Friendships Are Priceless

Deep Relationships Provide Love and Strength

Who Has Your Best Interest At Heart?

“ Don’t ask me to leave you and turn back. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God… ( Ruth 1:16)

This was the poignant plea that Ruth made to Naomi, her mother-in-law, after Naomi told Ruth and Orpah, the other daughter-in-law, to go back to their families. Naomi had experienced the death of her husband and ten years later, her two sons.

Social connections are important, and our strong convictions to what we value reflect how we handle stressful situations and how we treat other people, especially during times of grief and sadness.

In the book of Ruth, the story starts off with Naomi, her husband, and sons. They left Bethlehem and moved to Moab because of a famine in Israel. The sons met wives (Ruth and Orpah) in Moab and extended the family.

Everything was going well, and then disaster struck. Not only did Naomi’s husband die but ten years later, so did her two sons (Ruth 1:3–5). This was devastating to her and her two daughters-in-law.

Naomi encouraged both Ruth and Orpah to go back to their families, and she would move back to Bethlehem. Orpah did, which was her right, but Ruth stayed.

Who has your best interest at heart when life doesn’t follow the road you thought it would?

Naomi was drowning in a sea of grief, but your crisis could be coming up consistently empty with landing a job, or being chosen for the team, or constantly worrying about that child or friend on drugs and so on.

Do you have a strong relationship with someone with great affection for you to encourage you and get you back focused when hardships happen?

The interesting thing about Ruth is that God chose her– the unassuming, the Moabite, an enemy of the Israelites, a young girl — to let His love and healing flow through. No one is unfit to serve Him because of race, gender, or nationality.

Ruth loved Naomi. She was loyal to her, and she wanted to do her best to comfort Naomi and demonstrate to her that she would be there for her through it all.

That’s a beautiful commitment and an unbreakable bond the two shared.

When you’re faced with a crisis and are tempted to get bitter about life, do you have a faithful family member or friend or in- law with deep affection for you and your well- being?

Do you have someone who’s truly committed to seeing you recover and pointing you with their loving actions back to the Creator who still loves you despite the severe hardships?

Friendships are priceless, and strong bonds can weather the storm no matter what.

If you read the story, you’ll see that it’s more than a selfless act. It was also a test of character. They both shared a commitment to each other and to God.

Ruth’s deep love for Naomi helped heal Naomi from her emotional pain, and Naomi’s love for Ruth helped prepare Ruth for a life beyond her wildest dreams.

Security, tragedy, love, and triumph describe this incredible story. What the enemy meant for bad, God made it good.

I’m a freelance writer for healthy living and personal development. Visit my website at: http://smloftonwrites.com/