Tag: Boaz

Meet Naomi

Simeon Solomon's "Naomi and the Child Obed" 1881 wood engraving was scanned by Simon Cook. You can see more of Simeon Solomon's Bible illustrations here.
Simeon Solomon’s “Naomi and the Child Obed” 1881 wood engraving was scanned by Simon Cook. You can see more of Simeon Solomon’s Bible illustrations here.

Naomi is one of those women that you know of, but have never really known. Because of her more famous daughter-in-love Ruth, the spotlight has always just missed her. About three years ago at a Women’s Bible Study, that all changed for me. I connected with Naomi over the fact that we had both endured the unspeakable – the burial of our children. This is a club few are in and none want to belong to; when you come across other members, you tend to gravitate toward them. That semester was eye-opening for me as Naomi (with Ruth) shared her heart, hurts, and healing with our group.

I reconnected with Naomi last summer for a week and I learned even more from this wonderfully pleasant woman of God. Through her losses, Naomi remained rooted in the knowledge that God is sovereign. She is the first to confess that her losses weren’t easy to endure. (She actually renamed herself “Mara” for a time, which translates bitter.) Her grief was often ugly! Her faith in His sovereignty wasn’t rooted in her feelings, however, as mine tend to be. For Naomi, His sovereign control was a firm & unwavering fact. She knew (with the great Patriarch of her faith, Job) that God gives and God takes away. He is sovereign in the giving and He is still sovereign in the taking away.

The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.” Job 1:21 (NASB)

I invite you to spend some time with Naomi this week. She is a woman who has journeyed through the valley of the shadow of death many times. Because of that, she is uniquely qualified to lead you as you learn to trust in His sovereignty through your own valleys.








 

Meet Bathsheba

"Bath-Sheba" by quilt artist Dolores Fegan. See more of her Women of the Bible quilts here.
“Bath-Sheba” by quilt artist Dolores Fegan. See more of her Women of the Bible quilts here.

Like some of you, I’ve heard of Bathsheba most of my life. It’s hard not to, having grown up in the church. Her name was mentioned now and again in association with the great King David, but it was always in passing.

When I had the opportunity to meet and spend time with her last summer, I was admittedly lukewarm. And I confess that she was kind of hard to get to know. It took more work to peel back the layers than all of the other ladies I’d gotten to know. She proved less transparent than Rahab, less of a role-model than Deborah, less of a leader than Miriam. My diligence, however, paid off and I was rewarded to find that I connected in so many ways with this woman renown for her beauty:

  • as a fellow mother of five;
  • as a parent that has known the deep grief of burying a child;
  • as a woman desired (thanks to my husband!);
  • as a mom with deep desires to see her grown children realize their full potential (and occasionally messes up by meddling in their affairs);
  • as someone who looks at herself soberly; and
  • as a {repentant} sinner.

It was good to see that I shared these connections with Bathsheba because she is one of those women that are known more for her failures than for her successes. That’s unfortunate, too, because most of my own growth as a follower of God has occurred in the wake of my own {colossal} failures and I sensed the same rang true for Bathsheba as she shared her story with me. As she shared, I was intrigued by her ability not to become mired to her failures because I tend to get stuck in the moments. I obsess about every detail and find it very difficult to crawl out of those moments and move forward.

Bathsheba doesn’t deny that her sin altered the course of her life, or that people were hurt by her choices. They were, and probably none more than her first husband, Uriah. That moment of failure, however, wasn’t wasted. She grew from having endured the hardship of widowhood, guilt and even the death of her son. I think she learned from her mistakes. And God, in seeing that, used her to bless the known world (through her son, King Solomon, in her lifetime), and the entire world (through Jesus Christ, her direct descendant).

Bathsheba is an encouragement to me to live in light of Paul’s words to the New Testament believers in Philippi –

“…forgetting the things that are behind and reaching out for the things that are ahead, with this goal in mind, I strive toward the prize of the upward call of God.” (Phil. 3:13-14 NET)

I invite you to make your own connections with my new friend, Bathsheba, by going here.