A Real Happy Face

There were whispers and pointed stares as she walked the street. She could smell the familiar scent of barely.

Ah, that's right. It's time for the barely harvest.

Walking next to her, Ruth craned her head, looking right and left and all around trying to glimpse every inch of Naomi's homeland. Every five minutes she said, "It's beautiful!"

"It's beautiful, Ima Naomi!" Ruth exclaimed with her eyes bright with light for the first time in months. Ever since...

"Yes, it is," she said quietly.

"Oh, praise Yahweh!" A sweet voice spoke from behind Naomi.

Naomi turned around and gasped. Her dear childhood friend stood there. She had a hand over her mouth, her eyes were wide, and tears were running down her face.

"Hatovah!" Naomi dropped her bags, and threw her arms around her old friend. "I'm so happy to see you! I'm so grateful."

Naomi's tears mingled with Hatovah's, and Naomi pulled back a little to look at her friend better. Hatovah's hair was thickly dotted with long silver strands, giving a stark contrast to the rest of her dark locks. Her face was still lovely, but wrinkles had developed around her eyes, showing a glimmer of age had laid hold and grasped the beautiful friend she had left behind. However, it appeared the Lord had been good to Hatovah. Much better then he had been to her.

"It's wonderful to see you, my old friend," Hatovah whispered.

"Oh," Naomi gasped, "This is Ruth. She's my..." Naomi fumbled for a second. "She was married to my son."

Hatovah's look at Naomi spoke volumes of love and sympathy. Ruth stepped to them slightly, still clutching the reigns of the donkey.

"Hello."

"Hello dear." Hatovah smiled warmly at Ruth, sending warmth through her heart. Ruth was the daughter she never had.

If their arrival hadn't been curious enough already, they had certainly made a spectacle of themselves now. All over, people who had known Naomi before she left, started to pop out of houses and around corners.  "Is this Naomi?", they asked again and again. They looked happy to see her. Eager, loving, and welcoming.

Naomi was certain, that's how they meant to come across. But their hugs and questions, the repeated sympathy and cries of anguish from them only reminded her of the bright young, hopeful, pleasant woman she had been when she left.

Now, all she was was a bitter, lonely, old, broken woman.

She broke away from their hugs, and held her hands up high. Everyone looked at her with surprise at her sudden outburst.

"Do not call me Naomi anymore."

Everyone gasped, and she could see the concerned look on Hatovah's face.

"Call me Mara." Because I'm Bitter. "For the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went away full, and the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, when the Lord has testified against me, and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?"

Mara lowered her arms, and the silence of the people engulfed her for a moment. Now everyone knew just how broken and angry she really was.

Based on Ruth 1:19-21

Okay, I don't know about your Bible, but the footnotes in my Bible give the meanings for Naomi and Mara:

Naomi-Pleasant
Mara- Bitter

Naomi wanted to be called Mara because she was bitter and angry. Earlier in Ruth chapter one, you learn that her husband and two grown sons had all died. She felt like God had abandoned her, and taken away everything she loved. She blamed God, and was giving up.

My husband noted something really cool. Even though Naomi said, "Don't call me Naomi; call me Mara," all throughout the book, she is still referred to as Naomi-like God didn't acknowledge her angry name change. Like God was saying, "I've still got so much in store for you. You will be pleasant once again."

Spiritually and metaphorically speaking, we will be going along fine, and then hit a brick wall. We get out to look at the damage, kick the torn up bumper off our car, and freak out. We've all responded like Naomi. We've all taken a situation, and instead of being pleasant about it, we purposely choose in our hearts to become bitter.

"A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones." Proverbs 17:22

Is your spirit crushed because of the trials and sorrows of this life? Or will you hold the joy of the Lord in your heart? The end of Nehemiah 8:10 says the joy of the Lord is your strength. Will you let God be your joy no matter what? Will you let His joy strengthen you?

I know that I don't want to give up and become a bitter, old grump. I want to keep my Naomi name! I want to keep a pleasant heart. No matter what is going on in your life, God doesn't want you to give up and swap out your loving, pleasant spirit for a bitter, empty one.

"Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy!" Psalm 126:5

Don't give up in God. Don't choose an identity in bitterness. Wait on God because He will not disappoint you. Ever.

"Rejoice always." 1 Thessalonians 5:16

Put on your real happy face.

V. Joy Palmer