By the Wind, to the Waters
By the Wind, to the Waters
Ruth 1:6
Then she arose with her daughters-in-law to return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the fields of Moab that the LORD had visited his people and given them food.
“Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert,” whispers our LORD through the scroll of Isaiah 43. But for us as disciples, merely perceiving the movement of the Spirit isn’t enough. The question is whether we’ll go with Him.
What if Almighty God calls you today to leave your comfortable life and step out in faith like Abraham? What if He tells you to sell your possessions and go to the mission field like the apostles? The truth is when Almighty God stirs our hearts to a new advance, when that Pillar of Cloud begins to progress at our head, whether we’ve feared the movement or longed for it, when we hear those murmurs in our midst and see those flowers blooming on the hillsides and hear that downpour of rain on famished earth, we only have two options from there: go with the spiritual wind or get passed by.
Naomi is what we might call a fair-weather follower of God. If the rains begin, she’s in. But if the land’s in drought, she’s out. Without being too overly critical of her life choices thus far, I think it’s fair to point out the contrast between her and those courageous Israelites who didn’t flee to Moab or Egypt or somewhere else when the going got tough. Saints like Boaz, who stuck it out and kept tilling the ground and kept sowing seeds and kept pleading with the LORD for revival. Not every Israelite left Israel when the rains dried up, that is. So, we shouldn’t overstate Naomi’s return in Ruth 1:6 by calling her brave. Far from it. However, fair-weather or not, faithful or faithless, she could’ve stayed in Moab for the rest of her life, or moved further afield from God’s presence, but she makes perhaps the greatest decision yet by following the wind back home.
It wasn’t Naomi’s praying that ushered in these rains. Oh, but she’s thirsty now, and she’s going the right direction at last, and this Well of living water has drink enough for all!