Thinking through tragedy, part 1

Ruth 1:3-9

When people go through tragedy, or they experience a sudden and violent change in their life, they often experience a type of mental shock. Their thinking becomes cloudy and because of the sudden impact of the event, priorities seem blurred.

Let me illustrate this with a scene from my childhood.

I was around eight years old and my mom was at the hospital working the picket lines. The nurses were on strike so there was no money coming in. When my brother and I got home from school, my mother’s boyfriend (Bob) met us with a surprise: an archery set!

We were pleased, though a little confused on why he was being so nice to us. (It didn’t occur to my eight-year-old brain that he had been drinking heavily). We got in his truck and drove across town to his friend’s house where my brother and I hurled arrows at the back fence while they drank beer.

My mother returned home to the trailer in which we were living at the time, and to her surprise there was no one there. As she looked through the house she encountered another surprise: no stove. It turned out that Bob had sold the stove for beer and arrow money.

About that time we drove into the driveway and Momma Bear met us outside. She was mad. Not only was her stove gone, and there was no money to buy a new one, but more importantly her babies were riding around with a drunk driver.

As he got out of the truck, mom lit into him verbally, and without even batting an eye Bob swung a meaty fist and struck her in the face, knocking her down. He then got back in his truck and drove away. Mom, now with blood running down her face and all over her shirt, managed to get back in the trailer and call Bob’s sister. When she arrived, she took her to the police station so that Mom could make a statement.

It had been a traumatic 30 minutes, and when the police tried to get my mother to explain what happened, all she could say in her dazed mind was “He sold the stove.”

She’s standing there covered in blood and the stove was the only thing she could think of. This doesn’t mean that the other things were unimportant and she was worried about something irrelevant — far from it.

It does mean that during times of tragedy, we don’t always think straight.

Naomi was in such a state of tragedy. Her husband died and then 10 years later both of her boys died; a tough time indeed. And in the middle of this she had heard how things have picked up economically in Israel and she decided to return home.

As Naomi is packing her bags, her two daughters-in-law decide they want to go too. She tells them twice to stay where they are in the land of Moab and not to go with her.

Now let’s think this through. Naomi knows the true God, and yet she is telling the girls to stay in pagan Moab?

Bethlehem is the house of Bread, and yet she is telling them to stay away from the place of blessing?

Truly, Naomi is not thinking straight due to the sudden changes in her life and we’ll see next what she is fixating on.

But for now, let us see the lesson illustrated. May we be so careful when times of tragedy comes. God gave us each other as believers to help us through such transitional times.

We should try and avoid making major decisions quickly after loss and give God time to work.

Let us be patient, allow things to become clearer and wait upon the Lord.

“But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” Isaiah 40:31

“About that time we drove into the driveway and Momma Bear met us outside. She was mad. Not only was her stove gone, and there was no money to buy a new one, but more importantly her babies were riding around with a drunk driver.”