Look ahead

This week we will be looking at one woman who had a made up mind. Never underestimate the power of a made up mind. The woman I am talking about is Ruth. Ruth was a Moabite woman who was married to one of Naomi’s sons. Naomi had two sons and Orpah was married to the second son. However, Naomi’s husband died and ten years later her sons died too. Leaving all three women widowed.

Naomi had been living in Moab so she decided to go back home to Bethlehem to her people and thought it best to tell her daughters in law to go back home to their families. Naomi said her goodbyes to her daughters in law. She released them to be able to go back to their families and marry so they could have children as they did not have any children with her sons.

“And again they wept together, and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-bye. But Ruth clung tightly to 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.”

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. 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!” When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she said nothing more.”

Ruth 1:14-18

What I want us to see is that godly perspective always has us looking forward. Our human perspective can get stuck on what’s behind us and what could have been but godly perspective keeps moving ahead. Orpah decided to go back to her past, maybe explore other options and also go back to what was familiar and comfortable.

Ruth decided that her commitment to Naomi was for life, so she decided to move into the unknown. She was a Moabitess but she decided that even if it meant being a foreigner in an unfamiliar place, she would do what it takes to move forward. She chose to trust God and you can hear it when she declared, “your God will be my God.”

Verse 14 above is the last we hear of Orpah. She kissed her mother in law goodbye and went back to her people. But Ruth’s story continues, she later marries Bethlehem’s most eligible bachelor and winds up in Jesus’ blood line. Yep, she is another one of Jesus’ great great grandmamas!

Godly perspective helps us see beyond the temporary discomfort and helps us anchor ourselves in God trusting that He is and will be good to us. Godly perspective does not allow us to dwell on the past or wallow in what could have been or why life isn’t fair. We mourn and grieve over what we have lost, I’m sure Ruth mourned the death of her husband, but we don’t get stuck there. Ruth got up and moved into her future with her mother-in-law.

When we trust in God, He connects us with the people who will take us into our future. Naomi may not have looked like much after she lost everything she had but she was the key to Ruth’s future. Don’t get stuck looking at the outward stuff. Godly perspective allows us to see beyond the natural. Ruth probably didn’t understand why she had to stay with Naomi but I imagine there was a voice deep inside her that told her it was the right thing to do. We need to learn to follow God’s voice. He always knows what’s right for us in any situation or season.

I wonder what Orpah’s story would have been like had she stuck it out. We will never know. But I hope that you choose to stick things out even when it gets rough and tough. Life happens to us all, dust yourself of and choose to trust in God. Choose to see things through God’s eyes. God is good. So, if it is not good, it is not the end. Keep trusting, keep following Him, keep moving ahead. He is faithful.

Love and blessings

Melissa Tsingano.