*Read Ruth 1:6-18 for background
When our hearts are submitted over to the Lord, and His will becomes our priority, we will desire things that aim to give Him glory. We will care about what matters to Him and notice things that are being pointed out to us by Him. As we seek to live in the center of His moral will, we will seek to follow His leading in all areas of life including what we do and where we go.
Throughout the course of my adult life, this is a question I regularly bring before the Lord. Am I doing what you want me to do and am I where you want me to be? At certain times in my adult life, I have wrestled with that decision, and usually, that was just prior to the Lord impressing upon my heart the desire to change something major about the nature of my service or role in ministry. Other times, I have operated with what seemed like absolute clarity about what He wanted me to do and where He wanted me to be.
At times, I think it can be healthy to wrestle with that subject because it can cause our faith to be stretched. It's a topic that causes us to trust the Lord while continuing to remain faithful to the task He's entrusted to us. It's also a topic that can force us to trust the Lord to show us new things as He presents open doors and new opportunities before us.
Ruth 1:6-18 presents a season like that for Naomi, Orpah, and Ruth. In a short period of time, these women had all lost their husbands. Now they were left with the difficult decision of what to do next. Should they remain united as a family and press on toward what the Lord would show them, or should they say their goodbyes and return to their families of origin?
At this season of life, Naomi was understandably discouraged and feeling bitter and disappointed about her circumstances. This wasn't the life she envisioned for herself when she was younger. When she and her husband got married, they probably had visions of a happy family life in the land of Judah where their sons would marry local girls, raise healthy and happy children, and their needs would be met through the Lord's provision as He blessed the work of their hands.
But famine in the land drove them to the country of Moab. Their sons married Moabite women, and all the men of the household died much younger than expected. Now Naomi was left with her daughters-in-law and forced to make decisions as the matriarch of this unconventional family.
Looking at her daughters-in-law, she advised them to do what seemed safest in the midst of the rough and godless culture they were living in. She strongly encouraged Orpah and Ruth to return to their birth families and start their lives over under the protective care of their mothers' households. They protested this suggestion, but with a little more prodding, Orpah agreed to go back to her family. Ruth, on the other hand, refused.
“And she said, “See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.” And when Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more.”
When I read the story of these women, I'm not sitting in judgment on any of the decisions they made because it's easy to understand why they felt pressure to make these difficult choices. But it does warm my heart when I read Ruth's response and witness the demonstration of love and loyalty that she showed toward her mother-in-law. In reading her words and observing her actions, while also seeing the long-term effects of these choices that are outlined in Scripture, it's clear that Ruth was being led by the Holy Spirit to do what she did.
Ruth was intent on being one with Naomi's people. She was committed to worshiping Naomi's God, not the false gods of the Moabites that she had been raised to worship and likely worshipped in her youth. Ruth also committed herself to the Lord's hand of justice should she ever break the pledge she made to Naomi. I can't help but be impacted when I contemplate this demonstration of love and loyalty.
It vividly reminds me of the change we experience when we come to faith in Jesus Christ. Prior to knowing Him, we lived as foreigners and aliens to His promises and kingdom. But after coming to know Him, we are united to Him and become part of a new family, the church.
““Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” ”
It would have been easy for Naomi and Ruth to say they were hopeless in this world, yet it's clear to me that Ruth saw a glimmer of hope in submitting her life to the leading of the true and living God. In Ephesians 2, Paul reminds us that at one time we were without hope and without God in this world, but now we have been brought near to God by the blood of Jesus that was shed for us. Through faith in Jesus, we experience spiritual reconciliation with our Creator. And in Jesus, our weary and worried souls find rest.
Where will we truly find rest?
““The Lord grant that you may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband!” Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept.”
In the midst of their grief and worry, Naomi openly prayed that eventually Orpah and Ruth would find rest from their desperate situation in the house of a new husband. Obviously, Naomi meant well in saying this, but there is a deeper form of rest than what can be found in an earthly marriage or through ideal earthly circumstances. In fact, Scripture reminds us that our hearts can find everlasting rest even if our earthly circumstances feel far from ideal.
The kind of peace we need, a peace that surpasses all human understanding, is found in Jesus. We won't find that peace through anyone or anything less than Him.
In Augustine's Confessions, he made this prayerful reflection; "Because you have made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in Thee." Think about that comment for just a moment. Is Augustine's statement true? Is that what the Bible teaches? Absolutely.
““Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.””
Jesus' comments in Matthew 11 are some of His most quoted words, for good reason. In those words, He boils down the true nature of what the human heart is seeking. We're seeking to be unburdened. We're longing for rest for our souls, but we're struggling to find it. Then Jesus enters the picture and offers what we truly need from the only source that could meet that need. With divine compassion, Jesus looks at the weary and offers us rest in Him.
Remaining loyal may not be the safest thing to do, but it demonstrates genuine love.
Looking back at Ruth's words to Naomi, what else are we shown? What deeper-level principles are illustrated in her actions? Ruth could have taken a more culturally obvious path and returned to her family, but that's not what she chose to do. She chose the harder path. She made a decision that may not have seemed as safe as her other options. Ruth chose loyalty over safety. Remaining loyal may not be the safest thing to do, but it demonstrates genuine love.
In your walk with Jesus, are you demonstrating loyalty to Him that is the fruit of genuine love? Or, maybe it would be better to first ask, is Jesus demonstrating loyalty to you that is the fruit of His genuine love for you? In your lowest seasons, has He ever abandoned you? No, He hasn't. In your immature moments when you might have expected Him to be embarrassed to remain associated with you, did He ever leave? No, He remained.
““So now Jesus and the ones he makes holy have the same Father. That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call them his brothers and sisters.” ”
Jesus didn't choose what was safe when He gave Himself to rescue us. He took the painful, but necessary path to the cross in order to make us holy, reconcile us to the Father, and unite us as family.
When the true God reveals Himself to you, there's no need to return to false gods and idols.
When we read the story of Naomi's daughters-in-law, there's a definite contrast being drawn in their responses to the trial at hand. Even though her decision came with tears and initial resistance, in the end, Orpah returned to the people she came from and the false gods they worshipped. But Ruth did not. Ruth drew a very distinct line in the sand that she would not cross. She refused to go back to where she came from and refused to bow the knee to the gods of the Moabites any longer.
I don't know how often you reflect upon your life before knowing Christ, but can you identify idols that gripped your heart during that season? Are they still gripping your heart, or are you ready to draw the kind of line Ruth drew? Will you try to find rest for your soul by going back to where you came from, or will you trust Jesus in this new season of life? Ruth's actions show us that when the true God reveals Himself to you, there's no need to return to the false gods and idols of your past.
Where is the Spirit of God leading you right now? Are you moving in the direction of His leading or does submitting your life to His leading frighten you? Here's the truth... He will never lead you where you'll be worse off for having followed Him. In the process of trusting Him and letting Him guide your life, you will grow, your faith will mature through testing, and the testimony of the great work He has done in your life will be used by Him to bolster the faith of your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.
© John Stange, 2022
