Emptied

"I went out full, and the LORD has brought me home again empty . . ."
-- Ruth 1:21a

The above quote was stated by Naomi in the book of Ruth when she returned to Bethlehem after a long absence. She, her husband and two sons had left Bethlehem years before amidst a famine. They went to the foreign land of Moab in the hope of a better future - instead, Naomi's husband and sons die there. She later returns to Bethlehem with her Moabite daughter-in-law and when greeted by her old friends proclaims her bitterness to God with these words.

After reading this statement, my mind immediately related it to what I studied yesterday in Psalm 81:10 - "Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it." Thinking on what Naomi said, I realized that in order to be filled with something, one is emptied of something else. Though Naomi is looking at it from the other end, I realized that in order to be more filled with God, I must be more empty of myself.

How does one empty himself? Matthew Henry wrote that it is God who works to do so: "He that empties us of the creature knows how to fill us with himself." What part do I play in that emptying? I don't know. Perhaps, that's the next lesson God has for me . . .