05-02-10 PM - Building Lasting Relationships: The Burden and Bitterness of a Barren Life

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Ruth 1:6-22

She saw it as the practical, not proper, thing to do.

I. Notice the burden that she carried – 1:5-7.
Consider what she lost in ten years time:
[1] her husband – 1:5,
[2] her children- 1:5,
[3] her security,
[4] her possessions – 1:21,   I came back empty
[5] her status – 1:19, Is this Naomi
[6] her reputation – 1:19,
[7] her closeness to God -1:13.His hand is against me

When we do what is right, even when our motive is not the best, it positions us for restoration both with God and others.                                                        

Until the pain to remain the same becomes greater than the pain to change, we never will.

II. Notice the bitterness she harbored – 1:13, 20, 21.
Naomi freely admits that she had grown bitter. [1:20].                                                                        Remember the meaning of her name?
Naomi means "pleasant one" But now she desires to be known as "Mara", which means "bitter one."

A. Bitter people tend to blame others for theirtrouble.                                                                                    
1:13 "the hand of the Lord has gone out against me!"
1:20 "the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me."
1:21 "the Almighty has afflicted me?"
The name "Almighty" (El Shaddai) has great significance here.

Adam Clark writes that she was suggesting that "He who is self sufficient has taken away the props and supports of my life."

Why do we blame God:
[1] We don't know whom to blame.
[2] We expect God to override the consequences of our personal failures.
[3] We expect God to fix immediately what we have taken years to progressively damage. This could be true of both our health and our children.

B. Bitter people tend to vent their hostility on others.
1. She offered poor advice – 1:8. Go back each of you
2. She was insensitive to Ruth and Orpah's grief - 1:12-15.
3. She considered Ruth and Orpah as carnal as she was -1:15.
4. She depreciated the value of her relationship with Ruth – 1:21.

III. Notice the barrenness she experienced 1:21.
Lord, who “works all things together for good to those that love Him” (Romans 8:28
Just as I am, without one plea, But that Thy blood was shed for me,
And that Thou bidd'st me come to thee O Lamb of God, I come! I come!