When God Sends Us Empty Handed / Cuando Dios Vacía Nuestras Manos
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Introduction
Introduction
Have you ever found yourself in need?
Have you ever lacked food?
Have you lacked money?
Have you lacked resources?
Have you lacked access to opportunities?
There are many times in our life where we will find ourselves in need of something. Having a need can be an uncomfortable position to find ourselves.
How do we respond in a time of need?
Do we despair?
Do we become angry?
Do we try to find a way?
Many people wrongly think that Christians should never experience need or scarcity.
There are those who think that Christians should be wealthy simply because they are believers.
There are people who preach that Christians should have abundant material resources.
We call this type of false teaching the prosperity gospel. The prosperity gospel is a heresy that teaches that Christians should be wealthy, healthy, and prosperous.
This heresy says that Christians simply need to command and declare material blessings in their life.
The book of Ruth teaches us that trials are part of God’s dealings with his people. Today, we will consider:
Naomi’s surprising return to Bethlehem.
Naomi’s surprising declaration.
I. Naomi’s surprising return to Bethlehem
I. Naomi’s surprising return to Bethlehem
I. El regreso sorprendente de Noemi a Belén.
I. El regreso sorprendente de Noemi a Belén.
Naomi and Ruth are on their way to Bethlehem.
They have left the land of Moab. They have left a land of idolatry, of human sacrifice.
They have left a land that had openly declared their enmity against God and his people.
They have left Ruth’s homeland. Ruth has left the comfort of her home and security of her family network. She has set off to an uncertain life.
So the two women went on until they came to Bethlehem. When they arrived in Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them, and the women exclaimed, “Can this be Naomi?”
Entonces las dos mujeres siguieron caminando hasta llegar a Belén. Apenas llegaron, hubo gran conmoción en todo el pueblo a causa de ellas.
—¿No es ésta Noemí?—se preguntaban las mujeres del pueblo.
Ruth 1:19
They have finally arrived in Bethlehem - the house of Bread - where the Lord has started to pour out his blessing upon his people.
We are not told how long their journey from Moab to Bethlehem had taken them. Surely it was a dangerous journey but thy have made it safely to be near the people of God once more.
What is immediately apparent is the people’s reaction to the sight of Naomi.
The Bible tells us that the entire town was stirred up because of Naomi and Ruth.
The people could not believe who they were seeing.
It has been at least 10 long years from the time Naomi, Elimelech, Mahlon, and Quillion had left their homeland.
It has been at least 10 years since they set off in their journey desperately seeking food because of the famine in the land.
People start to ask themselves whether the woman they are looking at is really Naomi.
10 years can do much to change a person’s appearance.
10 years of problems, death, depression, famine, trials and tribulation will take its toll on a person’s appearance.
It is very possible that Naomi’s face showed the signs of premature age because of all that she had experienced while in the land of Moab.
Her life in Moab was not easy by any stretch of the imagination. Her life in Moab had been a living nightmare since the day they arrived.
II. Naomi’s surprising declarations.
II. Naomi’s surprising declarations.
II. La declaraciones sorprendentes de Noemí.
II. La declaraciones sorprendentes de Noemí.
The townswoman call her by her name.
Although she shows the signs of age and a hard life they can tell it is Naomi.
They call her by her name - Naomi - the pleasant one or sweet one.
It is so ironic that someone that had experience such a hard life would be called pleasant/sweet.
“Don’t call me Naomi,” she told them. “Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter.
Ruth 1:
—Ya no me llamen Noemí—repuso ella—. Llámenme Mara, porque el Todopoderoso ha colmado mi vida de amargura.
Naomi notices the irony and refuses to be called by her name.
This is her first declaration. She refuses to be called Naomi and prefers to be called “Mara” which means bitter.
Her life’s joy had been practically obliterated.
She demands to be called bitter!
Although this first declaration is surprising it is not at all unexpected!
How do we expect people to act when they have lost a loved one?
How do we expect a grieving widow to act?
How do we expect a cancer patient to act after hearing a negative report showing the progression of their cancer?
We live in a society that does whatever is necessary to flee away from pain and suffering.
We do whatever we can to avoid pain and suffering in this world.
We say we are always doing well. We say we are just fine!
We don’t suffer. Other people suffer, after all, we are Christians!
We refuse to accept the fact that there is pain, suffering, and agony in the lives of those we worship with every Sunday.
We can pretend there is no pain but the reality is that pain is ever present in the lives of our congregation.
However, Naomi’s second declaration is startling. Naomi says: The Almighty has made my life very bitter.
Naomi does not speak of the work of the enemy as being responsible for her pain and suffering.
Naomi does not attribute the trials and tribulations she has experienced to sin in her or her family’s life.
Naomi does not even attribute all this pain to unfortunate circumstances that are simply beyond her control.
