Find People Who Will Call You by Your True Name

Ruth 1:19-21

So the two of them [Naomi and Ruth] went on until they came to Bethlehem. And when they came to Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them. And the women said, “Is this Naomi?” She said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went away full, and the LORD has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, when the LORD has testified against me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?”

There are a lot of things we could pull out of this passage of scripture, but the thing I feel the Lord leading me to point out today is this: no one ever called Naomi by the name Mara.

Mara means bitter.

Naomi means pleasant, delightful, or lovely. 

Every time Naomi is spoken to or about throughout the entire text and narrative of the book of Ruth, she is called Naomi.

I don’t know where you are today or who your community is. But if your community will agree with your defeat—if they will call you defeated and bitter and empty when your true name means pleasant and delightful and lovely—then it’s time to find a new community.

Pray for it. 

Seek it. 

Look for it. 

Pray for it some more.

Find the people who will call you by your true name—the people who will speak life into your identity—even when you can’t see it or speak it for yourself.

Don’t settle any longer.

Find your people. 

Oh Lord, thank you for relationships which bring life to our lives. Today I want to lift up the ones who are in search of an uplifting community. Guide their steps to those who will see them as you see them and speak over them the things you speak over them. Amen.