Ruth 1-2

I believe everyone is aware that life is full of difficult moments. In fact, we are all too familiar with the statement “when it rains, it pours.” We are familiar with that statement because is often seems when one thing goes wrong in life multiple things go wrong. Naomi is a woman who experienced multiple hardships. She first lost her husband, then her two sons, followed by an extreme famine in the land. These things together made life very difficult for Naomi. You can read in Ruth 2 that Naomi had felt that God had dealt bitterly with her but she still made an important, life-changing decision. In Ruth 1 we read, “6 Then she arose with her daughters-in-law to return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the fields of Moab that the Lord had visited his people and given them food. 7 So she set out from the place where she was..” Even though she didn’t understand why she had experienced such difficulty from the Lord’s hand, she still went toward the Lord. She went to where she had heard to Lord was working. She still placed her faith in the Lord in the middle of her difficulty. Now, with her decision, we also see another very important decision. This one not by Naomi. This other important decision was from her daughter-in-law Ruth. As Naomi left to go back to her homeland, she encouraged her daughter-in-laws to return back to their people. She did this because she knew she couldn’t take care of them herself. We read where Orpah listened to Naomi and went back to her people, while Ruth makes a truly life changing decisions. This is how her decision is recorded…15 And she said, “See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” 16 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. What was so big about this decision? Ruth is this moment decided to not go back to the false gods of her family and instead trust in the one true God. She trusted God to be her God. In the end, what we see is that Ruth is blessed because of this decision. She experiences God’s redeemer and even becomes a part of the lineage of the Savior of the world. In reality, people are still faced with this decision today. Turn to false Gods or turn to the one true God. My prayer for all today is that when difficulties strike they will turn to the one true God instead of trusting in false gods. That they will turn to God and find His redemption. I have no doubt if you trust God even when things seems to be going bad, he will provide in amazing ways for you. I pray today that you will decide to trust in God and go toward Him.