by Rev Steve Nickodemus

Bitterness turned to Joy.

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

“Don’t call me Naomi,” she told them.  “Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter.”
Ruth 1:20

This is a picture of my grandson sampling “lithia water” in Ashland, Oregon.  Lithia water is high in sulfur content, and very bitter.  Jacob stated, “Boy, this is really bad!”

That is how Naomi felt in the Bible story above.  Her husband, and both her sons, had died, and she was returning to Israel to live as a lonely, bitter, widow.  “Naomi” means pleasant, but she preferred to be called “Mara”, which means bitter, “because the Almighty has made my life very bitter.”

Are you able to identify with Naomi?  Has your life been filled with grief, loss, and tragedy?  Are your memories, and your future, more distasteful than you can stand?  Have you even complained to God about the pain in your life?  Has your happiness turned to sorrow, and your pleasant memories turned to bitter dust in your mouth?

God’s people experience great pain.  The consequences of sin in the world do not spare God’s children.  We experience sorrow, loss, heartache, and death.  Is there any hope in the bitterness of life?

Yes, we find hope in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.  In the midst of our pain we look to the Man of Sorrows who endured Calvary for us.  God’s own Son endured the bitterness of suffering, and death, that we might not live in bitterness forever.

Naomi’s bitter life was changed by God’s merciful intervention.  She again experienced family, new birth, and hope.

Our bitter life has also been changed by God’s merciful intervention.  Into a broken, bitter, world our Savior came. In His sacrificial suffering, death, and resurrection we have healing, forgiveness, and eternal life.

“…taste and see that the Lord is good and His mercy endures forever…”

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado