Naomi

And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: (Ruth 1:16)

Allow me to use this popular verse to speak about something completely outside the messages that have been preached and taught out of it.

I want to use it to speak about evangelism and the whole topic of being a witness. And I will want us to walk with Naomi from the time she left Bethlehem.

Again, I want us to look at this with a backdrop of all we have heard and know about mothers in law.

I do not think we can call Naomi a strong woman if we used the standards used for such from what we read. We cannot comfortably call her the family matriarch with the little information we have. She was not as assertive as we have been raised to think about strong women.

What is not in question is her faith and the impact it had on these Moabite damsels.

Why am I saying that she probably was not a strong woman?

We know it was wrong for her sons to get Moabite wives and they got them anyway after the death of her husband. She probably ought to have gone back home after her husband died but couldn’t, probably because she couldn’t convince her sons as much.

It is also probable that she suspected she was the reason for all those deaths around her from her confession to her daughters in law.

Allow me to leave speculations for now since as you know I never concentrate on anything not clearly written in the word

What was Naomi as a mother-in-law? I think that is the question that brought me to this point.

Naomi was a woman of faith, the kind of faith that slowly seeps through any crevice it gets to just as water does.

Her surrender to her fate in the midst of such suffering and loss is a clear demonstration that her faith was not academic. It ran her whole life.

The fact that Ruth could so conclusively call Naomi’s God her God is a clear demonstration that she knew that her faith was not only sweet, it had a transforming power that nothing in her past had the capacity for.

Interacting with a foreign mother-in-law is for the most part difficult. The fact that people have even coined the term mother in love is clear evidence that a good mother-in-law is rare.

Yet we see these Moabite girls clinging to her and even weeping when she wanted to leave them.

Eventually she was able to speak some logic to Orpah. But even that was a difficult task.

Why was that?

Naomi was, like her name, sweet to be around. Her faith gave out an aroma that drew everybody towards it. Her personality was magnetic.

That was not aggression. It is her faith that was aggressive and expansionist.

Yet it was so in the living.

Nothing in the narrative shows Naomi as someone who always talked about her faith and her God. And it would have been difficult for her to do so since she was more or less living in sin.

What of leaving Bethlehem for Moab? What of her sons marrying forbidden girls?

We always laugh at a young man who sticks in a relationship with a heathen trusting that God will bring them to faith. Because it is simply impossible.

Yet wasn’t that Naomi’s experience?

But her faith was able to win Ruth to an unwavering faith in the God she served, be it in rebellion or not. Her lifestyle was able to convict a heathen to abandon her faith.

That for me is beyond impressive.

Do you realise that this is the reason Peter wrote this?

Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives; While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear. Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands: (1Peter 3: 1 – 5)

She didn’t fight her husband or sons when they chose the wrong path.

She chose to follow the right path when she was in charge; after all her bosses died. That is the reason she did not want any baggage when she was returning.

There is a very pivotal point I need to make about this topic. It is the fact that it is in adversity that we are able to release that sweet aroma to the world.

Look at the women in the Bible.  The majority of those who stood out were not the normal women in perfect marriages.

They stand out because they were the products of perilous times.

Abigail stood out because Nabal was a churl. Tamal stood out because Judah got a wife who raised sons who had no connection to his faith. Hannah stood out because of her barrenness and persecution.

That was possible only because their faith was such that their ‘pressing’ and ‘crushing’ were able to produce the faith that could not be produced otherwise.

Good times produce envy or craving for a replication for it.

Who doesn’t like to live a trouble-free life? But there is not much craving for the faith that produced it since at that point very little faith is evident.

But faith can never be hidden in adversity since crushing must produce the aroma resident in the vessel. Remember even the alabaster bottle had to be broken for that expensive perfume to anoint Jesus?

The reality is that Peter was not addressing women in perfect marriages with husbands who know their position and handling their responsibilities just right.

Those verses are addressed to women in abusive marriages, women married to churls like Nabal.

Though a woman will always struggle to submit even to the perfect husband, it is imperative for her faith for her to submit to that churl because that is where her faith shines the brightest.

There is no effort required eating your best dish. Nobody will therefore be applauding you for the same. It may many times be detrimental to your health.

But taking medicine is difficult. Eating food you must eat is not exciting. You must force yourself. You must first convince yourself about their usefulness and necessity. No wonder they are called medicines or nutritional requirements.

That is not different with our faith.

Our witness is never as effective and visible as when it is under pressure. In short it is when nothing makes sense in our life that our faith shines the brightest.

I believe this is what happened to Naomi.

The pressure caused by the disobedience of her husband and sons made her faith stand out.

But it did even more. It made it sweet and desirable.

It became such that someone could opt to leave their comfort, promise and future in its pursuit. Since that is what Ruth was ultimately committing herself to.

David the king lived in adversarial times. Yet we see very many people from the nations following his faith. We also see enough losers joining him.

Solomon on the other hand, lived in peace and prosperity. He also had many guests. But we do not see any of them joining his faith. Many joined to corrupt it.

What am I saying?

The harvest of our faith brings enough fans, followers, admirers, etc. But it rarely (I don’t have any scriptural evidence of even one) converts. But the battle of our faith, the test of our faith, ends up convicting enough people to join that faith under fire.

That is why motivation is so delusional. It is also anti witness since like with Solomon it never wins any converts however successful it becomes.

And that is why we have a verse like this in the Bible.

These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)

And this

Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. (2Timothy 3:12)

At what stage is your faith?

What is the pressing producing? Is it the pleasant aroma Naomi gave or the stench bitterness from feeling short changed produces?

How many people are willing to join or faith because it is under intense pressure? Will you be content to allow God to complete the process instead of crying for the harvest before the crushing?