The excerpt was then extracted with permission from Philip Ryken’s book When Problems Appear, Faithful Editor, published in August 2018.
When it comes to holding on to Christ with one hand and the people we love with the other, it would be difficult to find a better example than Ruth, who has pledged to stay with Naomi of life and death. Imagine the scene and feel its dramatic tension. Three women on the horizon heading for the desert. Before arriving near Bethlehem, Naomi stopped in the middle of the road and told his daughters-in-law to return home in Moab, blessed them for their kindness, but he also made it clear. who went home, where there was some hope of finding other men to marry.
- At this point.
- The two young women burst into tears.
- The stage is as close as the Bible gets to a soap opera.
- And he kissed them [Ruth and orphan].
- But did they scream out loud?(Ruth 1.
- 9).
- They said to Noemi.
- “No.
- Are we going to accompany your people with you?(V.
- 10).
- But Noemi wouldn’t have anything to offer.
- The bitter truth that cut off the old widow’s heart.
- Why am I bitter about you because the Lord took his hand against me?(V.
- 13).
Naomi’s anguish caused another series of tears; The three women, did they cry in a loud voice again?(v. 14). They cried, wailing like women do in the Middle East. When the tears finally dried up, Orfa made the wise decision. He loved Naomi enough to make part of The Road to Belém, but when he imagined he’d be better off at home, he kissed Naomi goodbye. Who could blame him?
But Ruth made the opposite decision, with enormous consequences, what she decided would lead to the salvation of the world, look what she did: while Orpa said her last goodbye, Ruth clung to Naomi, here the Bible uses a strong verb indicating an unwavering bond. One can imagine Ruth hugging Naomi, and then, when her mother-in-law begins to walk away, Ruth grabs her dress to prevent her from leaving without her. Ruth just refused to let her go.
At first Naomi tried to set her aside by saying, “Look, your sister-in-law has returned to her people and her gods; You too, come back after your sister-in-law?(V. 15). These words clarify what was at stake spiritually. Ruth and Orfa’s choice was not simply about geographic location, ethnic identity, or the relative possibilities of finding a life partner in any of the communities. No, in the midst of trouble, these women chose whether or not to follow the living. and true God. Ruth had already made her choice. She was so determined that when she heard what her daughter-in-law had to say, she realized she had no reason to argue. Ruth said, “Don’t encourage me to leave you and don’t make me follow you. for wherever you go, I will go, and wherever you land, I will land there; your people are my people, your God is my God. Wherever you die, I will die and there I will be buried; Does the Lord do what He wants from me, if anything but death separates me from you?(vv. 16-17).
Word after word, this may be the best speech a person has ever given. It’s a confession of faith made by a woman of faith. In the clearest and strongest possible terms, Ruth tells the world what it means to belong to God and his people.
When the problems occurred, this woman did not give up, but doubled and committed hested heed of life and death with the God of Israel.
This is not the choice most people make when facing such great trials. Instead of going with God, most people blame him for his problems, as Naomi did. Consider the testimony of Rose Thurgood, who was born in 1602 and wrote a This is what Thurgood wrote about his spiritual response to a terrible illness that killed his family: We were prostrate, very sick, for a month, and my children sometimes warmed so much in their attacks that no one could quem their thirst, and they faint. [?]. Now I find myself in this extreme poverty and in necessity, with all my sick again at home, and in all that the Lord has given me again to the hardness of my heart, to the point that I cry with anger and curse against God Himself. , telling me that God is what He plans to do with my children; they’ll probably die. So I started fighting God.
Naomi said more or less the same thing: “What kind of God is he, and what do you think he will do with my family?”But Ruth made a different decision. When the anguish came, she decided to go with God, even though her sister-in-law was going in the opposite direction, it was the decision to embark on a long and dangerous journey that no woman should face alone. of a new cultural identity in a world where it was almost inconceivable. It was also the choice to keep her mother-in-law, which was at best a mixed blessing: Naomi was so bitter that when she arrived in Bethlehem, people barely recognized her.
There were many obstacles for Ruth to go with God, there is always one!When do the great choices of life come?There are always all sorts of reasons to do something else. If Ruth were to go to Bethlehem, she would choose to take a dangerous route, with a difficult person, to a stranger. But instead of abandoning God, she made the right decision, the best option, which, for her, was the only possible option: Ruth wanted to be with the living God. In his opinion, it was not a gamble, but a certainty by faith. Therefore, having witnessed God Himself, he made a solemn vow to follow Him to death.
One of the things that inspires me the most about Rute is that he made his decision when he was young, probably still in his twenties, but at any age, the decisions we make today pave the way to eternity. are they or what happened? if everything is going well for us or desperately bad? we have the rest of our lives ahead of us.
If we are wise, we will go with God, wherever He calls us to go. Some believers serve in the business world, where there are opportunities to create value for people created in the image of God. Others serve in the field of education, teaching people. what God has created. Artists show truth and beauty with the landscape and sounds of creation.
Other Christians have their vocation in science, medicine, law or public policies; many other people are still trying to figure out what to do and where to go, in which case the most important thing is to tell God unreservedly that we are ready for Go and do what he wants. If we go with God, He will give us the opportunity to do something useful for the kingdom.
If we are wise, we will be with God, wherever He calls us to stay. We must never underestimate how difficult this can be. Sometimes staying with God is much harder than going with God. Everything in us screams to do a different task, elsewhere, with different people. But if this is not God’s way for us, it will not be the right way, no matter how much easier it is. Stay with God and his people. Wherever we go in this world, we have to hold on to the church as Ruth clung to Naomi. The only way to stay with God in this world is to stay close to his people.
Go with God, stay with God, live with God, die with God, and then live with Him forever. It was Ruth’s choice, and that decision became her destiny. It will also be our destiny if we choose God as Ruth.
What do you do when problems arise?
It is not so much about “if” but about “when”. At some point in life, all people experience loss, grief, pain, broken relationships, persecution, and sin. What is our hope? Ryken offers a pastoral, sensitive and biblical look at the suffering of the history of men and women in the Bible who have faced great trials and troubles. We remember that as Christians we are never completely alone in our struggles and tribulations.
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