Lessons From RuthSampel

It is so important that we learn and understand this truth: in this life, relationships will come to an end. 

The ending of any relationship is never easy, especially when you have vested years into it. I remember walking through tough seasons in which relationships that I held very dear to my heart began to become unfruitful as I was working towards purity and holiness. Although I knew I needed to let the relationship go, STILL it felt like emotional death. 

There was this internal tug-of-war that I wrestled with. What would life be like without him/her? I couldn't stomach the thoughts in some moments, but then I would remember dreaming of peace once the toxicity of the relationship was gone. 

In other instances, physical death happens. We live expecting to see life through with our loved ones, but then death comes in, unexpectedly ending the relationship on earth.

In the first chapter of Ruth, we see this principle in the first five verses. Elimelech and his wife, Naomi, and their two sons left Bethlehem in Judah because of a famine and went to Moab. Elimelech passed away and Naomi was left with her two sons. Thankfully, the boys were able to find wives in Moab, but soon after, they passed away as well. Naomi and her two daughters-in-law had to make some tough decisions, all the while grieving their losses. 

Ruth decided to return to Bethlehem with her mother-in-law and developed a strong bond with Naomi. Ruth and Naomi's story begins with two women, grieving life, grieving loss, yet returning to the land, trusting that although they didn't understand why they suffered so much loss, deep down they trusted God.

If you have walked through a season similar to Ruth and Naomi, please be encouraged. Though this first chapter is heavy, the next chapter brings a glimpse of light. God is always working. In His sovereignty, He allows relationships to end through death, separation, abandonment, and rejection. But when we trust Him, even when we feel bitter and forsaken, God promises to work things together for our good. 

Because of the fall of man, rejection, sin, and abandonment recur throughout scripture, yet we see God continuing His work through the descendants, and ultimately Jesus Christ’s work on the cross. 

Relationships end, but our relationship with Jesus Christ never will.