Becoming the Woman God Destined You to Be نموونە

A Destiny Like Ruth

Ruth was a biblical legendary woman who was destiny driven. She pursued her divine purpose. She faced many hardships, among them poverty and being widowed at a young age. The odds were stacked against her, but she did not stay in a place of brokenness.

Ruth’s story begins with a man named Elimelech, who left the land of Canaan for Moab during a time of famine. But the famine was a time of judgment against Israel for violating the covenant God had established with them. (See Leviticus 26:18–20.) 

And while Elimelech’s family may have temporarily escaped the famine, they actually ended up worse off than they would have if they had stayed in Bethlehem—Elimelech and both his sons died in Moab. After their deaths, Elimelech’s widow, Naomi, decided to return to her homeland. She had two Moabite daughters-in-law, Ruth and Orpah, and she urged them to return to their own families. Orpah relented and left, but Ruth clung to her mother-in-law and in her defining moment when she set out in pursuit of her destiny, she eloquently spoke of her determination to go with her:

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. Where you die, I will die, and there will I be buried. The LORD do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts you and me.

—Ruth 1:16–17

Even though Ruth was born into a culture that neither knew nor worshipped the Lord, her marriage to an Israelite had introduced her to the one true God. And even in the short time she was married, she saw and learned enough to know that the Lord was the real deal, not an idol made by human hands. She also knew that her destiny did not lie in Moab, and that knowledge compelled her to step out in faith, to take a risk, to venture to an unknown land. She had a destiny and a purpose to pursue, and she couldn’t do that if she stayed in Moab. And she wasn’t going to let any social or cultural barriers stand in her way.

Legendary woman, you cannot let social or cultural barriers stand in your way either. We live in a time when people are divided along so many lines that it is hard to keep track of them all. But God is no respecter of persons; He shows no partiality (Acts 10:34). We are all one in Christ Jesus (Gal. 3:28). Don’t let social or cultural differences prevent you from pursuing your divine purpose.

When Ruth declared her commitment to Naomi, she was making a covenant not only with Naomi but also with the Lord. Ruth made herself a willing vessel, ready for the Lord to fill. She made herself available for God to cultivate the seed of destiny within her and prune away anything that might be standing in the way of its fulfillment. And because of Ruth’s willingness and her trust in the Lord, God directed her paths. She returned to Bethlehem with Naomi and ended up marrying a kinsman redeemer named Boaz. And as a result, she was the great grandmother of King David and one of the few women named in the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1. By discovering and pursuing her destiny, Ruth played a role in the coming of the Messiah.

As a destiny-driven legendary woman, your defining moment will come when you discover your God-given purpose, your destiny, and make the choice to pursue it with all that you have and all that you are. And while the end result may not always be known at the beginning, you trust God wholeheartedly, knowing that His plan for you is a good one and He will direct your paths. 

May the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge, reward you fully for what you have done.—Ruth 2:12