Ruth 1:20

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 brought calamity upon me? (Ruth 1:20-21)

Two women, two identical sets of crushing circumstances—and two completely different perspectives that change everything.

Perspective Is Powerful

I want to talk today about perspective—why it matters and what ours should be. I came to this through a show called I Shouldn't Be Alive, which follows people who survive incredible circumstances. We watched one about an ultra-marathon runner who slipped in a canyon, broke her pelvis in two places, and had to crawl out. Most of the time I agree—they shouldn't be alive.

But one of the keys to surviving these situations is mindset. Robert Richardson, in an article called "The Psychology of Survival," wrote: "The key to your survival in any stressful situation is your ability to manage your thoughts, your anxiety and your fears. Your ability to take control of your mind is paramount to your ability to survive." Boil that down and it sounds remarkably like Joshua 1:9:

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

Perspective is powerful. For some people it's the difference between life and death. For us, it's often the difference between handling a situation well and handling it poorly.

Perspective Is Pervasive

Our mindset colors everything we encounter. I saw this on a trip to Yosemite with our high school and Kairos college groups. Yosemite is phenomenally beautiful—better than the postcards. But it's the bottom of a valley, so everywhere you go is up. We hiked a steep trail, going up and up and up. Near the end the path finally tipped downhill, and my perspective was, "Oh, thank you, Jesus—I'm not going to pass out." But one of the guys I was with said, "Oh man, that means we'll just have to go uphill on the way back."

That's the difference. His perspective was, "More uphill is coming." Mine was, "I get a break." Proverbs says, "Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life." Your perspective will color how you look at every situation you face.

We Get to Choose Our Perspective

The Bible tells us we get to choose our perspective. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths." Trusting is a mindset; not leaning on our own understanding is a mindset.

In Colossians 3, Paul says, "Set your minds on things that are above, not on things on the earth." Set your mind like you set a clock. Then he goes on:

Put on then... compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other... And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts... And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Notice that the vast majority of those instructions deal not with outward actions but with what happens inside our heads—how we think, what our mindset should be.

Naomi: A Perspective Based on Circumstances

Let's look at two examples, beginning with Naomi in Ruth 1.

In the days when the judges ruled there was a famine in the land, and a man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons... But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died... and both Mahlon and Chilion died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband.

Naomi's circumstances were difficult—no way around it. A famine drove the family to Moab. Her husband died, her two sons married Moabite women, and then both sons died. She's left with only her two daughters-in-law.

Hearing that God had visited His people in Judah, Naomi decides to go home and urges her daughters-in-law to leave and find husbands. Orpah goes, but Ruth refuses to leave her. And look at Naomi's perspective. She tells her daughters, "It is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me." When she reaches her people, she says, "Do not call me Naomi"—which means pleasant—"call me Mara"—which means bitter—"for the Lord Almighty has dealt bitterly with me."

Point one: Naomi's perspective of God is based on her circumstances. All these bad things are happening, therefore God must be angry with me; God must hate me. It's an easy trap. I call it candy-machine theology—the idea that if we go to church and tithe and read our Bibles, we get to choose the circumstances of our lives. It doesn't work that way.

Hannah: A Perspective Based on Her Relationship with God

Now flip over a few pages to 1 Samuel 1. Elkanah had two wives—Peninnah, who had children, and Hannah, who had none.

Her rival used to provoke her grievously to irritate her, because the Lord had closed her womb. So it went on year by year... Therefore Hannah wept and would not eat.

We have to be careful not to bring our modern assumptions to a different time and culture. In this agrarian society a woman's value was tied to the children she bore—especially sons—because children meant more help, more farming, more provision. Peninnah rubbed Hannah's childlessness in her face year after year, and notice the heartbreaking line: "because the Lord had closed her womb."

But look at Hannah's response. She goes to the temple and pours out her heart to the Lord, weeping. She vows that if God gives her a son, she will give him back to the Lord—a razor will never touch his head, the Nazirite vow. The Christian Standard Bible says she spoke "out of the depth of my anguish and resentment." This isn't pretending everything is fine. There's still anger, sadness, resentment—but she pours it all out before God.

Eli the priest sees her lips moving and assumes she's drunk. "How long will you go on being drunk? Put your wine away from you." But Hannah answers:

No, my lord, I am a woman troubled in spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have been pouring out my soul before the Lord... I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation.

Eli answers, "Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition." And "the woman went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad."

Point two: Hannah's perspective is determined by her relationship with God. Her circumstances were still difficult, but she poured them out at the feet of God.

Similarities and Key Differences

These two stories share striking similarities. Both women face difficult circumstances. Both have legitimate reasons to be upset—Elkanah even asks, "Am I not more to you than ten sons?" (No, you're not, but nice try. Ladies, give us husbands grace; sometimes we don't know what to say.) Both face situations entirely outside their control—Naomi can't cure famine or death, and Hannah can't open her own womb. Both saw their problems as unbearable. Both have a companion who walks with them—Hannah her husband, Naomi her daughter-in-law Ruth. And neither is given an immediate answer.

