Bittersweet

"Don't call me Naomi (Pleasant)," she told her former neighbors upon arriving home years later. "Call me "Mara," because the Almighty has made my life very bitter. I went away full, but the LORD has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The LORD has afflicted me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me" (Ruth 1:20-21) These words stick in the back of your mind as you read the rest of the story of Ruth and see how God had everything planned out to generously care for these women in ways they never could have expected. And best of all, God choose them to be part of the line of the Savior Jesus.

Let this be encouragement to us when we are tempted to complain about how bad we have it (and, don't get me wrong, if anyone had reason to complain it was Naomi), that God is still with us, working out all things "for the good of those who love him" (Romans 8:28).