Articles
The Almighty Has Afflicted Me
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"The hand of the Lord has gone out against me!"
"The Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me."
"The Almighty has afflicted me."
(Ruth 1:13, 20, 21)
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These words of Naomi are harsh, but had we been in her shoes, we likely would have said the same thing. A famine drove her and her family out of Judah into Moab. In that strange land she lost her husband, then both her sons. She was returning to Judah a broken woman, convinced that God was punishing her.
Life had been hard for Naomi, but she had no way of knowing the blessings that the Lord had in store for her through her afflictions. She had lost her men, but she gained a daughter-in-law, Ruth, a godly woman who proved to be "better to you than seven sons" (4:15). Through this wonderful girl, Naomi regained a posterity, and became a legal ancestor of David, the greatest king of Israel, and ultimately of Christ Himself. The hardships Naomi suffered proved to be a journey to blessing and honor. Her early despair was understandable, but unwarranted.
We see this same pattern of experience in the lives of other Bible characters. Joseph could not foresee any good coming from the terrible injustices he suffered as a young adult. Yet later, reviewing the remarkable chain of events that led to his elevation over Egypt and reunion with his family, he could say that "God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result" (Gen. 50:20).
At one point in his life, David thought the whole world had turned against him. He was a fugitive from his own nation; the Philistines did not trust him; his own men threatened to kill him when they returned to find their homes destroyed and their families taken by Amalekite raiders. What else could go wrong? "But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God" (1 Sam. 30:6), and that dogged faith carried him all the way to the throne of Israel.
God's discipline stings, but it is administered "for our good" (Heb. 12:5-11). The misfortunes we encounter in life may lead us to question God's care, but we do not know the future that God has in store for us. All we can do is keep on serving Him, and trusting Him to make everything right someday.
--David
