The Blame Game

"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." Ruth 1:20-21

Naomi and her husband made a decision to leave their homeland for a foreign country. They left behind a place God had set aside for them and pursued a life in a land they weren't intended to live in. After her husband and two sons had died Naomi decided to return to the only other life she knew. Obviously, her circumstances had made her bitter and she placed all of the responsibility for her current condition on God. Her troubles were not a result of God's punitive attitude, but of the choices that her family had made.

What attitude do we have when our circumstances turn sour? Can we honestly assess how our decisions have led us down this pathway or are we content to blame God for the nasty consequences of our decisions? He is a big enough God to handle our accusations, but we'll never see any personal growth if we don't take responsibility for our own actions.