Jesse Tree, Day 12 – Ruth and the Courage to Continue

 I have commanded you, ‘Be strong and courageous! Don’t tremble or be terrified, because the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9, GW

Read: Ruth 1:15 – 2:13

Have you ever been in a situation where you were ready to give up? You were down to your last bit of courage to continue. The experiences of Ruth and her mother-in-law, Naomi, show us  what it takes to trust God when we have little hope left.

Once the children of Israel had settled into the promised land, Joshua gave different portions of the land of Canaan to each of Israel’s twelve tribes (Joshua 13—21).  Naomi and her family lived in Bethlehem, a city of the tribe of Judah. However, due to a severe famine, the family left Bethlehem to go to Moab, a pagan city, which was flourishing at the time. There, Naomi’s two sons married Moabite women–Ruth and Orpah. 

However, while they were living there, tragedy struck. Naomi’s husband died, and then both her sons died. Unimaginable, right? Now there are three widows living in a period in time when husbands helped to secure a woman’s place in society. When “enough was enough”, Noami decided to go back to Bethlehem with her daughters-in-law in tow.

Don’t skip over that part too quickly. The sisters-in-law faced a critical decision. Should they stay in the familiar territory of Moab, sad as it might have been, or should they venture out into an unknown town and live among people they did not know? They were at a crossroad.

What do you do when you are at a crossroad in your life–facing an uncertain future? Well, the answer is not to stay where you are. Both women step out on the path to Bethlehem. They took courageous action!

But along the way something happened. Naomi, I assume, rethinking the prospects for herself and her daughters-in-law decided to give them an out. She counseled them to go back to their home—not once, but twice. And the second time, her plea is more persistent that Orpah decides to return.

Let me talk to you, dear reader. Like these ladies, have you taken courageous action in the face of life challenges. Perhaps you have felt beaten down by life. You find yourself between a rock and a hard place and yet, you have stepped out courageously in the direction of a new possibility– in the direction of hope.

The thing is, the courage that has gotten you to this point is not going to be sufficient to take you to the next level. You are going to need to supercharge your courage. You are going to have to unite your courage with faith in the one true God.

Regardless of how much courage it has taken for you to advance forward in the face of life challenges, you will find yourself eventually questioning the reasonableness of your choice to go forward. You may get counsel from others, good advice-reasonable advice, asking you to turn back.

Orpah took Naomi’s reasonable counsel. However, Ruth realized that the only way forward was to put her unwavering trust and confidence in Naomi’s God – Yahweh. Her courage became supercharged into a faith walk. She said to Naomi, “Your God will be my God.” With God, we are assured of the courage to continue.

And did God deliver or did He deliver? Oh yes, he did! Ruth married Boaz, the son of the same Rahab we learned about in yesterday’s devotional.  Ruth became the mother of Obed, and Obed was the father of Jesse. Yes, the same Jesse of this devotional series! Won’t God do it!

Friend, put your trust and confidence in God as you courageously continue to step forward in faith. 

REFLECT: How are courage and faith in God connected? Can you have one without the other? How does faith in God give us courage to continue?