The Story of Ruth (and Naomi)

My friends:

Last night the Lord directed me to the Old Testament books of Ruth and Esther. I had previously read both Ruth and Esther a couple times, but this time reading both books gave me a clearer and more meaningful understanding of these two beautiful young women.

Today, I will only touch on the short, but beautiful story of Ruth. The gist of the book is that after the death of Naomi's husband and two sons in the land of Moab, Naomi decided to return to her original home, the land of Judah. However, she insisted that both of her daughters-in-law returned to their mothers' houses. Of the two young women, one was determined that she would stick it out with Naomi, her name was Ruth. Ruth's true beauty and love for her mother-in-law came out when she was crying to Naomi, telling her, "Where you go, I will go. Where you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. And where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried." Ruth 1:16-17 are just two powerful verses. These two verses point out to us the loyalty between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, the love and respect this young woman had for an older, well-respected woman. Most of all, however, it points out how much influence the older woman had on the younger woman. Naomi was a woman of God, who loved God and Ruth wanted to follow in her mother-in-law's footsteps. Those two verses really touched me, brought me to tears. Do you think if Naomi was an evil mother-in-law Ruth would have wanted to go with her?? No way. Naomi even addressed Ruth as her "daughter". Now, that is something to desire, having a mother-in-law who loves and respects you so much as to address you as her "daughter".

As God's 5th commandment says " Honor thy father and thy mother so your days may be long." I take that commandment to heart. We must love, respect and cherish our mothers and fathers, our elders. The story of Ruth teaches us about loyalty and true friendship between mother/daughter/mother-in-law/daughter-in-law. I pray that when the Lord sends my husband, I will have that type of relationship with his mother. If you don't have a relationship with your mother-in-law or daughter-in-law, do so now. Put your pride aside and work things out. Please start to respect each other.

Please read the book of Ruth to help you in your relationship with your daughter-in-law or mother-in-law. Read the book of Ruth if you are in the same boat as I am, single/divorced, or if you are a widow, and you are sincerely asking God to send you a husband. This book is truly inspiring and it has given me more courage and hope to trust in the Lord that He has a husband lined up for me. I just pray my true beauty will shine the same way Ruth's true beauty was shone.

I hope this blog has been a blessing to your heart.

Ta ta,
Therese from Belize