Naomi is very clear and she knows it is God’s doing.
In fact, earlier in the chapter she has already made this declaration:
would you wait until they grew up? Would you remain unmarried for them? No, my daughters. It is more bitter for me than for you, because the Lord’s hand has turned against me!”
Ruth 1:
¿los esperarían ustedes hasta que crecieran? ¿Y por ellos se quedarían sin casarse? ¡No, hijas mías! Mi amargura es mayor que la de ustedes; ¡la mano del Señor se ha levantado contra mí!
Naomi knows that it is the hand of the Almighty that has been behind everything that has happened.
This kind of thought tends to startle us because we always associate healing, blessing, and abundance with God and do not think that God could be involved in the suffering that we often face.
Naomi’s theology is rooted in a right understanding of who the sovereign God of the universe is!
Naomi goes on to express her conviction even clearer:
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.”
»Me fui con las manos llenas,
pero el Señor me ha hecho volver sin nada.
¿Por qué me llaman Noemí
si me ha afligido el Señor,
si me ha hecho desdichada el Todopoderoso?
It is the Lord who has brought her back empty handed.
It is the Lord who has afflicted her.
It is the Lord who has brought misfortune upon her.
It is the Lord who has shown his hand to be, at least from Naomi’s perspective, to be against her.
Was Naomi speaking out of her own pain as if she were delusional or did she present an accurate picture of who God is?
Naomi certainly was in pain.
Naomi certainly was in extreme anguish after having lost a husband and two sons.
But, we cannot deny that the God of the Bible is sovereign over all.
The God of the universe has a purpose in everything that happens to us - be it pain or blessing.
The God of the universe was intimately involved in the pain and suffering that Naomi was experiencing.
From Naomi’s perspective, God was against her, but the truth is that God’s hand is always for his people although at time the circumstances that God allows in our life seem as if God is against us.
Job knew firsthand what it was to know the sovereign God in the midst of pain and suffering. After Job had lost his children, his livestock, and even his health he declares:
and said:
“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
and naked I will depart.
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away;
may the name of the Lord be praised.”
Job 1:
Entonces dijo:
«Desnudo salí del vientre de mi madre,
y desnudo he de partir.
El Señor ha dado; el Señor ha quitado.
¡Bendito sea el nombre del Señor!»
“Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land.
He replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?”
In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.
Job le respondió:
—Mujer, hablas como una necia. Si de Dios sabemos recibir lo bueno, ¿no sabremos recibir también lo malo?
A pesar de todo esto, Job no pecó ni de palabra.
Job didn’t have a fantasy image of God.
Job knew the God of the Bible.
Job knew that God was in his sovereign right to bless and allow his people to experience trials and suffering.
In the same way, Naomi is now becoming acquainted with this same God.
However, the same God that has brought her empty handed is the same God who is able to fill her hands with blessing once more.
This is just the beginning of the story.
God is faithful to the end.
It is important to note how close Naomi was to despair. She had at side the person that God would use to eventually bless her. Yet, in the midst of her pain she could not see this reality.
Naomi only saw pain.
Naomi only saw herself as being empty handed.
Naomi felt that the Lord’s hand was against her…and did not realize that God was preparing the way for her ultimate blessing.
The last verse in this chapter tells us that something is about to happen.
So Naomi returned from Moab accompanied by Ruth the Moabite, her daughter-in-law, arriving in Bethlehem as the barley harvest was beginning.
Así fue como Noemí volvió de la tierra de Moab acompañada por su nuera, Rut la moabita. Cuando llegaron a Belén, comenzaba la cosecha de cebada.
God is about to pour out his blessing upon Naomi and Ruth.
God is about to bless her life beyond what Naomi and Ruth can imagine.
…and yet…Naomi and Ruth have no idea about what is about to happen. All they can do is trust the everlasting and ever faithful God to be with them in the midst of the pain and suffering.
Conclusion
Conclusion
It can be very hard to hear the following words from people when we are suffering:
Cheer up!
Stay positive!
I know how you feel!
At times these words can be irritating because it is difficult to empathize with people when we have not faced similar suffering.
However, we can go to Jesus with our pain and suffering. We need not fear that he will give us a silly phrase pretending that it will make us feel better. The Bible declares:
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Porque no tenemos un sumo sacerdote que no pueda compadecerse de nuestras debilidades, sino uno que fue tentado en todo según nuestra semejanza, pero sin pecado.Acerquémonos, pues, confiadamente al trono de la gracia, para alcanzar misericordia y hallar gracia para el oportuno socorro.
Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Hebrews
Jesus is with us in the midst of our pain.
Jesus is with us in the midst of trials and tribulations.
Do not turn your back against him. He will deliver you! He will be with you though you walk through the valley of the shadow of death!