Daring With Ruth: 7 Days Of CourageSýnishorn

After Naomi’s powerful plea for her daughters to return home, the text turns its attention to Orpah and Ruth.

Orpah obeys her mother-in-law. After taking a moment to weep this loss, Orpah kisses Naomi and ventures back to her homeland and to her people.

Ruth chooses differently. Without a word, at first, she refuses to let go of Naomi. Even more than that, the wording the narrator chooses to use sheds some light about Ruth’s disposition. Ruth’s “clinging to” is not only her choosing Naomi, but the abandonment of her heritage.

Naomi tries, once again, to urge her to go back to her homeland where she has at least a chance at a normal life. But Ruth replies with one of the most beautiful sections in the Old Testament:

Your people will be my people and your God my God.

Why would Ruth react like this? She was willing to trade everything she had ever known for what? All she has seen of Naomi’s God was that He did not protect her from extreme pain and loss. Unlike Abraham, or other patriarchs, God did not speak to her or promise her any sort of redemption.

I believe at this point we are seeing two things at play: (1) Ruth’s noble character and (2) the pull of God’s Spirit. 

Ruth is a rare combination of loyalty, love, and an appetite for risk. From this one scene alone, I wish I could be more like her!

God knew her character and seized the opportunity to make her a part of the greatest story ever told. Here was this Moabite woman, someone who would have been looked at with suspicion and even disgust by many Israelites, yet who portrayed amazing qualities and a willingness to accept Yahweh as Lord.

Ruth was an unlikely hero for so many reasons: her heritage, her beliefs, her circumstances. But she was the perfect candidate for one: she dared to let go and put her life and her future completely in God’s hands.

Takeaway: Never underestimate what God can do with a willing soul.

Prayer: Thank you Lord for always being patient with me. Please grow a willingness in my soul that You can use for great things.