An Evangelist like Naomi
Naomi, whose story we find in the book of Ruth, knew all about suffering. It’s just one tragedy after another for her: First a famine drives her to an enemy land in order to alleviate her suffering, and there her husband dies. Then she’s a single parent for ten years, and although her sons grow old enough to marry in that time, she then loses both her sons as well. By now her homeland has food again and perhaps she adds to her suffering the regret for moving away wondering whether, if they had stayed, the men in her life might still be alive now. We don’t know the extent of her suffering or exactly how she dealt with it, but we know she felt devastated: ‘The Lord has afflicted me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me.’
It's not what we would consider a traditional evangelistic tactic: placing the responsibility for your suffering at God’s feet. But she is open about her suffering. Where a Brit would say “I’m fine” Naomi tells people to call her Mara; changing her name from meaning pleasant to bitter; a reflection of both her circumstances and quite possibly her emotions.
We often wouldn’t consider pain and suffering a good advertisement for worshipping God. We imagine ourselves saying, ‘Yes, of course God is good and loving’ through gritted teeth as we struggle to put food on the table and it looks like hypocrisy. We feel pain eating away at our patience and enjoyment of life and think, ‘There’s no way I could tell someone now, that following Jesus is the best decision they will ever make.’ But in her loss, heartbreak, struggling and regret Naomi complains to God and, very unintentionally, convinces her daughter-in-law to say, “Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.” What on earth has Ruth seen in Naomi’s life to make her believe that this choice will be worth it?
An Evangelist like Naomi
Suzanne says of her 2018 diagnosis of bone marrow cancer, ‘I had been a Christian for a while, but looking back I realise I was a boxed up Christian. So, I was zealous for the Lord on a Sunday, but by Monday the only thing I was zealous for was a large Gin and Tonic and a moan about stuff! My faith went back in the box until Sunday.’ It was the introduction of that suffering, and meeting a Christian nurse, that changed how Suzanne saw her need for the Lord, ‘I knew then this was all about God, all about Jesus and what he was going to do in my life. And that box that my faith was in just exploded and spread to all parts of my life’.
That openness shown by both Naomi and Suzanne to let God be a part of their life in times of suffering, to cling to him in a way that those close to them can see is such a powerful witness to who God is. Naomi showed Ruth the value of her God when, despite being surrounded by the worship of other gods, cut off from her own people and culture and suffering personal tragedy, despite all that, she still knows who God is. We might not think of that as evangelism but that is all the witness Ruth sees and, by God’s grace, all she needs.
Our suffering, whether it’s only for a short time or it’s ongoing, whether it’s deep and intense or just always there in the background, can be a powerful witness to who God is. Suzanne found herself encouraged by reading Revelation 12 verse 11 to take her evangelism a step further: “They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.” She says, ‘I realised I had not been testifying, witnessing about how God is moving in my life, why it’s important to get to know Jesus. So along with a Christian friend I started Tea and Testimony, a time for women to gather and hear stories of God’s goodness and be encouraged. Here I am able to testify about the goodness of God through trials and tribulations. Non-Christian friends have seen a change in me and are happy to come along to events at church. I pray for them, and they are okay with that.’
Sadly, suffering is something we will all face, and it can be tempting to hide away, to focus only on getting through it, but Naomi’s story proves that even in those circumstances, even when life is so hard we couldn’t imagine it God is still using us as a witness to those around us. These words of Suzanne’s show us an attitude that can help us be an evangelist like Naomi:
“This year I’ve had more treatments than ever before and a part of me just wants it to stop. However, I realise that the hospital is my mission field and every blood test, every treatment, every wait to see someone is an opportunity to witness. Let it not be wasted. What have I got to lose?”
