They entered the fields of Moab and settled there. Naomi's husband, Elimelech, died, and she was left with her two sons. Her sons took Moabite women as their wives: one was named Orpah and the second was named Ruth. After they lived in Moab about ten years, both Mahlon and Chilion also died, and the woman was left without her two children and without her husband.

Ruth 1:2-5 CSB

This is a story that is soaked in grief and loss. 

It's easy to skip forward to the redemptive part and gloss over this, but the writer of this book asks us to sit with this. 

They've lost their home, their people, and now Naomi has lost her husband and her children. 

This is a story couched in loss and grief. 

I wonder what I would be telling myself if this was me..."we should've stayed, should never have come here."

"My life is a disaster."

"Why does God hate me?"

"What have I done to deserve this?"

"We tried to fit in. The boys got married and everything. And now all is lost."

The writer invites us to sit with Naomi in all that's lost. 

And gives an inkling of something good, two people who have joined the family, Orpah and Ruth. 

Two people who have also suffered the loss of a father-in-law, husband, brother-in-law, two more people who have seen their future hopes vanish.

Life hurts. 

As we sit with Naomi, Orpah and Ruth, maybe their story in some way resonates with you...

#bookofRuth

#thebiblekeepingitreal

#lifehurts