Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back, each of you, to your mother’s home. May the Lord show you kindness, as you have shown kindness to your dead husbands and to me. May the Lord grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband.” Then she kissed them goodbye and they wept aloud and said to her, “We will go back with you to your people.” Ruth 1: 8-10, NIV

Naomi’s daughters-in-law desired to go with her to a land that would be foreign to them where they likely would be considered enemies. It would seem like Naomi had great relationships with her daughters-in-law, even though they were not her ideal choices for her sons. She likely would have preferred that her sons marry Jewish women who believed in the one true God. However, she embraced her Moabite daughters-in-law and modeled a life surrendered to the Almighty God.

As Naomi was on her journey home, she realized that the daughters-in-law might be better off socially and financially by staying with their birth families. She prayed for God’s blessings on her daughters-in-law as she encouraged them to return home.

These verses are from a larger context where Naomi has experienced the death of her husband and sons. She is experiencing grief and great disappointment that God stripped her of the things and people she loved and once provided for her—her homeland, husband, and two sons. But then in verse 13, despite her grief, Naomi acknowledges God as the almighty, all-powerful God with irresistible strength.

Even though we may be disappointed with what God allows in our lives, we can still trust Him and turn to Him for comfort and direction. Despite our disappointment, we can still acknowledge God’s sovereignty. We can remember the bigger picture: He is the all-knowing God who uses our disappointments for the greater good.

When we handle our disappointments with grace, God can still use us to draw others to Himself. Sharing our lives with others amid our pain can minister to them in ways that our happiness cannot.

Even if you are experiencing disappointments in this season, God can use you as a conduit to bless your family, students and their parents, colleagues, supervisors, neighbors, and others you encounter.

Lord, You are the God of all strength—the Almighty. Sometimes we don’t understand You. Sometimes we question why You allow these negative things in our lives. Help us not to reject You, but trust You despite our disappointments. Despite the disappointments we experience, enable us to be conduits of Your love and blessings to others. In Jesus Name, Amen.

Copyright Althea Gordon-Scott.

Althea’s passion is to validate, encourage, empower, and inspire people, especially young people, to find their identity, live out their purpose, and reach their full potential. She is a member, public school educator, ordained minister, wife, and mother.