Courage in New Beginnings
| 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." (Ruth1:16-17) |
Elimelech, an Israelite, had come to Moab because of a famine in Israel. Ruth fell in love with Mahlon, one of Elimelech's sons. But marrying into this family of foreign refugees would not have been a popular move among her own people...
Then tragedy struck! All the men in Elimelech's family died, leaving only his wife, Naomi, and his sons' widows, Orpah and Ruth. One can imagine the townspeople saying: "Hmmm that's what you get for marrying into a family of foreign heathens!" But Ruth has encountered the God of Israel in Naomi's example and she has begun to believe...
When Naomi hears that the famine is over, she prepares to go back and tries to persuade her Moabite daughters-in-law to remain in Moab. But Ruth is determined to go with Naomi. She says:
"Don't urge me to leave or turn back..." (I don't even want to contemplate it, so don't keep nagging me about it because I'm so scared)
"Where you go..." (I'm willing to go into the unknown and stay outside my comfort zone)
"Your people will be my people" (I'll start from scratch and reinvent myself)
"Your God will be my God" (This is what it is all about)
"Where you die... Be buried" (this is a lifelong commitment)
"May The Lord deal with me..." (She seals it with a vow)
Ruth leaves behind all she knows and all she is - all because she encountered the living God in Naomi's life - even in the midst of a triple bereavement and great uncertainty.
The story of Ruth is a powerful new beginning.
She, a scorned Moabitess, becomes the great great granny to king David and features in the genealogy of Christ.
This is what God can do with new beginnings.
But these new beginnings will ask for great courage and great commitment.
May we emulate Ruth's courage and may we live attractive lives like Naomi so that others find a new beginning through us.
