“Hopelessly Devoted to You”

I apologize for using two song references in the past two weeks, but I can’t help myself. I love me some “Grease”… Hopelessness was the topic coming to mind this week, so the song hit me..

I recently read of a story about a lady named Naomi. She left her homeland because she and her husband thought things were getting bad and they wanted to leave while the going was good…they were pretty wealthy. They didn’t want to stay and struggle through with their family and friends so they left with their two sons. The sad news is after they left, things got worse..Naomi’s husband died, her sons married woman of a different faith, background, etc. (which was unacceptable in her culture), and ten years after that her sons died too. Things went from bad to worse…

Have you ever felt this way? Maybe you’ve lost a loved one, a fortune, a house, a job, or all of the above. This would definitely feel like a hopeless situation. Naomi was so bitter that when she went to return home finally she asked for her named to be changed to Mara, which meant bitter in Hebrew. She didn’t return home alone though, one of her daughter-in-laws went with her. Ruth must have loved her mother in law to leave her home and go with her. She was hopelessly devoted to her mother in law and to her mother in law’s God as it turns out.

Naomi felt so hopeless that she forgot to see what things she did still have hope in and for. She wasn’t alone. Also, in this culture for Naomi not to lose her inheritance, Ruth would have to marry the closet relative. Naomi had also forgotten the hope of her relative Boaz. Ruth and Boaz did marry and gave birth to a son in the story and Naomi became a happy grandmother, which was something she had completely lost all hope of becoming.

Even when we feel like hope is all gone, look around and ask yourself “am I truly alone?” “is there anyone who is willing to help me?” “is this path my only option?”, etc. I guarantee you that in most cases, there is still someone out there willing to help you or some path that is available for help so don’t give up!