Big Idea: To get to the right place, you have to leave the wrong one.
Scripture: Ruth 1:6-7 When Naomi heard in Moab that the Lord had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them, she and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from there. With her two daughters-in-law she left the place where she had been living and set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah.
Devotion: Moab was a very bad place. It was filled with evil and violence, and the Lord actually forbade people to go there. Due to famine, Naomi and her husband had left Bethlehem and gone to Moab. After all, they needed to eat and provide for their family. Years later, Naomi’s husband passed away. And then her two sons passed away, leaving her with just two daughters-in-law.
Despite their initial disobedience when they headed to Moab, Naomi did an about-face. She heard that the Lord was providing for His people, and after having lost everything, she decided to head back to Bethlehem. She could have been prideful and chosen to stay in Moab, refusing to admit that she was wrong. She could have been angry with God that He would provide food now, but He had not provided it when they lived in Bethlehem. There are so many emotions that Naomi could have felt. And instead, she decided to take a step in the right direction. In fact, step after step, day after day, she walked in the right direction. She embarked on the seven to ten day journey home in obedience to the Lord.
And in order to get to the right place (in this case, Bethlehem), she had to leave the wrong one (Moab). Whether or not she struggled with the decision to go back, we do not know. But what we can see is that she chose to head in the right direction. She chose to turn her back to Moab.
Which makes me wonder, what is the Moab in my life? What do I need to leave right now in order to head into the life that God is calling me to live? Sometimes it isn’t easy to see or recognize. I have a tendency to let my emotional attachments, fears, and pride get in the way of admitting when I’m in the wrong spot. But God has not given us a spirit of fear (2 Timothy 1:7) and has good plans for us (Jeremiah 29:11). As such, why would we let ourselves stand in the way of leaving the wrong place in order to get to the right one?
One step at a time, let’s strive to be like Naomi, turning our back on the wrong place in order to get to the right one.
Reflect:
- What is the Moab in your life that you need to leave behind? What will you pursue or where will you head instead?
