Adventure to Divine Destiny

In just a few weeks, the holiday travel rush will be in full swing. It’s no surprise that delayed flights and vacations rescheduled for later have sadly become part of the norm these days. If we could gauge the combined sighs and groans of travelers these days, it would be more than the sounds at a music festival. In the Book of Ruth, we are introduced to a woman whose plans were changed.But it wasn’t her long awaited vacation plans to Hawaii. Ruth’s whole life journey was turned upside down in just a few years. She was a Moabite woman, whose journey started when she got married to a man named Mahlon. A Moabite was forbidden, by God, unto the tenth generation to enter into the presence of God, for their failure to help the children of Israel. Naomi’s life in Moab Life in Moab was a real rollercoaster for Naomi. Initially, her husband Elimelech passed away, and shortly after, her two sons, Mahlon and Chilion, also departed from this world. All her dreams of having a big, happy family and enjoying a peaceful retirement flew out the window. All that remained were her two daughters-in-law, Orpah and Ruth. Fork in the Road In the midst of a long dusty road, we find three widows walking and making their way back to Bethlehem. Naomi urges them to not continue with her on the thirty mile journey. Orpah calls it quits and decides to go back to Moab. Your God, My God It is at this crucial moment, that Ruth utters the most poetic expression of love that has ever been penned. Though we hear this in wedding ceremonies, depicting the love of the bride and groom, these statements were uttered in the midst of a painful choice that Ruth had to make. Ruth 1:16 -“But Ruth said, entreat me not to leave you, or to turn back from following you, for wherever you go, I will go. Wherever you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, your God, my God. And where you die, I will die. And there I will be buried. The Lord do so to me– Yahweh do so to me and more, if anything but death parts you and me” What is remarkable is her commitment to Yahweh God, whom she has known only with her relationship with Naomi’s family. Ruth is making an everlasting commitment to the God that she had only recently heard of. Life changed forever! And with that, she changed the trajectory of her life. Her destiny was changed. Those generational curses? Wiped out! Banished from God’s presence? Not anymore! Her descendants considered as outcasts? Never again! Her future has been totally transformed! Despite being a Moabitess who, wouldn’t have had the chance to experience God’s presence, she ended up blessed beyond measure with just one heartfelt statement. She even became the great-grandmother of King David and her name is in the genealogy of Christ (Matthew 1:5)! Life Application Are we, as second or third-generation Christians in a land of abundance, still committed to serving the God of the Bible? Has reading God’s Word now become a chore? Is prayer now just a memory of what our grandparents used to do? And do we find Sunday sermons “boring” unless they come with props? If so, it might be time for a U-turn back to God and a renewed commitment. Your destiny too can be changed for ever!