Leaving Moab

 "And again they wept together, and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye. But Ruth insisted on staying with Naomi." Ruth 1:14

Naomi was the wife of Elimelech, a Jew who had left Bethlehem in Judah to live in Moab, a foreign land, during a time of famine. While there, he and Naomi found wives for their sons, Mahlon and Kilion. In time, first Elimelech, and then his two sons died, leaving all three women widows. Naomi set her heart to return to her homeland and people, and her daughters-in-law decided to return with her. Yet Naomi knew that an unknown and likely difficult future awaited them. She encouraged them to stay behind and find new husbands in Moab. Orpah, in spite of her love of Naomi, felt that staying in what she knew made sense. Ruth, however, was determined to remain with Naomi, joining her in the journey, regardless of what the future held. In this scenario is a lesson for all of us.

There are many heartbreaking aspects to ministry, and one of the most painful is observing lives that never seem to be able to leave their wounds, addictions, attitudes, and prisons of besetting sins and behavior behind. It seems that they prefer a known condition and life, dark as it may be, to an unknown future, regardless of the promise it might hold. As one person put it, Orpah was not willing to leave Moab behind. Ruth was, and her reward was to find new life in Bethlehem, where it was her destiny to be.

Elimelech and his family were never to have left Judah, but allowed what they thought was a need to outweigh His will for them. After suffering such loss, Naomi knew her only hope would be to return to her land, her family, and her God. She knew the way would contain hardship, as did her daughters-in-law. One shrank from the challenge, and one stepped into it. In Bethlehem lay the fulfillment of God's will for not only Naomi, but Ruth as well. In Bethlehem lay the promise of life, Naomi and Ruth would enter in, Orpah, who never left Moab, never did. Ruth eventually became the husband of Boaz, a prosperous relative of Naomi's. Naomi, who lost her sons, received many grandsons, and with them, saw her mourning turned to joy, her ashes to beauty. We never hear of Orpah again, because she remained in Moab.

How many of us never enter into the fullness of His promises for us because we won't leave our own "Moab's?" Because we won't leave our Moab's behind? We may say we want the freedom, healing, joy that He promises, but we don't want to risk the journey we need to undertake, the journey to our "Bethlehem" that He calls us to. So we stay trapped in our Moab. Trapped in our addiction, our anger, our bitterness, woundedness, our defeat. We may hate our Moab, but we hate the thought, the risk, of what will be ours if we undertake the road to Bethlehem. Bethlehem represents home. Home in Him. We may long for that, but Moab's hold is strong. We can't let go of it. Our desire to remain in Moab is stronger than our desire to live in Bethlehem. So, we never know the reality of His promise.

What is your Moab today? Before you lies His promise and the road He calls you to in order to enter into it. It's an unknown road for sure, but as Corrie Ten Boom said, never fear to trust an unknown future to a known God. If you do, then it is because you don't really know Him enough that you might trust Him, and leave Moab. The road home, in Him, to Him, lies before you. To walk it means you must leave Moab. To have the chains of Moab broken means you have to take that first step home. Will you take that step, or like Orpah, turn back to Moab? How do you answer?

Blessings,

Pastor O