The Book of Ruth ~ Devotion Four

"Turn From the Dark Corner"

Have you ever been in a situation where you felt no hope? You were backed into a corner so far that all you wanted to do was run but the options of where to run seem to be slim-to-none. Nothing feels as horrible as when a person feels there is no hope. Life has dealt you a lousy hand and folding seems your only option.

From our last two lessons we find that the family of Elimelech has experienced the pangs of poverty and famine. They moved away from the Promised Land of God and in disobedience went back across the Jordan to the land of the sworn enemies of the Israelites. When they got there Elimelech died. Naomi was left with her two sons who eventually married two Moabite women named Orpah and Ruth. Then, the two sons, Mahlon and Kilion also died.

Ruth 1:6-7 Then Naomi heard in Moab that the Lord had blessed his people in Judah by giving them good crops again. So Naomi and her daughters-in-law got ready to leave Moab to return to her homeland. With her two daughters-in-law she set out from the place where she had been living, and they took the road that would lead them back to Judah.

I wonder how Naomi heard that God had come to the aid of His people. She had been gone ten long and devastating years. How her heart must have ached for husband and sons. Longing for the familiar, the friendly, and the family she had left behind in Bethlehem probably visited her every thought. From the corner she had been backed into she saw a ray of hope and she was going for it. The Lord had seen fit to provide for His people. There was a way out for this family or what was left of it. But this glimmer of hope sparked Naomi on.

I know I’ve been backed into hopeless corners too. I’ve lost friends and family to a loss of hope. Time after time I’ve turned my eyes toward the dark corner of hopelessness. It’s so dumb...yes I said DUMB! Why do I believe that standing in a corner with my eyes searching the darkness is better than Him and the hope He promises me?

Psalm 121:1-3  I look up to the mountains—does my help come from there? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth! He will not let you stumble; the one who watches over you will not slumber.

This passage tells us that our help out is not found anywhere but in the Lord God. That is where our only hope lies. We find hope by turning around from our little corner and seeking Him.   I live at the base of the mountains, near the foothills of the Rockies. Every time I look up to Long's Peak I am overwhelmed by the grandeur. However, the mountain itself has no power to reach down to my need and fill it. There's only one Rock that can do that.

Psalm 62:5-7 Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will not be shaken. My victory and honor come from God alone. He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me.

Hope…without it we would die. There are many things we can place our hope in but there is only one True Hope. Elimelech took his family away from the hope God had placed before His people. Instead he looked to pagans for hope.

When hope dies, we die spiritually and oftentimes physically and mentally. But God in His love has given us hope in His Son Jesus. We can celebrate knowing and believing that God is and has provided His best for us through Jesus. 

We may not define hope like the Bible teaches. Our hope may be in the things that this world offers. I have viewed hope as rescue from my financial worries when the Sweepstakes team comes to my door with a check. (That’s never happened!) I have viewed hope as a knight-in-shining-armor. Each has failed me. Even those like my pastor, my husband, my kids, my mom and dad, have let me down. Even when their intentions are meant to be the best, they are only human. I need a Savior. I need the One who knows me best and loves me most.

When I place my hope in Jesus I can rely on Him. His answers may not be what I want to hear but when I follow Him with an obedient heart He provides. He waits for me to return from my own field trips to the land of false hope. I know better and as I grow in my faith I choose to follow Him.

Naomi, with her girls in tow, grabbed hold of the hope of God. They ran to Him and embarked on the journey back to the Promised Land. The journey of faith is not an easy one. She set out on the road that would take them back to the land of her people; to the place where God provides.

God calls us all home, to the place where He provides. Any other place is not sufficient. False hope never fills the stomach or the heart. God is faithful and will supply our every need. All we have to do is place our feet on the right road and take one step after another towards Him. I’m ready. Are you coming along ?

Here are Jesus' thoughts: (I love knowing that He really said this!)

Matthew 6:25-27 “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?”

“Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in His wonderful face. And the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.” (Helen Lemmel 1922)