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Determination and Trust

“When Ruth determined to stick with Naomi, she had no idea how things would unfold, i.e. that she would marry Boaz, give birth to Obed and become (foreigner from Moab that she was) grandmother of Israel's greatest king, David, and ancestor of Jesus. She just knew the next step, and she was determined to take it.”

           Anthony B. Robinson (Behold! Advent Devotionals)

In the story of Naomi and Ruth, there were choices. Ruth's husband, Naomi's son, had died. Ruth could have gone home to her people, married again and lived a long and happy life. But she knew what Naomi's fate would be without husband or sons, and wanted more than anything to take care of her mother-in-law in whatever way she could. She was determined to help Naomi negotiate the future as a widow. Though she might have been signing her own death certificate by such a choice, her thought was not for herself, but for Naomi. As it turned out, her trust and determination saved both of them.

Just as Ruth could not foresee the future, neither can we. We can make plans, set goals, take steps, and sometimes arrive at our desired destination. But sometimes unexpected things happen—things that throw us off-course, or give us a push in an entirely different direction, and we have no choice but to take the road not selected. Most of the time we experience these incidences of being side-tracked as inconvenient, sometimes even as hardship. But there are times when that which was not foreseen, which could not have been known before it burst into reality, is exactly what we need.

Determination is a strong trait and one that is essential in our world today. Coupled with faith (trust), it is incredibly powerful. We, like Ruth, do not know what the future holds, but we can take the next step. We can take the step that seems most reasonable; the one that presents itself without promise of results, but that feels “right” to us. We can take that step in faith, trusting ourselves to know the one after that, and the one after that, and trusting Spirit to lead us in the direction we need to go. Where we end up may be totally surprising and even better than we could have imagined. Determination and trust, the keys to a successful life.

                                         In the Spirit,

                                             Jane