DEVOTIONAL: Finding Courage to Trust God

This might not be a popular statement, but I find it hard to trust God sometimes. And I sometimes find it hard to build up the courage to do what He is asking me to do.

As believers, we are to trust God and show courage in the face of hard decisions and situations. Easier said than done. But God, in His kindness and wisdom, knew we would struggle with this, so he gave us people in the bible to look to for inspiration and encouragement. One of those people is Ruth.

Trusting God’s leading.

I love the book of Ruth in the bible. It is a story many of us are familiar with; Ruth and her sister-in-law both lose their husbands, who happen to be brothers, and are left with their mother-in-law, Naomi. After the death, they need to decide if they stay with Naomi, or they walk away and go back to their respective hometowns. Ruth’s sister-in-law walks away, yet Ruth decides to stay with Naomi and journeys back with Naomi to her homeland of Bethlehem. There she meets Boaz, gets married and starts her happily ever after. Sounds like a great story right? A beautiful tale of loyalty, love and restoration. It is, but it’s also a story of courage and trusting God to come through.

Ruth takes the first courageous step in this story when she decides to follow her mother-in-law to Bethlehem. After a time in Bethlehem, Naomi concocts a plan to get Ruth married to Boaz, a kinsman (relative) of hers (Ruth 3). She instructs Ruth on what to do to let Boaz know she’s available for marriage; she was to go to Boaz while he is sleeping and lay at his feet. Literally. I’m not sure how that plan makes you feel, but the thought of laying down at the feet of a man that I barely even know to let him know that I was available to marry him doesn’t sit well with me. It’s the equivalent of going up to a long distant relative that you barely know and asking them to marry you. Yea, no thanks.

Courage in the unknown.

I would imagine Ruth felt some sort of hesitation at doing this, especially as there was no real relationship between her and Boaz. She didn’t know if he would be happy to find her there or would throw her out. She was putting her reputation, self-respect and heart on the line by laying at his feet without knowing how he’d respond. All she had was Naomi’s belief that Boaz would respond in the way they wanted him to. But that was all she needed. Ruth trusted Naomi and her judgement. She also trusted Naomi’s love for her. This trust in Naomi was enough for Ruth to gather her courage and go and lay at the feet of Boaz and await her fate.

Sometimes God will ask us to do things that are uncomfortable. [bctt tweet=”But in everything that God asks us to do, we can be confident that He is asking us with love and because He wants what’s best for us (Romans 8:32) #trust #acw #LeilaArmstrong” username=”acwriters”]. God loves us and His plans for us are good. They are plans filled with hope and a purpose (Jeremiah 29:11)

Trust and courage.

Trust and courage  is what Ruth had. And it’s what we need.

God will at times ask us to step out and do things that may seem odd. Laying at the feet of a man that you bare knew while he was sleeping wasn’t the norm. But that’s what was required of Ruth to be able to step into the next season of her life and God’s will. And that’s what may be required of us. God may ask us to gather up our courage and do something that we don’t want to. He might as us to go against what society deems normal. Whatever it is, in the same way Ruth trusted Naomi, we need to trust God. He is a good God that can be trusted to lead us in the right direction.

And we need courage because sometimes God asks us to do crazy things. Things that seem wild and impossible. So we need to ask God to give us courage to step out and do His will. Because no matter how crazy it seems, it’s always better to walk with God than without Him. 

Reflection Question

Your turn – what has God asked you to do that scared you and required a lot of courage?