The Book of Ruth ~ Devotion Five

"The Waves of Grief"

Ruth 1:8-10 (NLT) But on the way, Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back to your mothers’ homes. And may the Lord reward you for your kindness to your husbands and to me. May the Lord bless you with the security of another marriage.” Then she kissed them good-bye, and they all broke down and wept. “No,” they said. “We want to go with you to your people."

It’s hard to see someone you love go through hard times especially when you are experiencing the same pain. I remember the awful pain I felt when my mother died. After eight months in the hospital she died with all of her children around her. She was the central figure in my family and helped guide each of us to a personal relationship with Jesus.

My mother and father had been married almost fifty-four years and he depended on her for so much. He was a country doctor for a little town in Texas and he was mostly gone. Mom ran the house, finances, family and even ran the little clinic and hospital they owned. When she passed away we found out just how dependent on her we all were, especially my dad.

My dad had to learn how to balance a check book at the age of seventy-nine. He’d never paid bills or cooked. Mom took care of all he needed. He tried to live alone but had to come live with me after about five months. My husband and I gladly took him home with us. In my grief I found myself comforting another who was grieving even more than I was.

This is where Orpah and Ruth found themselves. In their pain and grief they felt they needed to comfort one who was grieving even more than they were. The Bible gives us this wonderful glimpse of pure devotion and selfless love from these two women. They were willing to leave their homes behind and follow their mother-in-law Naomi to a land they didn’t know.

There were a lot of tears, hugs and kisses going on. Their love for one another was obviously great. Pain was drawing them together in their unique situation ~ Three widows holding on to one another. The younger women desperately holding onto the mother of their dead husbands and the mother holding onto what was left of her family. They comforted one another in spite and because of the shared pain.

Grief and pain cannot be rushed. It takes time to heal. At times it seems like we try to get better fast or hide our grief from those around us. The less we cry, the stronger we are ~ not really. The opposite is true. Grief has it time and place. It especially has its purpose.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven.
A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest.
A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to tear down and a time to build up.
A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance.
A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones. A time to embrace and a time to turn away.
A time to search and a time to quit searching. A time to keep and a time to throw away.
A time to tear and a time to mend. A time to be quiet and a time to speak.
A time to love and a time to hate. A time for war and a time for peace.

Imagine yourself standing on the edge of an ocean with the water lapping at your feet. Along comes a wave and knocks you down. You get up and shake off the sand and shells that have stuck to you. The water returns to its rhythmic course… rushing to the shore and pulling back over it..over and over it goes until another wave hits you.

Grief is rhythm of the waves. It laps at your feet and can lull you into accepting that this is the way life is. Dare I say…comfortable in a strange way? Life begins to slowly move forward and then…the wave hits…knocking you down and burying you in the sand and shells that rub and rip.

2 Corinthians 1:3-5 (NLT) All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. For the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ.

We are not alone when we are grieving. As 2 Corinthians 1:3-5 says, God is “the source of all comfort” His words are a supernatural balm that soothes our aching hearts. He sits beside us and gently brushes back our tear-soaked hair. There is no one like Him. No one can comfort us like He can. People get tired of trying to comfort us and make things better. If we’re not careful, some will avoid the constant strain of our grief. But, God, the Great Comforter will never leave us.

Naomi’s daughters-in-law shared in her grief because their grief linked them together. Maybe this shared grief helped them to cope with their own. I don’t know for sure, but I’d bet it’s true.

As believers we share as members of the same family of Jesus. We should look out for one another, building and supporting. It’s sad, but I have seen and experienced hurt within the church. The truth is that I'm ashamed that I’ve served up some awful behavior myself ~ God forgive me.

Its time we began to act and respond as Jesus would have us respond. Ephesians 3:32 (MSG) says this, “Be gentle with one another, sensitive. Forgive one another as quickly and thoroughly as God in Christ forgave you.” Our actions should reflect this Christ-like attitude toward others. We must be willing to be gentle, sensitive and forgiving.

Are you willing? This is my prayer that we will become more and more like Jesus and be ready and willing to walk through grief and pain like Orpah and Ruth did for Naomi.