Staying when you have the right to

“Turn again, my daughters, go your way; for I am too old to….. (Ruth 1:12).
Permit me to quickly submit that this piece will not be adequately sufficient to exhaust associated
lessons from the topic; but trusting the Holy Spirit to take you to various dimensions as relate to
needs in your life which the message should address in Jesus name.
Elimelech and his family migrated from Bethlehem-judah to Moab in search of better life (Ruth 1:1).
His action was a legitimate one because every human being needs better life hence the practice of
moving from one city or country to the other. Unfortunately Naomi (his wife) lost the husband and
her two sons who were already married to daughters of the country (Ruth and Orpah). Naomi did
the right thing by counselling her daughters-in-law to go and find new husbands and after much
persuasion, one left while the other resolved to stay (Ruth 1:14-18). What then will compel an
individual to stay when she has the absolute right to leave? Below are couple of possible reasons:
-Insecurity, fear and incompetency. When a man is not sure of his decision and ability to succeed in
the open market place, he’ll rather choose to maintain the status-quo even when the environment is
toxic.
-In the case of Ruth, she trusted the God of Naomi to compensate her faithfulness; even though the
future looked cloudy. Her decision paid off, as Christ’s lineage is traceable to her today.
-Threat and cohesive manipulation of an intimate relationship is another reason. This is dangerous
and if you find yourself in this space, quickly seek help. Speak out before it is too late.
– Lack of access to opportunities can make an individual with bright future to maintain a status-quo.
The advice to such individual is: ‘keep swinging even when it doesn’t work the first time’. And most
times, God will test his candidate to know of what stuff he’s made of. He tested Abraham, Prophet
Elisha and saints of our contemporary time before they enjoyed the promises. There’s need to ask
for grace to understand God’s timing and workings (Eccl. 3:11).
24-Hours prayer and counselling lines: 61 2 9675 4444; 61 402573332; www.rccgaustraliaprovincetwo.org.au