Destined for More: Naomi and Ruth

The Old Testament is, in part, a story of the plan for and the lineage of Jesus our Messiah, wrapped around the lives of significant and influential people. If you haven’t realized the pivotal roles women played in this process, it might be time to look more closely at the stories of women featured in the Old Testament.

This series, Destined for More, is not primarily about women or the Old Testament. It is about people who whose lives became more and had greater impact than anyone might have realized they could.

So, today I want to focus on a pair of women who played crucial roles in shaping the lineage of Jesus, though then never could have seen it coming, given their own lowly life circumstances.

I’m talking about Naomi and Ruth – a poor Israelite widow and her Moabitess daughter in law, Ruth.

These were scrappy, can-do women. They each showed enormous faith in the God of Israel in their time of need.

After the death of her husband and two sons, Naomi was left with nothing to her name but a sad story of loss in a foreign country. So, she decided to go home, where help was available through the laws God setup about caring for widows and the fatherless. She had faith that she would be provided for once she got back to the Lord’s people.

But God had give Naomi an invaluable gift: a daughter-in-law who loved her and felt the call of Naomi’s God to provide for the mother of her late husband.

The two widows journeyed back to Naomi’s home town, and took their places in the history of our Messiah’s bloodline. She was destined to raise the great, great… (not sure how many greats) grandfather of Jesus.

God would take her from wife to widow to wife, from poor gleaner in the fields of a wealthy man to mistress of that wealthy household.

You can read the full story in the book of Ruth. (One of only two books in the Bible that is named for women. That is something.)

We don’t know what God has in store for our mortal lives or for the impact He will make on this earth through our lives. Sweet sisters, I encourage you to never limit His love, provision, calling, or plan  based on your current circumstances, based on how others would label you, or even the limitations your own natural abilities.

God is the sole arbiter of your destiny. And He has destined you for so much more.

I welcome your comments and questions. You can write me in the comments section, or any time at Nancy@DynamicChristianMinistries.org