Ruth- A Faithful Woman

 Good Evening Friends!

  I hope everyone is doing well on this lovely Sunday evening. I have to say I am enjoying my Summer, catching up on rest, spending more time with the Lord, getting ready for Summer classes. I am very excited about what the Lord is doing in my life! This evening, I wanted to write about the book of Ruth, one of my favorite books to read in the Bible! Ruth is such a relatable person and I think that's one of the reasons that I love God's word so much because He takes ordinary, everyday people and uses them for His glory. When I read the book of Ruth, I see a woman of faith, persistence, and trust. It starts out tragic and then ends with so much joy! If you have your cup of coffee or tea with you, we can jump right in and find out more about Ruth. Let's go!

   I am going to paraphrase this story. The book of Ruth starts out as a family living in Moab. They left Bethlehem because there was a famine. Naomi, her husband, and sons have lived in Moab for quite some time. Her sons were married and Ruth was one of her daughters in law. Then Naomi's husband dies and not long after, her two sons die as well. Naomi and her daughters in law are heartbroken and are left with nothing. A messenger was sent to Naomi to tell of the good news in Bethlehem. He told her that God has blessed Bethlehem and that they had plenty of food again. I am sure Naomi was relieved to hear this news after losing her husband and sons. So she decided to go back to Bethlehem and her daughters in law followed her. Naomi came to a certain point and told both of her daughters in law to go back to Moab. She didn't have any more sons to give so they should just go back. Well one of the daughters in law turned around and started back while Ruth contemplated in her mind what she should do. She ran up to Naomi and clung to her and said these famous words, "Don't make me leave you; for I want to go wherever you go and to live wherever you live; your people shall be my people and your God shall be my God." 

   So Ruth made a decision to step out in faith and follow her mother in law to a better life. I believe she knew that there was nothing to go back to in Moab. Naomi and Ruth's journey to Bethlehem was a very long one especially on foot. Once they came to Bethlehem, Naomi went back to her old house. Ruth decided to go and work in the field and little did she know that she would catch someone's eye. Let's remember that Ruth was a foreigner and she didn't know too much about Bethlehem. She wanted to help her mother in law so she went and worked in the field of Boaz. Boaz was the overseer of the field and he noticed her one day picking wheat. I'm sure he couldn't help but notice how beautiful she was and he wanted to find out about her. Once he found out who she was, he approached her and gave her favor. She didn't understand why he was being so nice to her because she was stranger. Then he falls for her and she falls for him. She goes to one of the feasts and uncovers his feet and lays down at his feet. It was like a proposal in that day and time. He had to make arrangements with his close relative by redeeming her. Once he did this, he was able to marry her and have a son named Obed. 

  God had blessed Naomi and Ruth for their faithfulness. So too He also blesses us for our faithfulness. God watches our every move, thought, motive, and word. When we are going through tests of life, God is always seeing if we are going to remain faithful to Him and remember His promises in His word. Life can throw us some tough curve balls at times, but God always sees us through our toughest trials. Naomi and Ruth lost everything, it wasn't easy for them, but God remained faithful to them. They trusted in God and believed that He had better for them and He did! 

   So my friends, if you are going through some tough circumstances or a fiery trial, just remember that God is always faithful and if He brought you out before, He will do it again! So I pray that God would help all of us through everything that we are facing right now and will face in the future. He is leading us to something better and He wants us to be faithful to Him like Naomi and Ruth. Is it always going to be easy? No. Will we feel like giving up sometimes? Yes, but in the end, He will work everything out for our good! May God bless you and keep you friends! Until next time!