Ruth 1:11-13
But Naomi said, "Return home, my daughters. Why would you come with me? Am I going to have any more sons, who could become your husbands? Return home, my daughters; I am too old to have another husband. Even if I thought there was still hope for me-even if I had a husband tonight and then gave birth to sons-would you wait until they grew up? Would you remain unmarried for them? No, my daughters. It is more bitter for me than for you, because the LORD's hand has gone out against me!"
I've never really understood the reason why Ruth would want to follow her mother-in-law, Naomi. Frankly, unless she had no family back home to go to or they were very aweful people I don't see why she would want to follow her emotionally bittered mother-in-law. Even as a heathen Moabitess, I'm really sure that Ruth did not saw Jehovah Elohim in Naomi's life. Especially when the bible shows how bittered Naomi was because God had made her live through the death of her 2 sons and her husband (see Ruth 1:20-21)
Despite Naomi's clear instructions to Ruth to return home, twice! Yet Ruth made a choice to follow Naomi as the bible records her making a heartfelt plea "May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me."
But as the bible later records in Ruth, the choice to stay with Naomi was indeed a good choice, for out of this decision, Ruth was to be part of the lineage of king David and eventually Christ.
This Chinese New Year celebrations was just like any others, until it was tampered off when I got news of a friend who was medically unwell. Only when I visited her, did I know of the fact that she underwent 2 surgeries because cancer had struck her. What's sobering was the fact that she was already in an advanced stage and there was nothing medically which would give her the assurance of success in treatment or impending death.
Death is always around, but when such a sobering situation strikes someone close to us and we physically witness how life is in the process of being robbed, that the weight of reality hits home.
My friend has always been a fair-skinned beauty, voluptous lady. Humourous and very zesty for life, there was no lack of suitors who would approach her. and I recall going out lunch with her some 6 years ago and got waylaid by a man who stopped her to give her his contact number on his POSB receipt. Clearly she never called him because our rationale was POSB was for the average man, if he had written it on a foreign bank that would have shown him to be financial more wealthy and suitable. That decision was followed by great laughter on our part.
Yet, this week, as I sat on the chair and looked at her, she was far from her former glory. Having loss much blood and weight through 2 operations, her bones were now showing and the fullness of her voluptous flesh was lost. However, what was terribly different was the attitude which she now carried.
Some 3 odd years ago, she followed her cousin to church nicely. Then she made a decision to accept Christ into her life. For the next year or so, life was still status-quo to before she attended church. When I met her occasionally, we talked and discuss at leisure issues such as "How she successfully got a free bible and save good money","why must tithe, when she will tithe and why 10%? she'll give lesser first", "why cannot play majong or gamble?", "what's wrong with the occasional swearing or worldly indulgence". Then, myself and another friend were extremely skeptical of her profession as a christian. But honestly, with discussion of her faith and topic like the above, who could blame us anyway?
Then many moon later, one day, she told me that she much awaited conception was successful and her husband was attending church with her when the name of the baby came into his mind. That's where I realised that not only had she gone deeper and foresaken her past, she had reached the stage where her passive husband was brought to Christ as well.
Now, 2 kids later and some 3 years later, as she sat to relate to us her encounter with cancer and life the past month, plus the fact that her death or life is all unknown even as she undergo weekly tests and a soon-to-come chemotherapy, something is uniquely different about her. Ever sentence that proceeds out of her mouth is littered with Faith, Hope and Trust in God.
I am humbled as I sat there listening to her exclaim her faith in God and the choice she has made to look up to God's soverignty, inspite of all that cancer has robbed her and the uncertainties of passing away and leaving behind 2 young toddlers.
Amidst the psychological torment of imminent death, she choosed to see the powerfully ordained life which Christ has offered and the healing availed because of the suffering on the cross. In all the aweful medical procedures that she underwent, she choosed to thank God for the opportunity to experience and understand and to ultimately praise Him in front of those who asked her why was she different from others.
Even as I left that day, and continue to pray for her to see the Hope and Faith come to fruition, at such a sobering time, I'm reminded that when the time of persecution and the storms of life hit, we must be like her and choose well. More so because we must choose God's soverign will over our inward struggles.
Ruth probably choosed to follow Naomi out of filial piety and God honoured her for her decision. What about you? Many of us will never be in the situation of my friend. Rather, we will only have minor bumps in our lives which, when it causes us to stumble, we'll end up howling and squealing in pain or depressingly bemoan our failures.
Someday, may you and I learn to choose God and praise His soverign ways above our hopelessly blind, human struggles.
Blessings and may the Lord be glorified in the life and struggles of my friend,
M.
