Have you enjoyed our journey with Ruth?  Have you found some comparisons between the battles Ruth encountered and the ones of your own life?  Let’s see how Ruth’s story concluded and see what treasures are there for us.

When we last left Ruth, she had spent a night on the threshing floor at the feet of Boaz, coming away with barley and his promise to approach the family’s other kinsman-redeemer about marrying her (there was a very specific order in Israel about who could marry the surviving widow of an Israelite).  Remember, Ruth was not from Israel and these rules and regulations may have made as much sense to her as constantly changing and evolving orders make to us.  In chapter four of Ruth, we see Boaz approaching the town’s elders and the other kinsman-redeemer, coming away from the meeting pledging that Ruth would be his wife.  Later we read about them having a son named Obed.  Obed was the father of Jesse, and Jesse was the father of David who became the great king of Israel.  The next time we see Ruth in the Bible, it is in chapter one of Matthew where she is listed as one of only five women mentioned in the lineage of Jesus.   Without church speak, basically she became the great (times 30, give or take a few greats) grandmother of Jesus.

Ruth made some difficult choices in her battle zones.  There must have been days when she wondered why her husband was gone, why she had ever agreed to move and how she was going to manage all the challenges.  The exciting lesson for us is that Ruth’s choices to recognize, adapt, move forward and trust God in challenging times had a positive impact for eternity, as we see in Matthew chapter one.   As can ours.

So where are the battles in your life?  Are there struggles you need to recognize and admit to God and/or share with a trusted sister in Christ?  How is God calling you to adapt and move forward in the life in which He has placed you today?  Can you bring some stability to your family by choosing to deal with your discontent about where military life has landed you and realizing you have not come to this place outside the sovereign will of a God who loves you?

Ruth did not live to see, with earthly eyes, her legacy as a woman in the line of Jesus.  And we may not see the positive eternal impact of the hard choices we make each day to trust God in the battle zones of our lives.  But when grandbaby Obed was laid in the lap of Naomi, the women of the town shared something very powerful with her.

The women said to Naomi:

Praise be to the Lord, who this day has not left you without a

Kinsman-redeemer.

May he become famous throughout Israel.

Ruth 4:14 (NIV)

Sisters, we have not been left without a kinsman-redeemer.  His name is Jesus.  May our choices, in the battle zones of our lives, not only bring us purpose, but cause His name to be made famous throughout the Israel where we live.

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To find the rest of the series:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

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Bettina has been a military wife for over 29 years. She and her husband Rob have two sons and a daughter-in-law pursuing artistic careers in Los Angeles and a high school daughter at home with them outside Washington, D.C. She blogs at Simple Stories, Timeless Truths.

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