Day 9 – Struggle

Struggle (DS)

So the two women went on until they came to Bethlehem. When they arrived in Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them, and the women exclaimed, “Can this be Naomi?”  “Don’t call me Naomi” she told them. “Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter. I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The Lord has afflicted me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me.” So Naomi returned from Moab accompanied by Ruth the Moabite, her daughter-in-law, arriving in Bethlehem as the barley harvest was beginning. (Ruth 1: 19-22)

 Faith that can speak to God only in positive, upbeat or submissive terms is neither trusting nor reverent. It is just polite and compliant. Of what use is that in the face of God’s perplexing absence or apparent inaction through the bitterest struggles of life? In the Bible, the prayer of protest is a sign of trusting faith, not of its absence.

(Extract from Dust & Glory by David Runcorn)

 For Reflection

Think of the struggles you or those close to you have endured these past months. Are there prayers that you have not yet found a way of expressing to God?

 Remember in your prayers

Those you know who are struggling right now, who long for company, who yearn for normality; for young people and teachers trying to cope with interruptions to their education.

 

Windsurfing in the storm (KB)