Strengthening My Faith In God
BRD REFLECTIONS
(May Chew, President, Women’s Society of Christian Service (WSCS))
READ:
Ruth 1 (focusing on verses 6-18)
OBSERVE:
Naomi and her daughters-in-law (Orpah and Ruth) left Moab to journey to Judah, after the death of Naomi’s husband and two sons. When they were on the road, Naomi urged her two daughters-in-law to return to their mothers’ house. She urged them to return home to re-marry to lead a happy life.
Orpah took the advice and returned to her father’s house, a seemingly safer path. Ruth, however, insisted on going with Naomi, an option that seemed terrifying and uncertain for her (Ruth was a Moabite and might be discriminated against in Judah). Their journey was also marked by Naomi’s bitterness against God.
However, Ruth was undeterred and her faithfulness and loyalty to Naomi and to God, whom she had come to know, was clearly articulated by her – 16But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.” (v16-17, ESV)
Ruth’s declaration affirmed her faith in God too and her absolute surrender to His sovereignty. She left everything that she knew behind to follow Him.
APPLY:
When bad things happen, it is easy to blame and feel bitter towards God, like Naomi who was full of bitter lament and wanted to be called ‘Mara’ (meaning bitter). When my prayers are not answered or when I am faced with obstacles, I feel that God was not listening. How can I guard my thoughts and heart against this bitterness? How can I have the absolute faith shown by Ruth? The faith as written in Hebrews 11:1 – Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
DO:
Instead of narrowly focusing only on the difficulties or misfortunes, I count and give thanks to God daily for my blessings, big and small. To strengthen my faith, I listen to and read God’s Word and meditate on it daily. Spending time with God allows me to know him better, to understand his ways, thereby strengthening my faith.
PRAY:
Dear God, from Jeremiah 29:11, I know that your plans for me are to prosper me and never to harm me. I pray for a heart of faith, like Ruth’s, that I may follow you with trust and hope, regardless of the circumstances around me. Open my heart and soul to receive and trust in you fully. Thank you for your daily presence in our lives, that we can turn to you in good and bad times, knowing that all things are possible in you. Amen.
