Seasons: Lessons of the Unexpected Life from Ruth

As we journey through life’s seasons, moving from one to the next, many times we find that we must leave some things behind to push forward, just as we find in nature. As a tree’s branches must shed their fading, golden leaves to birth the arrival of the next season’s blooms, we, too, have seasons where we must let some things go, like it or not, and move on.

We can look forward in anticipation to what we believe will be next for us, prompted by what has been historically representative of life’s natural order.  As women, we expect to grow, mature, marry, bear children, raise them to adulthood and let the natural order of things unfold.  But, sometimes in life, things do not always go as we planned and envisioned.  There may be an interruption in our expectations of the way we thought things “ought to go.”  Many times, we find ourselves in situations we never expected or imagined, yet here we are anyway, learning to adapt to a new environment and ecosystem that is a foreign land to us. The interruptions of life as we knew it can come at any stage and in a multitude of ways, yet each type of loss and detour along the way can leave us feeling disoriented, hopeless, brokenhearted, and fearful of what is ahead.

 In my own personal journey, I have learned to equip myself with a few necessary tools, to thrive when life does not go as planned. Those things include a journal, a pen, and a Bible. As I arise each morning, I click on my lamp in the dark hours before sunrise, pour some coffee and pick up my book waiting on my bedside table.  It is in these early mornings that I have learned to rebuild life on His promises, grow my faith, my trust, and my relationship with Him, the best way I know how.  Sometimes we reach a bottom place in our lives, and it is here that we find our footing on the foundation of His word. God is our foundation, but he is also the hand lifting us up and out of the darkness of these seasons. He is with us, in us, surrounding us with his presence, his strength, his power and his comfort. He is our guide in every season, every circumstance, every situation, even when we don’t really feel it.

It is in these quiet moments that I not only learned more about leaning on Jesus through the hard times, but also where I found a friend and mentor.  Her name is Ruth, and she has taught me some valuable lessons.

If you’re not familiar with the story of Ruth, Chapter one explains that a woman named Naomi had left with her husband and two sons from their hometown of Bethlehem when there was a famine, to go to Moab in search of food and a better life.  While they were there in Moab, the two sons married local girls named Ruth and Orpah.  It seemed like a regular, ordinary season of life for Naomi, probably expecting things to just go on the normal trajectory of being a wife and mother, then on into being a mother-in-law and then perhaps a grandmother.  But things took a turn and not only did Naomi unexpectedly wind up a widow in the sudden passing of her husband, she also wound up losing her shot of seeing her two sons become fathers when they, too, died in Moab.  So, here she was with two daughters-in-law, no husband, no sons, no family here and all seemed lost for her.  That is what you would call a major plot twist in the Seasons of life as you know it. 

So, Naomi hears that things have improved back home and she decides to return there, where life as a widow might go better for her.  In an unselfish move of love and compassion, she urges her two daughters-in-law to stay behind with their own families, in order that things might work out better for them.  Orpah takes her up on the offer and stays behind, returning to her parents.  Ruth on the other hand, pledges her loyalty to Naomi and decides to stick with her.  Now I don’t know how many of us would be able to do this. But, Ruth replies, “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.  May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.” 

Wow! What a woman Naomi must have been for Ruth to give up everything she knew, to go to a strange city, with a woman who is not her own mother. She left the known for the unknown with Naomi because she trusted her.  She trusted Naomi because Naomi trusted God. Ruth could not see the destination, but she took the first step in faith. The first thing I noticed is that Ruth knew that this woman was wise, even though she was not her own blood relative.  Naomi’s character stood out enough for Ruth to put her next season on life into Naomi’s hands.  Naomi must have been an amazing mother-in-law for Ruth to love her enough to go with her.  She must have proven her character of loving kindness in a deep and impactful way for this to take place.

