Stick With The Plan
RECENTLY, I WAS READING AND STUDYING THE BOOK OF RUTH. MANY MAY THINK THERE ISN’T MUCH TO STUDY IN THE BOOK OF RUTH, BUT IT IS FILLED WITH TREMENDOUS REVELATION THAT HAS THE POWER TO BRING BREAKTHROUGH. I THOUGHT I’D SHARE IT WITH YOU THROUGH THIS MONTH’S BLOG POST.
MY PRAYER IS THAT IT WILL ENCOURAGE YOU TO KEEP GOING AFTER GOD’S PERFECT WILL AND PLAN FOR YOUR LIFE. TO LIVE FOR THAT PERFECT PLAN AND NOTHING ELSE. OUT OF THAT LIFE LIVED IN PURSUIT OF JESUS’S PERFECT WILL AND PLAN FOR YOUR LIFE WILL COME THE FULLNESS OF PURPOSE AND DESTINY.
IN RUTH 1, WE SEE THE ACKNOWLEDGMENT FROM NAOMI THAT IT WAS TIME TO MOVE HOME AFTER THE DEATH OF HER HUSBAND AND HER TWO SONS. IN THE NATURAL, HER ENTIRE BLOODLINE HAD BEEN CUT OFF. SHE WAS LEFT WITH TWO DAUGHTERS IN LAW… TWO SISTERS…TWO DAUGHTERS OF A MOABITE KING - ORPAH AND RUTH. IN HER EFFORT TO MOVE FORWARD; TO MOVE HOME IN PURSUIT OF A PLACE TO FINISH OUT HER LIFE ALONE, SHE RELEASES BOTH ORPAH AND RUTH TO RETURN TO THEIR HOMES AND TO THEIR FAMILY. NAOMI URGES THEM TO GO AND FIND A HUSBAND AND HAVE CHILDREN. BOTH DAUGHTERS IN LAW ARE GIVEN THE SAME OPPORTUNITY. BOTH ARE VERY SAD. BOTH CRY IN MOURNING OF SEPARATION. HOWEVER, WE SEE ONE (ORPAH) LEAVE TO RETURN TO HER FAMILY AND ONE (RUTH) WHO MAKES THE DECLARATION THAT THE ONLY WAY SHE WILL EVER WALK AWAY FROM NAOMI IS IF DEATH WOULD SEPARATE THEM. SHE THEN DECLARES THAT SHE WILL FOLLOW NAOMI WHEREVER SHE GOES AND THAT NAOMI’S PEOPLE WILL BE HER PEOPLE AND NAOMI’S GOD WILL BE HER GOD. (RUTH 1:16-17) WE HAVE TO PAY ATTENTION TO THAT PROPHETIC DECLARATION. IN THAT MOMENT, RUTH BECOMES MORE THAN A DAUGHTER IN LAW. SHE BECOMES A DAUGHTER OF NAOMI.
WE KNOW THE REST OF THE STORY. TOGETHER, NAOMI AND RUTH HEAD BACK TO JUDAH TO START THEIR NEW LIFE THERE. RUTH MEETS BOAZ AND GAINS FAVOR WITH HIM. BOAZ BEING OF THE SAME BLOODLINE AS NAOMI’S HUSBAND, ELIMELECH, HAD THE POWER TO NOT ONLY REDEEM NAOMI’S BLOODLINE, BUT TO ALSO RESTORE THEIR INHERITANCE. PLEASE READ THAT AGAIN.
IN RUTH 4:17, WE READ THAT RUTH GIVES BIRTH TO A SON NAMED OBED WHO IS IN THE LINEAGE, THE BLOOD LINE OF JESUS. THROUGHOUT THE WORD WE SEE EXAMPLES OF THE PLAN OF REDEMPTION. WE SEE THE PLAN OF GOD TO REDEEM HIS FAMILY - HIS BLOODLINE - AND RESTORE THEIR INHERITANCE! THAT OUGHT TO MAKE YOU SHOUT “THAT’S ME!”.
NOW, IMAGINE IF RUTH WOULD HAVE MADE THE SAME CHOICE AS ORPAH? TO GO BACK TO HER OWN PEOPLE? TO GO BACK TO WHAT WAS EASY…TO GO BACK INSTEAD OF MOVE FORWARD? TO GO BACK INSTEAD OF STAYING IN THE PLACE GOD GAVE HER TO FULFILL DESTINY? RUTH KNEW THAT HER DESTINY WAS NOT BEHIND HER. IT WAS AHEAD OF HER. THEY BOTH HAD A CHOICE. WE ALL HAVE A CHOICE; THE CHOICE TO GO BACK TO WHAT IS COMFORTABLE AND FAMILIAR OR TO REFUSE TO BE SEPARATED FROM GOD’S PERFECT WILL AND PLAN FOR OUR LIFE AND THOSE HE CONNECTS TO THAT PLAN.
RUTH’S FAITHFULNESS TO NAOMI AND GOD’S WILL FOR HER LIFE MADE A NAME FOR HER IN JUDAH. IN RUTH 3:11, BOAZ TELLS RUTH THAT SHE IS KNOWN FOR BEING A WOMAN OF STRENGTH (WORTH, BRAVERY AND CAPABILITY). JUST A LITTLE LAGNIAPPE (EXTRA) FOR YOU THIS MONTH, THOSE CHARACTERISTICS IN RUTH WERE NOT DEVELOPED OVERNIGHT. THEY WERE DEVELOPED IN THE HARD TIMES; IN TIMES OF FAMINE AND GRIEF. SHE WAS KNOWN AS A WOMAN OF STRENGTH, AND GOD ORDAINED FOR HER TO MARRY A MAN NAMED BOAZ - WHOSE VERY NAME MEANS STRENGTH. SHE BECAME KNOWN AS A WOMAN OF STRENGTH AS SHE PREPARED TO BE THE WIFE OF THE ONE WHO WOULD BECOME STRENGTH FOR HER AND HER ENTIRE BLOOD LINE.
MY PRAYER OVER THIS BLOG IS THAT YOU WILL SEE HOW VITAL IT IS TO STICK WITH GOD’S WILL AND PLAN FOR YOUR LIFE. WHEN IT GETS HARD, LET IT DEVELOP YOUR STRENGTH, YOUR CHARACTER, AND YOUR FAITH. YOU HAVE TO KNOW AND TO TRUST THAT GOD HAS A PLAN TO REDEEM NOT JUST YOU, BUT YOUR ENTIRE BLOODLINE AND TO RESTORE YOU ALL TO YOUR TRUE IDENTITY AND INHERITANCE.
MAY YOU PURSUE JESUS WITH YOUR WHOLE LIFE. MAY YOU MAKE HIS CALL UPON YOUR LIFE YOUR GREATEST PRIORITY AND MAY EVERY GENERATION IN YOUR FAMILY KNOW THE REDEMPTIVE WORK OF JESUS THROUGH YOUR OBEDIENCE, SACRIFICE AND FAITHFULNESS IN THE MIGHTY AND MATCHLESS NAME OF JESUS!
“And her neighbor women gave him a name, saying, A son is born to Naomi. They named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David [the ancestor of Jesus Christ].”
Ruth 4:17 AMPC