MOTHER IN LAW
Jaime Wyrtzen Lauze´
Ruth 1:7 "So she set out from the place where she was with her two daughters-in-law, "Go, return each of you to her mother's house. May the LORD deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me." Ruth 1:7
The media has perpetuated a bad stereotype of mothers-in-law for years. The relationship between Ruth and Naomi flies in the face of all that.
Before I ever met my husband, I was scared to death of ever having a mother-in-law. Shows, such as Everybody Loves Raymond certainly didn't help. What I did get, I didn't expect. Not only did I acquire a mother-in-law, I got a friend. I have been so blessed in that department. While I know that isn't true for everyone else, I got a good one.
I often wonder what kind of person Naomi was for Ruth to follow her back to Israel. The fact that both daughters-in-law were with Naomi after their husbands died says something. Naomi was both an alien and a woman. On that front, she didn't have much going for her. And while she was a child of the One True God, she was under His judgment for going to Moab. She said so herself. But there must have been some light around Naomi that Ruth had seen. It drew her and carried her all the way to a strange, distant land with different customs, a different religion, and one God. It pulled her so strongly that was willing to leave her family-of-origin forever and walk into certain poverty.
Is there something sweet about us, even when we are broken? The world expects us to be happy when everything is going well. But when life is hard, even because of our own actions, is there something about us that draws others to Jesus? We can be a light even if we've blown it.
Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for your discipline. You chasten those You love. Help me to be a light in this dark world not matter where I'm at. In the Name of Your Son, Jesus, Amen.
For more from Christine Wyrtzen and Jaime Wyrtzen Lauze, please visit www.daughtersofpromise.org
Originally published Monday, 22 February 2021.
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