My husband and I recently celebrated our nineteenth wedding anniversary, and I took a trip back down memory lane to twenty years ago when I moved to Alabama.
He and I had dated long-distance for a year, and after much discussion, we had decided I would move. I was leaving behind all I had ever known, family and friends -everything. Leaving a big city to a small town was a culture shock for me.
I never once questioned my relationship with him. But to be honest, I questioned everything about leaving my life there.
As HE would have it, we were studying The Book of Ruth. I had always heard that it was a beautiful love story. To me, it is a story of stepping out on faith and following where He leads.
Naomi’s life was destroyed, losing everything, including her husband and sons. Ruth could have left Naomi and went on her way, but she decided to follow Naomi to her hometown. Both women needed a kinsman-redeemer, someone from their husband’s family who could restore them back into the family –someone who could give them a home again.
God was faithful, as He always is. He provided for all their needs, including food and work for Ruth, and then on to her kinsman-redeemer, Boaz. God was leading them on a new journey together.
“But Ruth replied, “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.” (Ruth 1:16)
Can you even fathom if she had followed Naomi’s prompting and did not follow her?
That one decision to step out on faith changed the world. Jesus is the ultimate “Kinsman-Redeemer” who voluntarily paid the price for our debt and took us as His bride.
While questioning leaving my home, all I heard was GO. The decision was made; I started packing up and was able to get a transfer with my job. All was going very easy, And then….
The year was 2001, and if you will remember, the world turned upside down in September. I was set to leave in October. The attack certainly made it tougher, leaving my family in all the uncertainty with the world we were living in. We didn’t know what was happening from day to day. However, when I prayed over it, all I heard was “Go.” And so, I obeyed. It goes without saying it was not an easy journey. However, it has been the best journey. I married the one my soul loves, and we have created a life together with our three wonderful children. I wouldn’t change my decision to step out in faith for anything.
Do I miss my family, being a part of their daily lives, bugging my brothers (I have seven), and watching my nieces and nephews grow into adults?
Every day of my life, desperately. Though I do know this is exactly where He planned all along for me to be. If I could somehow have the same life where my family was closer, that would be asking too much, right? I have even fallen in love with this beautiful place I get to call home, and that’s icing on the cake. And a little Godwink, My mother-in-law’s name is Ruth.
Sister, is there something you have been praying on and nervous about taking a step out on faith? Maybe, just maybe, this is the one decision that can change everything. It could be exactly where He is leading you.
Do you have the thought, “Who, me? I can’t don’t that!” Those negative thoughts are not from God; they are from the enemy. They are lies, as the enemy knows God is the author of your story and wants to destroy it. I ask you, “why not you?”
“Jesus looked at them intently and said, ‘Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.’” (Matthew 19:26)
To step out in faith means to have faith in God. It is going above and beyond to do God’s will, even if you don’t know what the steps in the journey are yet, or what the result may be.
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline” (2 Timothy 1:7).
Be more like Ruth!
Missy Burks
Lean into Jesus Ministries
#missyburksblogs