"The women said to Naomi: "Praise be to the LORD, who this day has not left you without a kinsman-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel! He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age." (Ruth 4:14-15)
23 February 2007
Choices
Ruth 1:11-13
But Naomi said, "Return home, my daughters. Why would you come with me? Am I going to have any more sons, who could become your husbands? Return home, my daughters; I am too old to have another husband. Even if I thought there was still hope for me-even if I had a husband tonight and then gave birth to sons-would you wait until they grew up? Would you remain unmarried for them? No, my daughters. It is more bitter for me than for you, because the LORD's hand has gone out against me!"
I've never really understood the reason why Ruth would want to follow her mother-in-law, Naomi. Frankly, unless she had no family back home to go to or they were very aweful people I don't see why she would want to follow her emotionally bittered mother-in-law. Even as a heathen Moabitess, I'm really sure that Ruth did not saw Jehovah Elohim in Naomi's life. Especially when the bible shows how bittered Naomi was because God had made her live through the death of her 2 sons and her husband (see Ruth 1:20-21)
Despite Naomi's clear instructions to Ruth to return home, twice! Yet Ruth made a choice to follow Naomi as the bible records her making a heartfelt plea "May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me."
But as the bible later records in Ruth, the choice to stay with Naomi was indeed a good choice, for out of this decision, Ruth was to be part of the lineage of king David and eventually Christ.
This Chinese New Year celebrations was just like any others, until it was tampered off when I got news of a friend who was medically unwell. Only when I visited her, did I know of the fact that she underwent 2 surgeries because cancer had struck her. What's sobering was the fact that she was already in an advanced stage and there was nothing medically which would give her the assurance of success in treatment or impending death.
Death is always around, but when such a sobering situation strikes someone close to us and we physically witness how life is in the process of being robbed, that the weight of reality hits home.
My friend has always been a fair-skinned beauty, voluptous lady. Humourous and very zesty for life, there was no lack of suitors who would approach her. and I recall going out lunch with her some 6 years ago and got waylaid by a man who stopped her to give her his contact number on his POSB receipt. Clearly she never called him because our rationale was POSB was for the average man, if he had written it on a foreign bank that would have shown him to be financial more wealthy and suitable. That decision was followed by great laughter on our part.
Yet, this week, as I sat on the chair and looked at her, she was far from her former glory. Having loss much blood and weight through 2 operations, her bones were now showing and the fullness of her voluptous flesh was lost. However, what was terribly different was the attitude which she now carried.
Some 3 odd years ago, she followed her cousin to church nicely. Then she made a decision to accept Christ into her life. For the next year or so, life was still status-quo to before she attended church. When I met her occasionally, we talked and discuss at leisure issues such as "How she successfully got a free bible and save good money","why must tithe, when she will tithe and why 10%? she'll give lesser first", "why cannot play majong or gamble?", "what's wrong with the occasional swearing or worldly indulgence". Then, myself and another friend were extremely skeptical of her profession as a christian. But honestly, with discussion of her faith and topic like the above, who could blame us anyway?
Then many moon later, one day, she told me that she much awaited conception was successful and her husband was attending church with her when the name of the baby came into his mind. That's where I realised that not only had she gone deeper and foresaken her past, she had reached the stage where her passive husband was brought to Christ as well.
Now, 2 kids later and some 3 years later, as she sat to relate to us her encounter with cancer and life the past month, plus the fact that her death or life is all unknown even as she undergo weekly tests and a soon-to-come chemotherapy, something is uniquely different about her. Ever sentence that proceeds out of her mouth is littered with Faith, Hope and Trust in God.
I am humbled as I sat there listening to her exclaim her faith in God and the choice she has made to look up to God's soverignty, inspite of all that cancer has robbed her and the uncertainties of passing away and leaving behind 2 young toddlers.
Amidst the psychological torment of imminent death, she choosed to see the powerfully ordained life which Christ has offered and the healing availed because of the suffering on the cross. In all the aweful medical procedures that she underwent, she choosed to thank God for the opportunity to experience and understand and to ultimately praise Him in front of those who asked her why was she different from others.
Even as I left that day, and continue to pray for her to see the Hope and Faith come to fruition, at such a sobering time, I'm reminded that when the time of persecution and the storms of life hit, we must be like her and choose well. More so because we must choose God's soverign will over our inward struggles.
Ruth probably choosed to follow Naomi out of filial piety and God honoured her for her decision. What about you? Many of us will never be in the situation of my friend. Rather, we will only have minor bumps in our lives which, when it causes us to stumble, we'll end up howling and squealing in pain or depressingly bemoan our failures.
Someday, may you and I learn to choose God and praise His soverign ways above our hopelessly blind, human struggles.
Blessings and may the Lord be glorified in the life and struggles of my friend,
M.
