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“But Ruth replied, ‘Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me’.” Ruth 1:16-17 (NIV)

When all you have is stripped from you, like Naomi, it’s easy to turn bitter and think God has forgotten you or has decided to punish you. After losing her husband and two sons, Naomi left the country of Moab and returned to her people. She had two Moabite daughters-in-law, and she told them to go back to their people. One of the daughters-in-law, Ruth, saw Naomi as her own family.  She wasn’t about to leave her; Ruth was going to be stuck on her like a Band-Aid.

Today a lot of things are disposable and the things that used to be valued are mere trial-and-error opportunities. If Naomi lived today chances are her daughters-in-law wouldn’t consider following her to the next town. Women are often abandoned by husbands who vowed to love and protect them, children are left in orphanages by their parents and the love that once seemed to be stronger than death simply disappears.  Too often, we are no longer setting our roots on the Rock, on the One who can help us, but rather on utopian realities that do nothing but devastate our faith. If we wish to be blessed like Ruth, we must deny self and follow after God regardless the cost.

 “Father, one young woman with such a strong faith and love that allowed her to leave father and mother and follow her mother-in-law to a new country shows us that You honor our faithfulness. Please help us to have faith like Ruth.”

For His Glory

Luska Natali
TRBC Women’s Life