Don’t be caught Ruth-less

Girl… Life. Is. Hard.  Life is messy. Life sometimes takes turns and twists and sucks the joy right out of us. How rude!

Life plainly gives us the most sour of lemons at times.  Life can chew us up and spit us out and leave us feeling like we are in a million pieces with no instructions on how to pick ourselves up and put ourselves back together again.  (Humpty Dumpty has no idea how good he had it to have all the king’s horses and all the king’s men to help him!) 

There we are… BROKEN!

Wait a minute… 

Girl, you know I am not gonna just leave us sittin’ there all broken. Nope!  That ain’t my style!

Humpty may have had all the king’s horses and all the king’s men to help him but do you know who we have?

 THE ONE TRUE KING! 

Hebrews 13:5 tells us that God will never leave us nor forsake us.

Let’s look at Ruth.

The book of Ruth is used primarily for relationships, repeated at weddings, and used to teach the values of those close relationships.  But…

Ruth… She is my homegirl!  I just love Ruth! 

Here is this amazing young widow that has nothing left in life but a widowed mother-in-law.  Ruth stays committed to her MIL, Naomi, and that is the beginning of just how special Ruth really was. Ruth takes this HUGE leap of faith and travels with her MIL to a foreign land where she knows nothing of its culture, religion, or anyone else other than her MIL, Naomi. 

Ruth never once looked back over her shoulder although, Naomi gave her the chance to do so.  Ruth told Naomi “Wherever you go, I go.  Wherever you stay, I stay.  Your people will be my people.  Your God will be my God.”  (Ruth 1:16)

Ruth stayed obedient to her MIL’s God and pressed on.  She praised God for all that was provided.  She worked hard in barley and wheat fields to glean leftovers to feed the two of them.

All the while she was staying and praying, being obedient and working hard.

Do you see what Ruth was doing?  Ruth was broken too!  She was sad and desperate.  She could have stayed that way too.  BUT…

She took a leap of faith. She trusted God to provide for their needs. She worked hard as if she were working for the Lord himself. She respected her elders.

Ruth was a woman from Moab that had “no right” to anything that was being given to her.  Yet…

GOD SAW OTHERWISE!

He took her faithfulness, her obedience, her trust in HIM, her hard work, her praise to HIM, her thankfulness, her tenderness, her courage and HE NOT ONLY blessed her with a family-redeemer (a relative that married widows) but He blessed her life so well that she gave birth to a son, Obed, that would eventually make her a grandmother to Christ Himself! 

Turn up the gravy and put the biscuits on girl!  It’s time to celebrate!!

Now of course this is the short version.  BUT…

Tell me again how God can’t use you.  

Tell me again how you are not worthy of His love and His grace, His blessings.

Tell me again, girl…and you and I can sit down and read the book of Ruth, together.

• Obey and Trust God
• Read Your Bible
• Have Unshakeable Faith
• Praise God for Your Blessings
• Work Hard
• Love One Another

Don’t be caught RUTH-less… 

BE A RUTH!

Heavenly Father,

Thank you for our blessings; they are plenty.  Thank you, Lord, for showing us through Ruth, and so many others in Your Living Word that having unshakable faith does not go unnoticed by you.  Lord, thank you for providing for us as you do the birds of the air.  Thank you, Lord, for never leaving us nor forsaking us.  Heavenly Father we praise You and we love You.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Deb Ridenour

 

Deb Ridenour has been married to her teenage sweetheart for almost 34 years. They have three children they are so very proud of and they have five grands that they are even more proud of! Deb is a doggie mom to Gunner and it is no secret that he is her favorite child (he even has a tag to prove it!)

Deb seeks to honor and glorify God in all she does.