When you find yourself in difficult circumstances you can make one of three decisions. You can decide to cover up. You can decide to give up. You can decide to stand up.

1. Naomi Covers Up

Naomi made a right decision when she decided to go back to Bethlehem. She should have stayed there to begin with because Bethlehem was “the house of bread”. However, her motive for returning was wrong. She was not going to glorify God but to obtain food. She was living in the physical rather than the spiritual.

She had a wrong motive and she used a wrong approach. She tried to get rid of her daughters-in-law. If she brought Ruth and Orpah back to Bethlehem they would be proof to her people that she disobeyed the Lord. Not only had she gone to Moab, which was bad enough, but she permitted her sons to marry the women of Moab. Naomi gave her daughters-in-law wrong counsel and tried to lead them back into their old life. See Proverbs 28:13.

2. Orpah Gives Up

Orpah was a woman of indecision. She started to go with Naomi. She wept many tears, she kissed Naomi affectionately and yet she turned around and returned to Moab. Naomi had appealed to Orpah’s natural desires:-

• “Mother” (vs. 8)
• “Husband” (vs. 9) – She was a young widow. Remarriage would have been on her mind.
• It was unlikely that Naomi could bear anymore sons even if she did get married as she was too old.

Orpah, when she faced difficult choices, decided to give up. Orpah is a picture of people who are near to believing in the true God and yet are so far from it. Orpah went back to her old life in Moab and was never heard of again.

3. Ruth Stands Up

Ruth chose to remain with Naomi because she loved her deeply. When they arrived in Bethlehem everyone soon heard about her love for Naomi. See Ruth 2:11. Ruth stood up and declared her love for Naomi. But more than that, she gave a testimony of her love for and faith in God. Ruth was willing to go to a foreign country and live with strangers because of her faith in God.

When we are forced with difficulties in life, the only right decision to make is to stand up and trust God. Ruth made the right decision.

Categories: Ruth