When Hope feels tired

“Hope can feel tired and take the next step anyway.”

This speaks to the kind of hope Naomi carried. The kind that doesn’t always feel brave, but still chooses to move. Naomi’s story in the book of Ruth isn’t a glamorous one. It’s full of loss, sorrow, and bitter honesty.

She buries her husband. Then her sons. She returns to Bethlehem with nothing but Ruth and a broken heart. She even renames herself Mara, meaning bitter, because she believes God has dealt harshly with her.

Naomi’s hope isn’t loud. It’s certainly not tidy. But it endures. She takes the next step, even when she doesn’t see the way forward. And that’s where hope is found – not in clarity, but in motion.

Endurance isn’t pretending the pain doesn’t exist. It’s trusting that God is with you in it.

Naomi’s story reminds us that our steps, even slow ones matter. And it reminds us that our faith, even the trembling, bitter, exhausted kind, is still seen and honoured by God.

In the end, Naomi, the woman who called herself empty, holds redemption in her arms, in the form of a grandson who becomes part of the lineage of Christ.

So if your hope is tired today, that’s okay.

Take the next step and don’t give up.

God can turn even the most worn-out hope into a testimony of grace.