I’ve got to mention that the whole idea of REST for a widow
comes from the book of Ruth. And with Turkey Day coming up every magazine at
the grocery store has cover stories on the effectiveness of gratitude on grief.
That’s in Ruth too! But also the following:
1. Naomi and Ruth went through many changes---talk about
secondary losses---Naomi went through a famine and lost her homeland, her
community and extended family when they first moved to Moab. She lost her
financial security and social protection when her husband died, and when her
sons died too she lost her entire future.
2. She and Ruth walked 50 miles through the wilderness to
return to Bethlehem---talk about a lonely road, and dangerous. There's a color photo of the landscape Naomi and Ruth walked through on their way from Moab to Bethlehem in my book Postcards from the Widows Path.
3. And then once back in Bethlehem Naomi felt so empty and
abandoned too that in Ruth 1:21 she
exploded with anger, and pain, and despair as she cried out to the people of
Bethlehem to change her name to Bitterness.
Yet God was with Ruth and Naomi. When Ruth waited in the dark of night,
waiting for old Boaz to quit snoring and wake up---God was watching over them.
4. Ruth and Naomi had to ask God’s people to help them---not
even Boaz would volunteer, and they asked God Himself for rest and redemption.
It was a precious, healing medicine to my soul to see that
God knew what widows go through, and that 3000 years ago he wanted to show the
world how much he loved them through the story of Ruth and Naomi. God’s Word is
our guidebook for life, full of immensely practical and effective help.
Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. Psalm 119:105.
But there's more! I'll post it tomorrow even though I hope you'll be enjoying a Thanksgiving dinner instead of surfing the Internet. It will be up for the next 6 days, so come back to visit whenever you have the chance.
Have a blessed Thanksgiving too! Job 1:21.
♥ ferree
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