A Mother’s Heart Revealed Series

As you already know, today is Mother’s Day. I would like to begin our message with a short story: A small boy invaded the lingerie section of a large department store and shyly presented his problem to a woman clerk. “I want to by a slip as a present for my mom,” he said, “but, I don’t know what size she wears.” The clerk asked, “Is she tall or short, heavy or skinny?” “She’s just perfect,” beamed the small boy. So the clerk wrapped up a size 8 for him. Two days later, Mom came to the store by herself and changed the slip to a size 16.(1)

How many of you here today feel that your mother is perfect? Mother’s are very special people, and some of us think they are perfect. Abraham Lincoln said, “All that I am or hope to be I owe to my angel mother. I remember my mother’s prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life.”(2)

George Washington said of his mother, “My mother was the most beautiful woman I ever saw. All I am I owe to my mother. I attribute all my success in life to the moral, intellectual and physical education I received from her.”(3) The Bible even presents a mother as being close to perfection, as we see in the well-known description of a mother found in Proverbs chapter 31.

Today we are going to look at a biblical example of a near-perfect mother; and this mother is found in the book of Ruth. The mother who will be in the spotlight this morning is named Naomi. From Naomi we are going to examine a mother’s strength, a mother’s love for her children, and discover some things about a mother’s personality. So, let’s get started with our Mother’s Day message!

A Mother’s Amazing Inner Strength (vv. 1-5)

1 Now it came to pass, in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem, Judah, went to dwell in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. 2 The name of the man was Elimelech, the name of his wife was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion—Ephrathites of Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to the country of Moab and remained there. 3 Then Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died; and she was left, and her two sons. 4 Now they took wives of the women of Moab: the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth. And they dwelt there about ten years. 5 Then both Mahlon and Chilion also died; so the woman survived her two sons and her husband.

In these verses we are introduced to a very special mother named Naomi. She had a husband named Elimelech, and two sons named Mahlon and Chilion. They had moved to a land where the food was plentiful and had lived there a number of years. We see, however, that tragedy interrupted Naomi’s life.

Naomi’s husband died, for some reason we will never know, and she and her two sons were left alone to fend for themselves. I can’t imagine the pain she felt and what that would have been like, or the bewilderment of not knowing how she and her sons were going to survive. The loss of her husband was the loss of a close friend and provider.

There are women here today who have experienced the loss of a husband, and you can identify with Naomi’s pain. However, the Scripture doesn’t mention that Naomi grieved. It only shows us that she went on with life and raised her sons until they were able to take wives of their own.

Tragedy strikes again, in verse 5, with the death of both her sons. Naomi was left again with no one in the family to provide, and she had two daughters-in-law to care for. Just when Naomi thought her purpose in life was nearly served, she had to start over again from scratch. She once again had to provide for others; namely her daughters-in-law. She had to play the part of a mother all over again.

We see here the demonstration of a mother’s strength. The text gives no indication at this point in the account of Naomi showing any grief. It only reveals that she bore her pain and went on with life. We see this kind of strength all the time. With today’s high divorce rate, we see many dead-beat dads avoiding responsibility and leaving single mothers to bear the hardship of raising a family all on their own. The fathers won’t raise the children, because they lack the love and strength that only a mother possesses.