Barren places, Birthing grounds.

Barren places, Birthing grounds.

Ruth 1:16 – “But Ruth replied, “Don’t ask me to leave you and turn back…”

Ruth lost her husband.

I do not know how she was able to go to Judah with Naomi when there was nothing there for her. She could have returned to her mother’s home, and in time, she might have remarried, the pain of her past extinguished by the promise of a future. Yet the Bible tells us that she asked Naomi not to urge her to “turn back.”

Ruth is perhaps one of the few people who turned away FROM what could have been a new beginning and turned TOWARD a path of sorrow and emptiness. Perhaps the pain of her loss was so deep that she wanted to find a way to stay connected to her late husband. Maybe that was why she chose to go to the land where he was born and raised, hoping to feel close to him in some way.

You must understand that there is a strong connection between your pain and your purpose.

But when it seemed like Ruth’s story was over, in time, she married Boaz, a respected and wealthy man in Bethlehem who was a relative of Elimelech, Naomi’s late husband. They had a son named Obed, who became the father of Jesse, the father of King David.

Imagine this: Ruth, a Moabite widow who had left behind her homeland and everything familiar, became the great-grandmother of King David. She was included in the genealogy of Jesus Christ!

Ruth walked into what may have looked like a barren future, but God was writing a story that would reach far beyond her own lifetime.

Today, like Ruth, do not abandon the journey just because there is no joy at the moment. Do not give up because you cannot see any gain right away. Remember, God has plans to step into your barren place and turn it into a birthing ground!