"The women said to Naomi: "Praise be to the LORD, who this day has not left you without a kinsman-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel! He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age." (Ruth 4:14-15)
But Naomi said, "Return home, my daughters. Why would you come with me? Am I going to have any more sons, who could become your husbands? Return home, my daughters; I am too old to have another husband. Even if I thought there was still hope for me-even if I had a husband tonight and then gave birth to sons-would you wait until they grew up? Would you remain unmarried for them? No, my daughters. It is more bitter for me than for you, because the LORD's hand has gone out against me!"
I've never really understood the reason why Ruth would want to follow her mother-in-law, Naomi. Frankly, unless she had no family back home to go to or they were very aweful people I don't see why she would want to follow her emotionally bittered mother-in-law. Even as a heathen Moabitess, I'm really sure that Ruth did not saw Jehovah Elohim in Naomi's life. Especially when the bible shows how bittered Naomi was because God had made her live through the death of her 2 sons and her husband (see Ruth 1:20-21)
Despite Naomi's clear instructions to Ruth to return home, twice! Yet Ruth made a choice to follow Naomi as the bible records her making a heartfelt plea "May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me."
But as the bible later records in Ruth, the choice to stay with Naomi was indeed a good choice, for out of this decision, Ruth was to be part of the lineage of king David and eventually Christ.
This Chinese New Year celebrations was just like any others, until it was tampered off when I got news of a friend who was medically unwell. Only when I visited her, did I know of the fact that she underwent 2 surgeries because cancer had struck her. What's sobering was the fact that she was already in an advanced stage and there was nothing medically which would give her the assurance of success in treatment or impending death.
Death is always around, but when such a sobering situation strikes someone close to us and we physically witness how life is in the process of being robbed, that the weight of reality hits home.
My friend has always been a fair-skinned beauty, voluptous lady. Humourous and very zesty for life, there was no lack of suitors who would approach her. and I recall going out lunch with her some 6 years ago and got waylaid by a man who stopped her to give her his contact number on his POSB receipt. Clearly she never called him because our rationale was POSB was for the average man, if he had written it on a foreign bank that would have shown him to be financial more wealthy and suitable. That decision was followed by great laughter on our part.
Yet, this week, as I sat on the chair and looked at her, she was far from her former glory. Having loss much blood and weight through 2 operations, her bones were now showing and the fullness of her voluptous flesh was lost. However, what was terribly different was the attitude which she now carried.
Some 3 odd years ago, she followed her cousin to church nicely. Then she made a decision to accept Christ into her life. For the next year or so, life was still status-quo to before she attended church. When I met her occasionally, we talked and discuss at leisure issues such as "How she successfully got a free bible and save good money","why must tithe, when she will tithe and why 10%? she'll give lesser first", "why cannot play majong or gamble?", "what's wrong with the occasional swearing or worldly indulgence". Then, myself and another friend were extremely skeptical of her profession as a christian. But honestly, with discussion of her faith and topic like the above, who could blame us anyway?
Then many moon later, one day, she told me that she much awaited conception was successful and her husband was attending church with her when the name of the baby came into his mind. That's where I realised that not only had she gone deeper and foresaken her past, she had reached the stage where her passive husband was brought to Christ as well.
Now, 2 kids later and some 3 years later, as she sat to relate to us her encounter with cancer and life the past month, plus the fact that her death or life is all unknown even as she undergo weekly tests and a soon-to-come chemotherapy, something is uniquely different about her. Ever sentence that proceeds out of her mouth is littered with Faith, Hope and Trust in God.
I am humbled as I sat there listening to her exclaim her faith in God and the choice she has made to look up to God's soverignty, inspite of all that cancer has robbed her and the uncertainties of passing away and leaving behind 2 young toddlers.
Amidst the psychological torment of imminent death, she choosed to see the powerfully ordained life which Christ has offered and the healing availed because of the suffering on the cross. In all the aweful medical procedures that she underwent, she choosed to thank God for the opportunity to experience and understand and to ultimately praise Him in front of those who asked her why was she different from others.
Even as I left that day, and continue to pray for her to see the Hope and Faith come to fruition, at such a sobering time, I'm reminded that when the time of persecution and the storms of life hit, we must be like her and choose well. More so because we must choose God's soverign will over our inward struggles.
Ruth probably choosed to follow Naomi out of filial piety and God honoured her for her decision. What about you? Many of us will never be in the situation of my friend. Rather, we will only have minor bumps in our lives which, when it causes us to stumble, we'll end up howling and squealing in pain or depressingly bemoan our failures.
Someday, may you and I learn to choose God and praise His soverign ways above our hopelessly blind, human struggles.
Blessings and may the Lord be glorified in the life and struggles of my friend,
M.
"The women said to Naomi: "Praise be to the LORD, who this day has not left you without a kinsman-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel! He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age." (Ruth 4:14-15)
