Circumstantial Evidence
"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)
Circumstantial Evidence. Evidence based upon circumstances.
Concrete facts derived from what is seen and heard.
But just how valid is this kind of evidence?
We all know that the circumstance of the moment may not
always be representative of reality! How many innocent
people have been convicted of a crime they did not commit,
simply because they were seen at the scene of the crime? Or
maybe the weapon used in the crime was found in their
possession. Or perhaps they were seen arguing with the
victim of the crime. They are tried and wrongly convicted by
circumstantial evidence – evidence that seems to say they
are guilty, when in all reality, they may not be!
Circumstantial evidence. That’s what prompted Naomi’s
homecoming speech. After all, she had left Israel with a
husband and two sons, only to return from Moab with no one
but a foreign daughter-in-law. You can't really blame Naomi
for her negative attitude. After all, three bad things
happened, and God could have prevented them! I mean, if you
were in Naomi's shoes, wouldn't you have felt a bit bitter?
Wouldn't you have felt that everything that could possibly
have gone wrong had, indeed, done so? Wouldn't you have been
tempted to think that God has afflicted you?
But all of this was, indeed, nothing but circumstantial
evidence. Evidence based on the circumstance of the moment.
Circumstance so broad that it hid the “big” picture.
And just what was the “circumstantial evidence” hiding? That
Naomi’s Moabitess daughter-in-law was to become the
great-grandmother of King David! That the character traits
of Israel's greatest king -- loyalty, conviction, faith in
God no matter what the circumstances -- were all
characteristic of his great-grandmother, Ruth! If Naomi's
husband and sons had never died, Ruth would have never met
Boaz, and king David would have never been!
What does the circumstance in YOUR life dictate, my friend?
Does it dictate that you are dying? That your marriage is
falling apart? That God has abandoned you? Does it dictate
that you are doomed to poverty? That your family doesn't
know the Lord? That you are a failure? Circumstantial
evidence! That's all it is! Look beyond the circumstance, my
friend! Look to Jesus, the author and the finisher of our
faith! Trust Him to take even the worse circumstance and
turn it into something beautiful, in His time!
Lyn Chaffart
Moderator, The Nugget, Scriptural Nuggets ( www.sermonillustrator.org/minisermons/ ), Answers2Prayer Ministries, www.Answers2Prayer.org ,