People Matter Daily Devotional: September 14

A Word From God’s Word
One day she got herself together, she and her two daughters-in-law, to leave the country of Moab and set out for home; she had heard that God had been pleased to visit his people and give them food. And so she started out from the place she had been living, she and her two daughters-in-law with her, on the road back to the land of Judah.

After a short while on the road, Naomi told her two daughters-in-law, “Go back. Go home and live with your mothers. And may God treat you as graciously as you treated your deceased husbands and me. May God give each of you a new home and a new husband!” She kissed them and they cried openly. They said, “No, we’re going on with you to your people.”

But Naomi was firm: “Go back, my dear daughters. Why would you come with me? Do you suppose I still have sons in my womb who can become your future husbands? Go back, dear daughters—on your way, please I’m too old to get a husband. Why, even if I said, ‘There’s still hope!’ and this very night got a man and had sons, can you imagine being satisfied to wait until they were grown? Would you wait that long to get married again? No, dear daughters; this is a bitter pill for me to swallow—more bitter for me than for you. God has dealt me a hard blow.” Again they cried openly. Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-bye; but Ruth embraced her and held on. Ruth 1:6-14 (The Message)

A Word From Darcy Fesmire
While they say that “blood is thicker than water,” the family relations known as in-laws are often more like oil that just doesn’t want to mix. So I am never slow to give thanks for the positive relationships Eric and I each have with each other’s parents. This is especially true between his mother and me. I call her nearly every day, more often than I call my own mother. She is a role model, a support and I would go as far as to call her one of my best friends. So I can relate to Ruth’s feelings toward Naomi. To be separated from her in a time of crisis only makes the situation worse.

Reference is made in this story for God’s provision for us to not be alone. Had Naomi had other sons, they would have taken Ruth and Orpah as their wives. The family names would have been preserved and Naomi and the girls would have been cared for. This may seem like a strange remedy to us, in our modern culture, and in this story it doesn’t play out that simply either. (Read the whole 4-chapter book for a beautiful story of love and sacrifice.)

But Ruth’s example shows us that family bonds – blood or otherwise – are strong and that God has a purpose in bringing precious people into our lives at just the right times. They may be there to rejoice with us in good times or mourn with us in hard ones. But the best thing we can do is receive these people as God’s gift, to strengthen and encourage us to be all that He designed us for. For us, they can be “Jesus with skin on” to hold us up physically, emotionally and spiritually through whatever life may hold for us.

Darcy Fesmire is a Youth volunteer and First Trinity Preschool Teacher’s Assistant.

A Word With God
Lord Jesus, thank you for the family You have given me, inside my house and in Yours. Help me see how You plan to meet my needs through them. Amen.