Trust And Obey

Trust and Obey

Ruth

Read: Ruth 3

In 1996, aerialist and acrobat Montana Miller accepted a rare invitation to become one of the first five women to participate in the world cliff-diving championships. The competition took place in Acapulco, Mexico, where an elite group of professional cliff divers have amazed tourists for several decades. These divers plunge more than a hundred feet into a narrow inlet of the Pacific Ocean, and their timing is crucial. They must begin their fall before the waves come in so that the water will be there when they reach it. If I were learning to dive off a cliff, I would probably wonder about my instructor when he told me to jump at the moment the water was out of the inlet.

When Naomi decided to secure Boaz as a husband for Ruth, her instructions probably didn’t make much sense to her daughter-in-law. As a foreigner, Ruth wasn’t accustomed to the Hebrew law that required a close relative to marry the widow of a deceased man in order to continue his name and property rights. She did know that her mother-in-law was trustworthy and had her best interests at heart. Her faith in Naomi’s character overcame any confusion she may have felt, and she willingly agreed to follow Naomi’s directions. Ruth felt safe in her mother-in-law’s hands, even when she didn’t understand why Naomi wanted her to do things that seemed strange to her.

We may not always comprehend something that God is calling us to do. Loving our enemies and turning the other cheek sound strange to us because they clash with our human way of thinking. God’s Kingdom operates on an entirely different set of laws and principles than those of the world we live in. If we trust God’s character and feel safe in his hands, then we can follow his leading even if it doesn’t make sense to us. Obedience doesn’t necessarily require understanding; it does require trust.

“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the LORD. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.”

Isaiah 55:8