2024_03_20 Insight Post- Rusty Coram
This week’s reading- Ruth 1-4, Matthew 1:5
Ruth is one of my heroes. As Kim wrote earlier this week, she proved herself to be a person of true, noble character – not merely in words but in day-to-day choices. God honors those who choose to live this way.
There is another aspect of Ruth’s example that stands out too. Throughout the episodes of her life that we seek, she is faithful to God. This is no small thing. Many, maybe most, people would have told her that the best choice for her future would be to stay in her home country and rebuild her life among her own people. There is nothing wrong with that idea, except that Ruth had a strong sense that God was telling her to stay with Naomi. Leaving Moab to go to Judah meant leaving everything behind. Not only that, but it meant staying with a woman who was so impacted by the loss of her husband and sons that she changed her name from Naomi to Mara which means bitter. Wow! Doing the math, Ruth seems to be setting herself up for a dismal future.
Often, we make our decisions strictly by what we see and can easily predict. This isn’t the way of faith though. Faithful living sees all the facts but adds in the truth that God sees more than we do and if we will ask Him for guidance, He will always lead us in the right direction. Our job – our one job – is to be faithful to follow His lead. Ruth was certain that God wanted her to stay with Naomi, “Look,” Naomi said to her, “your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods. You should do the same.”
16 But Ruth replied, “Don’t ask me to leave you and turn back. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. 17 Wherever you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord punish me severely if I allow anything but death to separate us!” 18 When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she said nothing more.” Ruth 1:15-18 (NLT)
Ruth’s decision didn’t follow conventional wisdom but it was a choice that had God’s interests in the forefront. When we are faithful to God like this, we will never miss His best for us – never. Sometimes faithfulness follows common sense, and other times it is counterintuitive. Praying and listening for God’s lead is that way to know. Here are a few passages that can help us learn the ways of Ruth:
“To the faithful you show yourself faithful; to those with integrity you show integrity.” 2 Samuel 22:26 (NLT)
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart;
do not depend on your own understanding.
Seek his will in all you do,
and he will show you which path to take.
Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom.
Instead, fear the Lord and turn away from evil.”
Proverbs 3:5–7 (NLT)
“If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. 6 But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. 7 Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do.”
James 1:5–8 (NLT)
Rusty Coram
Senior Pastor