Call Me Mara

Bowed down and poor in spirit, Naomi returned to Bethlehem with a soul from the land of Moab. The women said, “Is this Naomi [delightful]?” She was like an ear filled with ripe grain that humbly bows down to the ground. She was ashamed because of her long absence and because she had withdrawn from the judges of Israel. God had resisted her in Moab and made life bitter for her. Therefore she said, “Do not call me Naomi, call me Mara [bitter].”

God always works in such a way that when a person bears fruit, he does it with bitterness in his soul over his own folly. He does it so that the person is balanced in always giving God the glory and committing his own flesh into death.