I Went Out Full

“I went out full, and the Lord has brought me back home again empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the Lord has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me?”

Ruth 1:21

My pastor has been preaching out of his soul. Do you hear me??? Every Sunday, the Lord is shining down on him and breathing fire out of his mouth. He has been speaking directly to me. Did Jesus sit with him and tell him my story? Maybe this will speak directly to you as well.

He preached from the book of Ruth. I’ll give you a brief description to get you caught up to the point of his sermon. Naomi is a woman from Bethlehem. She has a husband, named Elimelech, and two sons. Bethlehem begins to experience a famine. Elimelech decides that the family should move to the country of Moab when the famine begins in Bethlehem.

The family sets up residence in Moab. Then, Naomi’s husband dies. The boys grow up and marry Moabite women. Then, both of her sons die as well. While still in Moab, Naomi hears that God has visited His people back home in Bethlehem and given them bread. Ruth, one of Naomi’s daughter-in-laws, decides to journey back to Bethlehem with her.

That brings us to the point of the sermon that stirred something up in me. Naomi feels lost and discouraged. The women of her home town are excited to see her. They say, “Naomi, girl is that you?” Naomi responded from her frustration and says “Don’t call me that name. I’m not the Naomi you knew. Life has been rough on me. I’m bitter now.”

While I’m not bitter, I have been through situations that changed me. Situations that distorted my view of God’s grace and mercy. The shout is that my pastor was able to point out something that I had never noticed in all my days of hearing this Bible story.

Naomi states that she left Bethlehem full. Wait a minute…weren’t they in a famine when they left Bethlehem? Isn’t that why they left Bethlehem? Yet God was keeping them full in a dead and dry situation.

That’s not the only point that made my toes tingle. Naomi also states that she made it all the way back home while being empty. Have you ever been able to get back home from a far off land while being empty? That’s a miracle!

God has been sustaining me and keeping me even when I fail to realize it. Sermons like this make me run to church Sunday after Sunday. I’m not perfect but God sure is perfecting me. And every Sunday, He makes sure that I leave out full. #wepreach