Dichotomy means a contrast between two opposing things. We see this played out in the heart of Naomi. By the way, her name means pleasant. During the famine their family went from Bethlehem, Judah to the country of Moab. In Ruth 1:8, Naomi spoke well of the Lord to her two daughters in law. She indicated that God was kind. The Hebrew word for kind is hesed, which means a covenant love relationship. 

She told them about God’s loving kindness, but could not receive it for herself. Verse 13 says, “…the hand of the Lord has gone out against me!” Note the exclamation point. As I read this passage yesterday, I realized that she had an emotional wall erected in her heart. Her husband died, her sons took wives, and after ten years they died. Naomi heard that the famine had lifted. She decided to go back to her land. As she entered her city, folks thronged out to greet her. She shocked them.

Listen to her words. Ruth 1:20-21 says, “…Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, and the Lord has brought me home again empty…the Lord has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me.” Her erroneous accusations against the Lord were spoken from behind her emotional wall. She had allowed her circumstances to make her bitter.

Bitterness is always a choice. God’s covenant love never changed, but her heart did. Her emotional walls caused her heart to be dichotomous. She believed lies that separated her from receiving His love. She knew the kind character of God, yet she was not a partaker of His nature of kindness. She saw Him as vindictive.

I used to be like Naomi. That was years before I learned the truth about my thoughts. I didn’t blame God, but I blamed myself. I lived behind my emotional walls of self-hatred and self-rejection. It was a very lonely dark place. No one, nor any circumstance changes our outlook. It is always our choice as to how we process the hard things in our lives.

Our emotional walls block His light, love, peace, joy, and comfort. We wall ourselves off from His provision. Nothing can separate us from His love. Let me remind you of Romans 8:38-39. It says, “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

This is our positional truth. Yet, we often in our state of mind, refuse to believe it. I didn’t for years. Oh, I believed it for you. I just had bought into the lie that I was the exception. Even as I type it now I marvel how that lie controlled every aspect of my life. That is how the lies of the enemy work. Remember, not every thought comes from our own origin. 

David had a prayer that we can adopt for ourselves. Psalm 86:11 says, “Teach me Your way, O Lord; I will walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear Your name.” David’s request was for God to give him singleness of heart. We know from James 1:6-8 that a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways. Knowing about God’s character, but not walking as a partaker of His nature reveals a dichotomous heart. What lies are you believing that keep your heart divided?