One of the best pieces of advice I ever received was from someone I didn’t know personally—just someone I followed based on a recommendation. The advice was this: when you read the Bible, look for God in the pages, not just your own circumstances.

So often, we search scripture to find answers for our specific situations—depression, anxiety, love, or whatever we’re facing. We pray, wait for things to get better, and when they don’t, we get upset. Sometimes, we even stop praying, thinking, “What’s the point? God said He would answer all prayers, but nothing’s changing.”

A lot of our disappointment comes from misunderstanding. When we don’t read the Bible in its full context, we risk taking scripture out of context. And even when we don’t, what God did for someone in scripture—Ruth, David, Joseph, Job—was done for a specific purpose, unique to that person’s relationship with Him. The same is true for us. God’s interactions with individuals in the Bible were personal, and our relationship with Him is meant to be personal as well.

When we look for His character, we learn who He is. For example, in Job’s story, God didn’t answer Job’s questions directly; instead, He revealed more about Himself. The message is: nothing is impossible for God, and in time, He will make things right. His plans are always greater than ours, even when they don’t make sense.

It’s easy to become discouraged when life doesn’t go the way we expect. But those moments can be opportunities to deepen our faith, trusting that God’s timing and wisdom surpass our own understanding. Sometimes, the answers we seek are not immediate, but the journey itself teaches us to rely on God’s presence and promises.

Right now, I don’t have a job. That doesn’t make sense to me, but I have to trust that God is who He says He is. The story will unfold in time, and I’ll share it as a testimony. Until then, no matter how anxious I get, I have to remember that God is God, and things will work out when they’re supposed to.

This brings me to the story of Naomi and being bitter. Naomi had every reason to be bitter. She had a great life, then became a widow, and lost her two sons. She was old, with no way to provide for herself. In those days, an old widow was considered poor and without hope. Naomi told her daughters-in-law to go back home, saying, “There’s nothing I can do for you.” She even renamed herself Mara, which means “bitter,” because that’s how she felt.

One daughter-in-law left, but Ruth stayed. Ruth said, “Where you go, I go. Your people are my people now.” Ruth’s loyalty led them to Boaz, who showed them kindness. Eventually, Ruth and Boaz married and had children, and Naomi found joy and contentment again as a grandmother. God didn’t forget her—He wasn’t going to let her story end in bitterness. The story wasn’t just about Ruth finding “her Boaz”, as many people focus on, but about God’s faithfulness to Naomi and the establishment of a lineage that would lead to Jesus.

Knowing God’s character leads to getting to know Him personally. It’s good to look back at what He did for others, but the real hope comes from knowing Him yourself.

When your hope is complete in God, that’s real hope—and where there’s hope, there’s a way.