Session 27

Naomi

From Eve & Adam: 30-Day Bible Study

Have you ever felt completely abandoned by God, feeling that He is literally shaking His fist at you? 

Following the death of her husband and her two sons, that’s exactly how Naomi felt.  She had nothing to hope for as she let the emotions of her abandonment take over her thoughts and eat away at her heart.  She felt rejection so strongly she wanted her name changed to reflect how she truly felt toward God—bitter.

Bitterness is the agony we feel when we blame God, or someone else, for our circumstances.  It’s our response to despairing events in our life that allows us to either show a trust for God or an attitude of blame toward Him. 

Naomi responded to her circumstances in the following ways:

1. She didn’t think she deserved what had happened
2. She could not love or be loved
3. She blamed God for her circumstances

As Naomi confessed her feelings to the Lord and allowed Him to minister to her through the love of Ruth, the bitterness began to leave her heart! 

Naomi let the following happen, and as a result, she was healed from her bitterness:

1. She realized God was working on her behalf
2. She received love from others and started to love again
3. She began to trust God with her circumstances

What Naomi found was the sweet redemptive plan of a loving God who indeed saw what she could not see.  There were blessings waiting for her in her difficulty. 

1. What has happened in your life that has caused you to feel that God has shaken His fist at you?  Are you struggling with bitterness toward Him?

2. Can you trust that He is bigger than the disappointment you are feeling towards Him right now?  If so, take the steps Naomi took to be healed from your bitterness.