«If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for Me, you will find it» (Matthew 10:39, NLT).
Rend Collective sings a song I really like: «Go Anywhere.» It says, «I’ll go anywhere, anywhere at all as long as I’m with You. I’ll go anywhere, anywhere You call me to as long as I’m with You.» When we think of a Bible character that left everything behind to follow God’s calling, we generally think of Abraham, but today I want us to meditate on a woman who had just as much faith or more: Ruth.
Abraham took a step of faith when God called him and promised him many descendants. Ruth, however, left everything behind not only without the promise of blessings, but also with the certainty of suffering deprivation. By choosing Naomi and her God, Ruth became an outcast of society. Her status (as a woman, widow, foreigner, without children, without a father, without brothers) was less than that of a servant (Ruth 2:13). Without the protection of a husband or father, Ruth was vulnerable to sexual abuse (Judges 19 shows us how vulnerable women were in those days) and poverty. «Ruth is alone, she does not possess anything,» writes Phyllis Trible in A Human Comedy. «God has not called her; no deity has promised her blessings; no human being has come to her help. . . . Therefore, not even Abraham’s leap of faith surpasses Ruth’s decision.»
Leaving everything behind, Ruth dove into a different culture, at the mercy of God. Her faith is even contagious to us today. One of the most difficult idols to detect and abandon is the idol of control. Many of us are willing to follow God as long as we know He will bless us; as long as we can control certain aspects of our future. Many of us have surrendered to God partially and conditionally: «Yes, Lord, I’m willing to follow You, but bless me with a husband, health and children.» Ruth shows us a more selfless way. With each step she took toward Bethlehem, she went further and further from her dreams, from the possibility of getting remarried and having children. Each step was a small death, a brave act of faith. Strangely—with the illogical logic of the gospel-, when losing her life, Ruth found it. God accepted the poor widow’s offering. Seeing she was willing to sacrifice her dreams, God resurrected them and magnified them. God blessed all the nations of the earth through Ruth’s descendants! (Genesis 22:18).
Lord, I will go wherever You ask me to go, as long as You go with me.
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Take From: Devotional Thoughts for Women 2022
«NO FEARS»
BY: VANEZA PISSUTO
Collaborators: Alexandra Pérez & Angelica Cuate.
