“But Ruth replied, ‘Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.’” -Ruth 1:16-17
It seemed like the beginning of a fairytale. A family from a foreign land moved into town, and the two sons were eligible bachelors. Their father soon died, but mourning turned to joy when the sons found wives among the people in their new home.
For some time, it seemed as though the story would end happily there. The wives, Orpah and Ruth, had met their husbands, had a loving mother-in-law, and were introduced to a powerful and gracious God.
Then, tragedy struck again. The husbands of Orpah and Ruth died. Their mother-in-law, Naomi, had no husband or sons and was in a land far from home. She had a difficult decision to make. Though she loved her daughters-in-law, Naomi knew it was best for her to return to her homeland and her people. Heartbroken, she told Orpah and Ruth to stay and find new husbands.
Weeping, Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye. Ruth, however, refused to leave. Naomi urged her one last time, but Ruth had made up her mind. “‘Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God (Ruth 1:16).’”
Ruth was taking a great risk. She was willing to leave the land where she had family and friends to travel to a place where she had no connections. Neither she nor Naomi had the protection or provision of a husband. She didn’t know whether she would be welcomed by Naomi’s people or treated like an outsider.
What she did know is the God of her late husband, and she wanted Him to be her God as well.
An encounter with God will sometimes mean leaving the comfort of familiarity for a place full of unknowns. For the life of a believer, there’s no telling when God might call you to go, where He might take you, how long you’ll be gone, or what awaits you in the new place.
People will often cling to home like a security blanket; it feels safe, and there are no surprises. But doing so means possibly missing out on greater things that God has in store.
Ruth had no guarantees that God would provide her with another husband, but that is exactly what He had planned for her in Bethlehem. There, Ruth met Boaz, and the two had a son. This son and his sons to follow were a part of Jesus’ lineage.
Ruth left so much behind in her old home of Moab, but she gained so much more in Bethlehem. All she had to do was follow the God of the Israelites and see what greater adventure He had in store for her.