Are you at a crossroads in some aspect of your life? Looking back at the past and then toward the future wondering how to reconcile the quandary of change that is sure to come? And challenged to make weighty decisions that need a level of wisdom you don’t seem to possess?

This week we are going to look at the Old Testament story of Ruth with a wide-angle lens, and let it inspire us to a posture of surrender in the places of our lives that seem unsure and unscripted. 

The book of Ruth is a powerful narrative written with a heavy pen of God’s pursuit. A pursuit of providence declaring the lineage of Redemption. Although the tone and tenor of this book is unassuming, the plot is one of destiny, and the character of Ruth is one of integrity. 

After an unfortunate series of events, Ruth became a widow with no resources to her name. Deemed an outcast and a foreigner, she was forced to choose her future—go back to the familiar and start over? Or walk headlong into the dark? 

This is where we see Ruth make a clear and definitive decision. With an all-in attitude, her heart was drawn and anchored by threads of loyalty to her mother-in-law, Naomi, and to a people of faith and their God.

Standing at the crossroads, Ruth chose the unscripted way. The dark. The story yet to be told. Determined to approach the unknown of her future with a posture of surrender, she quietly declared—“Not mine, but Your will be done.” 

As destiny would have it, and in her reticent resolve, she was cast the protagonist on the pages of providence.  In the end, Ruth, the Moabitess and foreigner to the people of Israel, became the great-grandmother of King David, and an ancestor in the lineage of our Lord Jesus.

I wonder if deep down she knew she was meant for more than what awaited her back in Moab. I wonder what would have happened if she hadn’t followed Naomi into the land of promise. I wonder what destiny awaits you and I as we stand at the crossroads in our own lives. Decisions to be made. Loyalties to be determined. And faith to be followed.

Are you standing at the crossroads in your own life? Do you feel the heavy weight of decision? Is the enemy trying to fill you with fear, or steal your joy? Please know that even when we are in the land of the unscripted life, destiny calls us to let the God of the universe write and rewrite our stories. 

Let’s be modern-day Ruth’s, shall we? We too can have beautiful dramas that tell the watching world that our God works for the good of those who are called according to His purposes (Romans 8:28). 

Remember, you are not alone. Be blessed as the God of the universe writes you a really great story.