And Naomi said, Turn again, my daughters: why will ye go with me? are there yet any more sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands?” (Ruth 1:11).
Sometimes the heart hurts so badly, we misunderstand the deeds of others and can only see our own hurt. The daughters-in-law were struggling with empathetic emotions for Naomi. They knew, in part, what she was going through. They reached out to Naomi with their statements of being willing to follow her home. They wanted to help Naomi.
Naomi wrestled with her guilt of living in Moab apart from God’s design. She told the girls to go home. She asked them why two young widow girls would want to go with her. She asked them if they thought she could bear any more children for them to have husbands according to God’s law. Her questions reveal that her hurting heart felt so empty that she could not give fellowship, friendship, or a future to Ruth and Orpah.
Ruth and Orpah were not looking for what Naomi could provide for them. They were looking to be a balm to their mother-in-law’s aching heart.
Do you have a friend with a hurting heart? Find a way to get to their side and let them know you have come, not to take, but to give them your prayers and presence. Stand with them in this hour, for they need you more than they realize at this moment.
Friend, are you the one with the heart that aches? Your friends are not coming to hear your heart’s guilt in having nothing to offer. Rather, they are coming to give you the friendship and fellowship you need. Ponder this poetic thought:
Friend, have you a hurt that runs so deep, that it is all that you can see?
I, your companion, am here for you standing upon a prayer-bent knee.
I did not come for your provision, or for your humble protection.
I have come just to be your friend and offer you my compassion.
-- John M. O’Malley
Think about it...