But the differences are crucial. Naomi takes her frustration out at God: "You've dealt bitterly with me. This is not fair." Hannah pours her frustration to God, not at Him. Naomi voices her complaints to the people around her and spreads her misery; Hannah keeps silent and brings it to God alone. Hannah finds peace before the solution arrives; Naomi does not. And in the next chapter, Hannah is given a song—a prayer so glorious it's compared to Mary's Magnificat—while Naomi gets a sentence.

We Don't Get to Choose the Play

We don't get to choose the parts we play. God's the potter; we're the clay. We deal with circumstances we cannot control. John 16:33 promises we will have tribulation. It's not what we face, but how we face it—it comes down to perspective and mindset.

Naomi and Hannah are not just dusty characters in a book. They're real people with whole lives. We do the same thing with the people around us—"that's the idiot on the freeway," "that's the one who gets my order wrong at Starbucks"—reducing people to placeholders. But everyone we meet is facing something we often know nothing about. Chick-fil-A understands this; they made a training video, "Everyone Has a Story," reminding employees that everybody who comes through the door is going through something.

Mare's Book and a Truer Definition of Faith

I found out Thursday that I'd be teaching today—Nick Burt lost his voice—and of course I handled it with perfect peace and never once asked, "Lord, why is this happening to me?" That same Thursday, Mare dropped off her book, A Green Flash (you can find it on Amazon; I read it in one sitting).

Many of us know Rich's story—our worship leader, uniquely gifted by God to bring smiles. You couldn't have a bad day in his presence. Rich was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, a death sentence measured in weeks or months. Then they couldn't find the cancer—it was gone, and we rejoiced together. Then it came back, and Rich died. And we miss him.

As I read Mare's book, thinking about perspective, I found these words: "Faith is not receiving from God what we want. Faith is accepting from God what He gives." Her book is a walk alongside someone dealing with circumstances much like Naomi's—and through it you get to see God's faithfulness, even when we don't get the answers we want, even when we don't know why.

It's Not What We Face, but Who We Walk With

Point three: It's not what we face, but how we face it. It's not the circumstances we walk through, but who we walk with. If we walk without God, we'll be bitter and blame Him. Notice that Naomi was bitter and blamed God—but she still knew who God was. Hannah's was not just a head knowledge; it was a heart knowledge that let her pour her circumstances out at His feet.

John 16:33: "I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world." You can embroider that on a pillow or put it on a mug—in this world you will have tribulation. None of us gets a pass. But Jesus tells us we'll have tribulation precisely so that we can find peace in Him. What a gift, to know in advance where to find peace.

Our peace will not come from our circumstances, our own sufficiency, our skills, our finances, our families, or our stockpiles of gold and bullets. Our culture looks everywhere else, but peace is found only in Jesus.

Why We Still Face Trials

If Jesus is King and I'm a King's kid, shouldn't life be easy? You look at the children of earthly kings—Saudi princes deciding which Lamborghini to drive—and wonder why the children of God still face trouble. But God has a plan and a purpose for what we go through. Most of the time we don't get to know what it is, especially in the midst of it; sometimes all we can do is hang on and not get washed away.

But we know two constant truths: God will be glorified, and this will work out for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose. We may never see the full picture on this side of eternity, but we can rest in Christ. Not a painless peace—we live in a broken, sinful world where there is pain—but a peace that passes understanding. God did not give us the burden of understanding. He says, abide in Me, because I'm the potter and you're the clay.

Resolution—and a Story Larger Than They Knew

How does it resolve? For Naomi, God brings a redeemer named Boaz, who marries Ruth, redeems all her family's land and inheritance, and gives her a son.

Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without a redeemer... He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age, for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.

They named the child Obed. For Hannah, God gives a son—Samuel, who becomes the last of the judges and has two books named after him. She goes on to have three more sons and two daughters.

In both lives, God was doing something the people involved couldn't see. He doesn't bring pain just to bring pain; He's not a masochist. There was a purpose—joy, and greater glory for Himself.

But it didn't stop there. Naomi and Hannah never lived to see how their two stories intertwined. Hannah's son Samuel went out one day, sent by God to the house of Jesse to anoint the next king of Israel. And Jesse's father was Obed—the son of Boaz and Ruth, Naomi's grandson. Naomi's great-grandson is King David, the greatest king of Israel, the man after God's own heart who wrote the Psalms. And it still didn't stop there, because in the line of Naomi's descendants we meet a man called Jesus.

Do you think if God had told Naomi ahead of time, "I'm going to use what you're going through to bring my Son, the Savior, to the world," her perspective would have been different? Probably. But we don't get to choose those things. The question is, how will we react in our tribulations? Will we remember Jesus as we go through them?

Communion and Closing

We're called to remember Jesus, and one way we do that is through communion. As we prepare, consider these questions: What are you facing in your life? What is your mindset as you face it? Are you walking through this alone, or are you walking with Jesus? How can we have peace if we walk through life without the One who brings peace?

Closing Prayer

Heavenly Father, as we look at Your word, as we see the example of Hannah and of Naomi, and the resolution You brought out of their circumstances, it gives us an opportunity to look to Your faithfulness, Father, and to look forward to the ultimate resolution—we get to see Jesus. We get to remember Jesus today through the act of communion. So Lord, as we prepare for communion, I pray that You would speak to us, that You would remind us that You know our circumstances, and that none of this is pointless. Thank You, Jesus. Amen.