{"id":2656,"date":"2016-09-23T08:09:27","date_gmt":"2016-09-23T13:09:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thedisciplemaker.org\/?p=2656"},"modified":"2016-09-23T08:09:27","modified_gmt":"2016-09-23T13:09:27","slug":"choosing-to-trust","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2016\/09\/choosing-to-trust\/","title":{"rendered":"Choosing to Trust"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"bsf_rt_marker\"><\/div><p>Recently I was asked the question, \u201cIf you could invite any Bible character to have dinner with you, who would you choose?\u201d I didn\u2019t hesitate, but immediately responded, \u201cRuth, the Moabite.\u201d<br \/>\nEarly in my journey with the Lord, I was drawn to Ruth who was known as a woman of excellence, a woman of noble character. I was fascinated with this gentile woman who had married into an Israelite family living in Moab to escape a famine. Eventually the men of this family died and with no guarantee of any future happiness\u2014only the prospect of gleaning in the fields for the rest of her life\u2014Ruth chose to go and serve her unhappy, widowed mother-in-law, Naomi, in Bethlehem. I thought that, given her circumstances, she should have been known as \u201cpoor widow Ruth.\u201d<br \/>\nHow did this happen? After the death of her husband and two sons, Naomi decided to return to Bethlehem. Naomi and her two daughters-in-law, Ruth and Orpah, began their journey to Judah, but before traveling too far, the three women stopped and stood at a crossroad. It was here that Naomi graciously released her daughters-in-law and encouraged them to remain in their home country where they had the promise of marriage and the joy of being with family and friends. Oprah kissed Naomi and returned to Moab. Ruth, however, stood and considered her options.<a href=\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/p\/becoming-a-woman-of-excellence-30th-anniversary-edition\/9781631465642\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright wp-image-2659\" src=\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/wp-content\/uploads\/978-1-63146-564-2-BAWExcellence-Final-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"Women of Excellence\" width=\"230\" height=\"345\" \/><\/a><br \/>\nOne road would take her back to her homeland where she was familiar with the rhythms of life and the cultural dictates that assured acceptance and a measure of success. Taking the other road would mean that she would abandon all that she had known to go and live in a foreign country where an uncertain future awaited her. She was free to join her sister-in-law, Orpah, but she had learned about the God of Israel and she had tasted and seen that He was good. I think she knew that if she didn\u2019t go with Naomi, she would never grow in her knowledge of the Lord. Knowing that God would be with her and determined to seek refuge under His wings, Ruth chose to go with Naomi knowing she would probably live the rest of her life as a humble gleaner and care-giver for her mother-in-law. Innately, she knew that trusting God to guide her life was far better than the safety and security promised in an idolatrous land.<br \/>\nRuth willingly surrendered her life into the hands of God. She had faith in His plan for her. Many years ago I stood at the same crossroad and made the life changing decision to die to myself and entrust my future to the Lord. I am eternally grateful that I made that initial surrender to God; it is foundational in having an intimate relationship with Him. But what I have experienced is that as imperative as it is to make that initial choice of surrendering to God, it is also essential to understand that each day I am challenged to stay yielded to the Lord.<br \/>\nI believe that I stand at a crossroad every morning. Will I decide to spend a good part of my day in Moab fitting into the culture and its standards for success and validation? Will I allow the world to entice me into its ways? Will I choose to let the social media dominate my thoughts and distract me from that which is eternal. Will I yield to the temptation to acquire worldly goods in order to be more acceptable? Will I easily engage in the refreshment and comfort the world offers?<br \/>\nOr will I take the narrow road and seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness? Will I sit at the feet of Jesus, listen to His word and rejoice in the grace, mercy, and love our Father lavishly bestows on His children? Will His word dominate my thoughts? Will I turn my heart to His decrees and not to material gain? Will I accept the true rest that only He can give? Will I surrender my day to Him to be used as He desires? Will I be content with God\u2019s provision and direction for my life?<br \/>\nAlthough Ruth was \u201cpoor widow Ruth\u201d with little hope, she would answer \u201cyes\u201d to each of these last questions. Happiness and fulfillment by the world\u2019s standards were not her concern, but her desire to know and to honor God were. Ruth did not allow her circumstances to dictate her character. Perhaps this is the reason for Boaz\u2019s tribute to her, \u201c\u2026for all my people in the city know that you are woman of excellence.\u201d (Ruth 3:11 NASB)<br \/>\nAs His children, we are in the world, but not of the world. We can easily follow Orpah into Moab, take our cues from the world and make decisions based on what we and others think is best and expedient. But may we learn from Ruth to trust God enough to let Him choose for us. It is not easy to surrender our lives\u2014to be crucified with Christ\u2014to say with Paul, \u201cBecause of the cross, my interest in this world has been crucified, and the world\u2019s interest in me has also died.\u201d (Galatians 6:14 NLT), but it is crucial if we are to experience all that God has planned for us.<br \/>\nI am sure that in my \u201cdinner conversation\u201d with Ruth, she would testify to the lovingkindness of God\u2014she would tell of being married to Boaz, of being a great-grandmother to King David, and of having the honor of her name recorded in the genealogy of Christ. I think she would say, \u201cJust think what I would have missed if I had stayed in Moab. God is indeed faithful to all who put their trust in Him.\u201d<br \/>\nGet more information on this study <a href=\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/p\/becoming-a-woman-of-excellence-30th-anniversary-edition\/9781631465642\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">HERE.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Recently I was asked the question, \u201cIf you could invite any Bible character to have dinner with you, who would you choose?\u201d I didn\u2019t hesitate, but immediately responded, \u201cRuth, the Moabite.\u201d Early in my journey with the Lord, I was &#8230; <\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more-container\"><a title=\"Choosing to Trust\" class=\"read-more button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2016\/09\/choosing-to-trust\/#more-2656\">Read more<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Choosing to Trust<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":2680,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Choosing to Trust - The Disciplemaker<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2016\/09\/choosing-to-trust\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Choosing to Trust - The Disciplemaker\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Recently I was asked the question, \u201cIf you could invite any Bible character to have dinner with you, who would you choose?\u201d I didn\u2019t hesitate, but immediately responded, \u201cRuth, the Moabite.\u201d Early in my journey with the Lord, I was ... 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