I'm pretty sure I've read Ruth a few times during my lifetime but I'm at this place in my life where I literally question God after reading now. I mean, I question him like I know him, because I do. Today's question was, "God, I know this book is about Ruth, but what happened to the other chick?" ...yes, I literally looked up to heaven and asked that...and then I waited for an answer.
[sidebar] I used to wonder why/how people really heard from God, how did they get (the correct) direction. Then one day as I was reading a verse that says "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God..." there's more to the scripture, but when I read that I had an epiphany, in order to hear I have to read. So that's what I do...I read, I ask, I listen. It works...
Ok...back to today's question. I read the entire book. I understood that Ruth's husband died, she stayed with her mother in law, she followed her directions, and ended up being remarried to someone who could provide and take care of them both. At the end I was left wondering what happened to the other daughter in law?! The one that one that was married to the other son...what did she get? God's answer...nothing. Nothing worth writing anymore about anyway.
That taught me something. The part that was left out of this story, seemed to teach me more than anything that I read. I realized that when you go back to what is familiar (instead of staying on the new path that has been created for you) you can end up with nothing.
Here *goes to look up her name because I can't remember it* Orpah was, literally attached to the family that would one day bear King David and eventually Jesus! But she went back, she turned around, she missed out.
Why did she miss out? Why did she leave? Because her husband died. Because the original attachment was no longer a part of the equation. Where am I going with this? Many times, people will leave you, whether by death or by choice, they will leave...and that's fine! They aren't supposed to stay. In actuality, them leaving is often times the gateway to what your actual blessing/purpose is! Without the death of her husband, Ruth never would have married Boaz, they never would have had Obed, he never would have had Jesse, there never would have been a King David.
So this revelation about Orpah taught me, not to be afraid about what's ahead. There is no need to retreat to what's familiar. Stay the course, even when the faces on the course change. Keep going, even when it's uncomfortable. Your very legacy depends on it! Turning around is literally the difference between being read about amongst men, and people not remembering your name.
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