 

The second thing about Ruth that made me take notice was in Chapter 2 when Ruth asks Naomi to let her go glean the fields for any leftover grain.  Ruth steps up in humility to go do a hot, dusty, tedious job to provide for the two of them.  She took the initiative to do whatever it took for them to survive.  She did not sit around having a pity party, playing victim to her circumstances because things did not work out as she planned.  This was a new season for both of them, but Ruth stepped up despite her own pain and grief, to the humble, lowly task of picking grain in a field that belonged to a wealthy landowner, Boaz, who just happened to be a relative of Naomi’s. She made the most of the opportunity she had at hand, despite how humiliating or dangerous it probably was for her.  She did not pass it over, expecting something better to come along.  She took action to change her circumstances in the ways she was able. Boaz took notice of this loyalty and devotion displayed by Ruth in her care for her Mother -In -Law. This bold move comes into play as the story unfolds for Ruth.  Her willingness revealed much about her character to Boaz and this allowed her the opportunity to continue gathering grain in his field, protected from harm. Ruth was not even aware of Boaz’s relation to Naomi until she returned home, so this was a genuine effort on her part to do whatever necessary.

 

A third thing that stuck out to me was that Ruth sought out Naomi’s advice on their next steps in this situation.  She was seeking counsel from an older woman, who knew the ins and outs of proper procedures here.  Ruth did not just wing it on her own and make a mess of things.  She trusted that Naomi knew the wise things to do, so she started there by asking her what to do next.  Naomi, who knew the laws of a “guardian redeemer” guided her in the steps required to allow Boaz to be that redeemer for them. This Jewish law was set up so that families would be responsible and obligated to help their poor relatives who had nowhere else to turn.   When we are in a situation where we don’t know the next best steps, it is important that we seek counsel from someone who is wise, Godly, and clear on the “Laws” so that things might go well for us.  We must ask the right people, the right questions, at the right time, not diving headfirst into something without wise counsel.

 

There are some things we can learn from Ruth’s story when our Seasons of Life turn on a dime and we are left wondering what to do next:

Trusting Godly women to lead us in our darkest seasons,

 Taking the initiative to do our best despite our circumstances,

 Not  having a pity party when things turn out different than what we expected,

Seeking Godly advice from older women ….

these are all some takeaways from Ruth that we can apply to our own lives. 

We are each guaranteed some dark seasons in our lives no matter what.  Some are avoidable, others are not.  But either way, it is what we do with them that determines where we wind up in the next Season.

 Ruth’s story turns out to be not only a happy one because she was able to marry her guardian redeemer Boaz, but that this marriage produced the family lineage of our one true Redeemer, Jesus. 

What if she had chosen to stay behind in Moab in her life of the known, with her family of origin?

What if Naomi had not been the type of Mother-in-Law that a Daughter In Law was willing to follow after?

What if Ruth had not taken the initiative to influence her circumstances by picking leftover grain in Boaz’s field?

What if she had not let Naomi guide her in the wisest, next steps?

What if she had not looked out for the best interest of Naomi and shown her selfless character to Boaz?

It is clear that God was at work each step of the way with these women who thought they had lost everything.  This set back was just a set up for the Redeemer that was coming for all of us… to restore all that is lost.

 May each of us continue walking in faith through every Season of our lives, no matter what unexpected circumstances that come along. 

May we step out courageously into the unknown, strange lands that some Seasons bring about.

 May we look to one another for friendship, guidance, wisdom, and strength to sustain our losses. 

May we hold on to the hope that our Redeemer is coming for us and we are part of his lineage.

May we be the Mothers-In-Law that can lead our Daughters and Daughters-in-Law in love, kindness and wisdom through each of their seasons.  Being there to support one another in our journeys through life.

May we be the daughters and Daughters-In-Law that love, serve and protect our mothers and trust their wisdom.

 

There are so many facets and lessons to be learned from the book of Ruth and this barely scratches the surface of it. I urge you to read about it, study it and glean a wealth of wisdom and life experiences from it yourself.