Ruth 1:11-13, 13… No, my daughters; for it grieves me very much for your sakes that the hand of the LORD has gone out against me!
Naomi at crossroad represents wounded believers questioning God’s care due to losses and struggles in life. She had no husband or sons to care for her, they were dead. She was stuck in a foreign land and with no possessions. All she had left were two widowed daughters who treated her kindly, but it grieved her heart among other things that she could not meet their needs. The journey ahead was unpromising, something she wanted to spare her daughters-in-law.
If we understood God’s providence, we would know the Lord’s hand was not working against her. There are things God allows and wrestle with that we just can’t understand or explain. To know God’s ways is take comfort and rest at crossroad that there is more to our pain than we can understand at the moment. He is working something greater and grander for His glory and for our benefit (our joy). The story of Naomi and Ruth is a clear picture of God’s providential will. God has a bigger picture, let us consider His ways.