Happenings 8 February 2019

While she hasn’t got a book named after her, I personally think that Naomi’s story in the book of Ruth is as equally compelling as that of Ruth’s herself. Ruth’s story is coloured by grief, yes, and she is rightfully applauded for her loyalty, initiative and courage. But Naomi’s story is one which shows God’s grace to someone in the deepest despair who was helpless to help herself. She had known wave after wave of calamity; life had punched and kicked her until she could not get up. Forced to leave her country because of poverty, her husband had died in a foreign land. Then one son died. Then another. She had no sons left, and again plunged back beneath the bread-line, she is forced to return to her homeland, destitute and demoralised. You get the feeling as you read that she is hopeless, listless, and simply waiting for the next disaster to happen. And then God …
As a church we also have had wave after wave of calamity. This week we again find ourselves having to farewell a dear friend and brother in tragic circumstances. John’s death is yet another blow to us and we struggle to see hope in the grief. But may we still hold on to these words:  ‘And then God …’  Jesus begins sentences of redemption, hope and joy out of paragraphs of pain. Our story is not yet written by the Author of our faith. Pain happens … And then God works good out of harm. Despair sets in … And then God brings hope where there was no hope of hope making a comeback. Hold on, family, and trust in our great ‘And then God’!

In Him,