"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.
