Some of my sweet friends that have shared both sides of the pledge with me:)

noun, a solemn promise or undertaking

The last time we took a look at the word pledge, we focused on Ruth’s pledge of friendship to Naomi.  Let’s wear Naomi’s shoes for a bit and see how this pledge works from the other side.  In Ruth 1:18 we see Naomi’s response to Ruth’s plea/pledge. Some translations simply say that “when she saw Ruth had made up her mind, she quit talking to her.”

Was she mad or frustrated with Ruth? Why the sudden silent treatment? I believe she was somewhat upset with Ruth. Consider her plight: Naomi needed to return to her homeland and her family to start over. It was bad enough she had to provide for herself but now she was forced to make a way for Ruth as well. She wanted to deal with her problems on her own, alone!

This is the other side of the friendship pledge – the acceptance of help from a friend. So often when a difficult time in our life arises, we trudge through it alone. We stay quiet, smile, and pretend we are fine. But we aren’t. As the problem grows, we shrink away from our friends out of fear or embarrassment. Your marriage looks solid from one pew over but if everyone really knew how things were at home, they’d be shocked. The Sunday smile you plaster on is the only time you’ve smile all week: depression is ruling your life. But no one can know.

We trick ourselves into thinking other women have it all together, or we think no other women experiences the thoughts and issues I battle. But it’s all a lie! I can’t recall the times I’ve struggled through a horrible life experience, come out on the other end, and finally share it with a friend now that it’s all over with only to have her tell me, she was struggling–or is struggling–with the exact same thing. Satan loves to keep us isolated because then he can really work on destroying our thought lives which directly affects every other aspect of our life: relationships, self-esteem, job, etc.

If you don’t know how the story of Ruth and Naomi ends, go read it! There is power in the friendship pledge, for the one making the pledge and for the one accepting the pledge.