This is part one of the pilgrim series focusing on Jesus' life as a wanderer. It is in preparation of my upcoming Advent Prayer Guide coming out this month!!
Part three ~ Ruth
It’s easy to bypass the short story of Ruth. Her book is only a few pages, and it’s hidden in the middle of those “boring” Old Testament books on Laws, Judges, and Kings. (They aren’t that boring.)
Ruth is a tiny gem that tells the poignant story of God’s redemptive love for all people and how he fulfills his plans through the most unlikely of persons.
Ruth’s story is the knot that ties God’s orchestrated plan together through narrative. Her story of displacement, being a foreigner among Israel, is the surprise twist in God’s big story. Her pilgrim path leads us straight to Jesus, giving hope to wanderers like us.
Ruth chose displacement
Ruth lived in the land of Moab. She married into the Israelite family of Naomi and Elimelech, who fled Bethlehem in the midst of a famine in order to survive. Israel and Moab were not politically friendly; rather, they were enemies. This displaced family knew the hardship of making a new life and home in a dangerous place. They knew the risk of living among those they feared, yet did so to survive. As we do when we relocate, we assimilate, and Naomi and Elimelech’s two sons married local women.
Displacement can be forced upon us after, or in the midst of tragedy. This family left tragedy only to face more pain and sorrow. First, Elimelech, the provider for this family, died. Soon after, both sons died. Leaving Naomi with two widowed daughters-in-law. In this time, having no male heir or caretaker meant destitution. Knowing this, Naomi urged her daughters to return to their familial homes for protection and care. Naomi intended to leave herself, returning to her familial land of Bethlehem. Surprisingly, one daughter refused to abandon Naomi and begged to go with her. Ruth willingly chose displacement as her lot in life. She offered to live as a foreigner in an unusual and perhaps even hostile land.
“Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried.”
Ruth 1: 16-17
A real risk taker
The love of God compels us. (2 Corinthians 5:13-15)
We don’t know why Ruth didn’t want to return to her family, but her words tell us something of her love and devotion to Naomi. Ruth developed deep respect for her beliefs and faith. Her love for Naomi superseded her fears of displacement. Nothing would keep her from this leap of faith into a future with which she had no assurances. How many of us would take this sort of risk? She willingly chose discomfort, unknowing, and potential ruin for the love of God she found in Naomi. From this moment on, her life would no longer be her own.
When we decide to let go into God’s compelling love, something amazing happens. Ruth testifies to what can unravel, when we take these steps of faith and risk losing it all.
Lessons from Risky ruth
1. In Ruth’s story, she’s quietly losing it all. This kind of deep loss can eat at the soul, and naturally we’d rather sit in our sorrow and reminisce about the days of old. This mode doesn’t work if we want healing. To heal, we must find ways to move forward. H. Norman Wright, in Recovering from the Losses in Life, says, “Your loss changes you […] Recovery means reinvesting in life, looking for new relationships and new dreams. A newfound source of joy is possible. But you could very well feel uncomfortable with whatever is new. […] Remember the source of your joy. It is the Lord.”
Ruth risked reinvesting in life when all seemed lost.
2. When we choose to move to unknown places out of faith, God doesn’t abandon us. Once in Bethlehem, Ruth listened to and trusted Naomi’s guidance. She knew Naomi as a loving mother-in-law who loved God. Ruth’s faith grew out of trusting Naomi’s faith. Ruth relied on Naomi to keep her safe and guide her through the nuances of a foreign land. God provides caretakers in unfamiliar territory. My has experienced this in every move we’ve made around the globe. God loves bringing new friends and wise people into our lives. He’s a community builder and aims to unite all nations.
Ruth risked trusting her new community to help.
3. In displacement, God makes a way to fulfill his purposes. Ruth’s story foreshadows God’s plan for the redemption of all peoples, nations, and tribes. God ushers Ruth into a lineage that will birth our savior. In Jeremiah 29, God promises to have “plans for you to prosper and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Ruth risked being open to a larger vision for the future even though her next step was covered in darkness.
4. No matter where we wander, God redeems what’s been lost. Naomi and Ruth lost family, a home, community, and a place in society. The significance of this story is not that God allowed them to return to Bethlehem, fed and sheltered them, or even that Ruth gained a spouse. The heart of the story is that redemption is for all people, of all tribes, and has no boundary. God grafts the foreigner, the displaced, into his family line. She becomes the family of Obed, the father of Jesse, who would become the father of David, out of whom our final kinsman-redeemer would be born—Jesus Christ. God wove a displaced Ruth into the big redemption plan to show the breadth of his love for all peoples.
Ruth risked her life and found life. She is grafted into the lineage of Jesus Christ! That’s amazing.
This series is in preparation for wandering through Advent: Get your 2026 Prayer Guide today!
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