Called By Your Name

Devotional

“But now, thus says the Lord, who created you, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel:
‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine.’” Isaiah 43:1

Nothing can change your value and worth! You are created, formed, and redeemed by God. You belong to him, who called you his.

Naomi left Bethlehem with her husband and sons because of famine. It was a practical decision in a difficult time. But what follows is a slow unraveling.
In Moab, she loses her husband. Then, over time, she loses both of her sons. What began as a temporary move for survival becomes a place of deep personal loss.

“But she said to them, ‘Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, and the Lord has brought me home again empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the Lord has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me?’” Ruth 1:20–21

Here, Naomi is not just describing events, she is interpreting her experiences. She takes her losses and draws a conclusion about God:
“The Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me”
“The Lord has brought me home empty”
“The Lord has testified against me”

Naomi does not deny God. She still calls Him “the Almighty.” But her perception of him has shifted. She now interprets her pain as something directly done against her by God. She has bitterness against God; which does nt begin in denial of God, but in a wounded interpretation of his dealings.

So what is happening beneath the surface? She is doing what many people do. She is reading her circumstances as the final statement about God’s character.

While Naomi is speaking from pain, God is already working beyond what she can see. Because her return to Bethlehem happens “at the beginning of barley harvest” (Ruth 1:22). That is not a random detail. It is the beginning of provision, though she cannot recognise it yet.
Then comes Ruth. Ruth’s loyalty becomes the channel through which God begins restoring Naomi’s life. And eventually, through Boaz, provision, covering, and legacy are rebuilt. By the end of the book, the women say to Naomi:
“The Lord has not left you without a redeemer…”

Notice the shift. Naomi said, “The Lord has dealt bitterly with me.”
But the outcome shows, “The Lord has not left you.”

Naomi’s words were honest, but not complete. Her experience was real, but her interpretation was limited.

The danger is not feeling pain. Naomi’s pain was real. The danger is forming final conclusions about God in the middle of incomplete stories.
Naomi thought her story had ended in emptiness.
But she was actually standing at the edge of restoration.

There are moments where life genuinely feels like loss after loss. And like Naomi, you may still believe in God, but something inside begins to say, “He has dealt bitterly with me.”

Reading the book of Ruth we see God was working in ways she could not yet see. Are you interpreting God through your present pain, or are you allowing time for his full work to be revealed? What feels like an ending may only be the middle of what God is doing.

Please do not rush to rename your life “bitter” before God has finished writing it.