pramsay posted on August 09, 2007 03:20 1718 views
When Full Feels Empty

Sometimes we think we’re empty when we’re really full. And full when we’re really empty. Perhaps your thinking is distorted today. Maybe you are lamenting your plight and wiping your eyes in desperation. “Life is horrible. Where are the good times? It can’t get any worse than this. I’ve reached the bottom. I’m on empty! I was waiting for God to step in and do His thing to get me out of this mess but nothing’s happening, so I’ll have to do something myself.” Are you wanting to intervene and forget about waiting for God any longer? Dangerous!

An older lady returns to her home village after an extended absence. The mere passing of years alone could not account for the brokenness, haggardness and fragility of this woman. Who is it? She looks familiar. Is it really Naomi coming back?

“Naomi, is it really you? Are you our Naomi?” The people of Bethlehem were shocked at the sight of this forlorn and desolate woman.

“…And when they arrived in Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred about them, and said,
Is this Naomi?
And she said to them, Call me not Naomi [pleasant];
call me Mara [bitter],
for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.
I went out full, but the Lord has brought me home again empty…”
(Ruth 1:19-21 Amplified)

“Yes, it’s me. The Lord has brought me back home. I’ve been away for too long. Life has been hard and so rough since I left. I’ve experienced the emptiness and bitterness of living a life out of God’s will and away from God’s place. When we left, my husband was panicking over our future. He thought the famine would never end and that things couldn’t get worse. I’ll never forget the day when we packed up everything and left. Along with our two young boys we waved our last good byes. We had it all rationalized in our own minds. The famine was real. The leaves were withering and the flowers were wilting. The grass was brown and the clay had turned to dust. We had hit bottom. Totally empty! We saw no future in Bethlehem. Moab, the land of strange gods seemed so much brighter.”

“And Naomi, may we ask you how long did Moab continue to shine with brightness?”

“Moab couldn’t have been darker or emptier! It was such a sickening and vulnerable feeling knowing we were away from God. We kept trying to convince ourselves that we did the right thing. There was no spiritual bond with the people of Moab. I felt so alone! And then Elimelech died. And within a few short years both of my boys died. So many times on my knees I would tell the Lord how good we really had it back in Bethlehem where I belonged – how full things really were despite the severe famine. There’s nothing so empty as being away from God’s place and to be suffering through one trial after another all alone out of the mind and will of God. Crying took on a new meaning when I was in Moab! We left Bethlehem full – even though we thought the gauge was registering empty. Emptiness as we viewed it was really full in contrast to the true emptiness we experienced away from God. We went out full and I am coming home empty.”

Naomi seemed to blame God for the misery in Moab, when really she should have taken full responsibility for stepping out of the mind of God in the first place. Our choices always have consequences. However, she does give the Lord credit for graciously and kindly bringing her back home.

Dear Child of God, perhaps you’re experiencing a severe famine in your life. It seems there’s no break in the clouds – no patch of blue above your head. It’s a trial – a test. Don’t grab the steering wheel and veer off in another direction. Trust God. God is good and He knows what He is doing and where He is going with you. He never loses control even when we feel things are spinning out of control. Psalm 43:5

Translate