by John O’Malley
“Why then call ye me Naomi, seeing the Lord hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me?” (Ruth 1:21).
Naomi stands before her own people and seemingly cannot bear to hear her own name. This one, whose name meant “pleasant” or “delightsome,” stood before her own people and said, “Call me not Naomi, but Mara.”
The evidence she offered for this identity change is two-fold. She explained the God of Israel, Jehovah, had testified against her. The second reason offered is that El-Shaddai, The Almighty God, had afflicted her. Afflicted by the Almighty and testified against by Jehovah: were these two factors enough to justify her renaming herself from Naomi to Mara?
God had brought her home again, but she could not yet see the blessing of His providence. Presently, she could only see the hurts, hard times, and seeming hopelessness. She simply saw the burden of her punishment. However, as it usually is with God, the best was yet to come. Her days of restored blessings were just around the corner.
Naomi did as most of us do. We believe that correction surely must make us unloved by God, and therefore we should be unloved by all. However, God’s correction is not solely an indication of His wrath, but rather an indication of His love.If He did not correct us, we would be classified as illegitimate children.
Instead of walking around mumbling the plaintive words of the song, “It’s All About Me,” why not walk around determined and certain that, “It’s all about Thee!”
Think about it...