Bitter or Better: You Decide

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Contents

Foreword...............................................................................................viiIntroduction...........................................................................................ixChapter 1: How Did I Get Here? Ruth 1:1-3.............................................................1Chapter 2: Mahlon and Chilion are Dead Ruth 1:4-5.....................................................17Chapter 3: There is Bread in the Land Again Good times, are God times Ruth 1:6-18.....................27Chapter 4: Don't Change Your Name too Soon Ruth 1:19-22...............................................41Chapter 5: Thank God for a new friend Ruth Chapter 2..................................................57Chapter 6: Kinfolk Are Alright Sometimes Boaz-Kinsman Redeemer Ruth Chapter 2.........................75Chapter 7: Work Your Plan, Girl (Naomi and Ruth) Ruth Chapter 3......................................83Chapter 8: You Will Nurse Your Own Blessing Ruth Chapter 4............................................91

Chapter One

Ruth 1:1-3

All of us have asked this question as we reflect on our position in life. We saw our life turning out differently. Pictures of grandeur were before us. Hopes and possibilities filled our path. All of a sudden we were sidetracked and somehow plummeted into a world of chaos and confusion seemingly without end. The phrase "from bad to worse" does not adequately describe where you are or what you have experienced.

"I have heard the horror stories of divorce, but I never thought it would happen to me."

"My home and family seemed to be normal when I was growing up. How did I get raped and molested?"

"There must have been something that I did to cause my husband to abuse and beat me."

"Drinking and drugs seemed to be a harmless pastime when I saw my mother and father doing them. Why couldn't I shake them off in my adulthood?"

Don't the above sentiments sound familiar? This is a scenario that we find in the short but powerful book of Ruth. With a short stroke of a pen, the author describes how the life of a normal, quintessential family can be turned upside down by its leader.

Before we get to the specific state of the family named in the text before us, we must first look at the general condition of a larger group of people. Since the book begins with a timeline description of the period in which God's people lived, an explanation of the "time when the Judges ruled" is in order.

This period commences with the death of Joshua and the elders who ruled with him. There was an apparent lapse in clear leadership, authority, and teaching, which ultimately lead to anarchy. Throughout the book of Judges, we encounter the statement "there was no king in Israel, and everyone did what was right in their own eyes." The people of Israel stood between periods of theocracy and monarchy. During this time, God's people followed the inclinations of their own hearts instead of the mandates of God's laws. Each time they did so, their enemies defeated them, and they became the subjects of foreign kings and idol gods. In their pain they cried out to God, and he raised up men and women to deliver them. These men and women would return Israel to freedom and prosperity, but the Israelites always returned to their sins, which landed them back into bondage.

This seesaw experience lasted until the ministry of the prophet Samuel, who raised a righteous standard in Judah and set the stage for the monarchy that God had always planned for his people.

The following short story takes place during one of the downward spirals described above. God always uses a family or a person to illustrate a larger lesson.

Elimilech, the head of this family, decides that in the time when things have gotten tight in Bethlehem, that he and his family would seek temporary refuge in a more prosperous place. Bethlehem, which means "the House of Bread," had run out. Bethlehem, where Jesus ("the bread of life") would be born, was suffering a severe famine and drought. God had commanded the Hebrews never to lose faith in God, regardless of circumstances, and they were never to seek provision under the wings of foreign countries and their idol Gods (reference).

God always returns prosperity to his people once his purposes are fulfilled. We are sometimes victimized, because we are forced to submit to disobedient leaders—parents, relatives, educators, politicians, pastors, or friends. What people do will inevitably hurt those who are associated with them.

Many people turn out to be alcoholics because of the family line. Many become addicted to drugs because they saw drug activity in their homes when they were children. Scores of people suffer from an identity crisis called homosexuality because they are products of iniquity that was passed down to the third or fourth generation. A person very rarely does that which was not done to him or her. There are many people around the world who have received the awesome forgiveness of God for the sins they committed, but there are just as many who are still suffering physically, spiritually, and even emotionally because they have not walked in the healing grace of God. Romans 5:10 says, "If we have been justified by His blood through His death, how much more shall we be saved by His life."

Yes, the person that is now flat on his back because of the heavy weight of self-projected guilt and shame can now stand firm on his feet and walk with God. The person that is saved and yet bound by various addictions in an attempt to drown out bad memories and sorrows can now cast all of her care onto the Lord, because he cares for her. People who think that it's all over need to learn that our current landings may become launching pads for better days ahead.

History has proven to humanity that God can take the wounded, weak, disadvantaged, poor, disenfranchised, sad, misused, and the misunderstood, and cause them to rise up with the wings of an eagle. All you need to do is make up your mind that you will not live the second half of your life regretting the first half.

Many people in society are plagued by the nagging problem of bitterness. When we refuse to deal with the hurts that drove us to isolate ourselves in the first place, we can become bitter. Bitterness is a root that springs up in the life of a hurt person who has learned to deal with pain by hurting other people, because "hurt people, hurt people." The only compensation or satisfaction that he or she can get is to draw people into their world of pain.

Flowers, diamonds, loving conversation, vacations, etc. cannot heal a bitter woman that has not dealt with bitterness. Preaching engagements, salaries, gifts, appreciations, titles, etc. cannot mend the heart of a preacher who has been scarred by a former church or denomination if he doesn't deal with his bitterness. Sex, friends, boyfriends, girlfriends, clubs, fraternities, etc. will never cure the mind of a dejected man or woman who was rejected as a child or teen.

Bitterness is so powerful that it will spread to people around you—ultimately, an entire house, church, workplace, or school can be defiled by it. It is much like a person with a first-degree burn. That person cannot be touched by others but has to be wrapped and placed in isolation until the skin is healed. A burn victim's skin will be pulled off if someone tries to handle it before it heals....