IN THE DAYS OF ADVERSITY, FAITHFULNESS WILL SEE YOU THROUGH


 
"That You may give him rest from the days of adversity.  Until the pit is dug for the wicked."  Psalm 94:13
 
 
How you view adversity will determine your outcome.  Do you see it through the veil of unbelief and doubt, or through the eye of faith, even when you do not understand?  When believers go through test and trials, it is rare to hear someone say, “My faith has gotten me the victory.”  Usually what we hear about is the difficulty and at the end at phrase is stuck onto the sentence that says something like, “Thank God He brought me through.”  The attitude is almost in reluctance that a way of escape was made by God in His great mercy and compassion for the individual.

 

However this was not the case with Ruth. The book of Ruth records the story of a young woman from Moab who chose by faith to follow the God of her mother-in-law, Naomi, instead of the gods of her ancestors.  To me, the most striking life lesson that we can learn from Ruth is her faithfulness to her mother-in-law and the God that she had chosen to serve.  She had given up her ancestral gods to serve the one true living God. 

 
Although Ruth was from Moab, she became an ancestor of David and Jesus Christ (Matthew 1:5- 16) through her willing obedience.  Ruth’s husband, Mahlon, was the son of a Hebrew, Naomi and Elimelech.  Naomi and her family came to the land of Moab to escape the famine in Judah.  After the deads of Mahlon, his brother, Chilion, and their father, Elimelech, Namoi and her daughter-in-laws lived in the land of the Moabbities.  However, their came a day when she woke up from her situation and decided to move back where she had come from.  She wanted to send her daughter-in-laws back to their families, but Ruth was the only one who would not go, in fact she said this to her mother-in-law, Namoi, “…Entreat me not to leave you, Or to turn back from following after you; For wherever you go, I will go; And wherever you lodge, I will lodge; Your people shall be my people, And your God, my God” (Ruth 1:6).  When Ruth said this she was demonstrating her faithfulness to God, in times of adversity—even when she did not understand. 

 
Faith stands and faith talks.  All through the book of Ruth and during, very tumulus times, we see the faithfulness of this young woman demonstrated in acts of service and loving kindness.  She demonstrated faith in God and not in her circumstances.  When was the last time you shared with someone, on told them how God has delivered You.” 

 
Ruth’s faith was in God, not in herself or her circumstances.  She was young, innocent, and weak.  Her faith demanded obedience.  She followed God to Judah, and to the field of Boaz.  Her life of faith is an example to all believers, faith must be lived in our actions, not just spoken with our lips.

 
Prayer—Father I thank you for bringing  your people into this city of refuge, where you are as close as mention that name.  Let your people never forget your faithfulness and willingness to turn hopeless situations around, in Jesus Name.  Amen.