Wasn’t this week’s study amazing? I love the story of Ruth and how she left everything behind to follow God. I admire the fact that she exercised courage when she was given the opportunity to take the easy way out.
Faith calls us to exercise courage. It could be in the small choices we make, or it might be in those life-changing moments when we’re faced with the questions, “Will I follow the Lord? Will I trust in His will regardless of how I might feel or what it might cost?”
Until we can answer those questions with a definite yes, we need to be down on our knees in prayer. And yes, that means we’ll be down on our knees for the rest of our lives. We need to be strengthened. We need to be in line with God’s will. We need to partner with Him if we hope to stand strong. And like Ruth, we need the courage to stay true to the promise we made.
Courage is the most important of all the virtues, because without courage you can’t practice any other virtue consistently. You can practice any virtue erratically, but nothing consistently without courage.
– Maya Angelou
Courage is born to those who exercise it through faith. It starts with seeking God’s will for our lives and is exercised through the choices we make.
We started homeschooling when it wasn’t so cool to do so. It was the early nineties, which brought one of two responses from people. Either they were absolutely confused by the notion and suggested we were breaking the law, or they assumed we were religious fanatics out of touch with reality.
Courage is the backbone of faith. Without it, we can’t be a light on a hill that shines through the darkness. With it, we step out alone serving unpopular truth to a world that can’t grasp who we are.
Back in the day my dad often sang the popular hymn to us, “I have decided to follow Jesus… Tho none go with me still I will follow. No turning back, no turning back…” Those words right there encapsulate the story of Ruth.
Those words taught us that being different is a natural part of who we are in Christ.
We’re not called peculiar people because we wear denim jumpers and buns in our hair. (Although if you do, you’re probably super cute-you go girl! 😉 ) We’re different because we don’t conform to ideas that stands in the way of our faith.
But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light; – 1 Peter 2:9
Ruth knew that this life was uncertain, that the road ahead would be difficult, and yet she was determined to follow God at all costs.
If it hasn’t happened already, the day will come when you have strong choices to make. When your only options are to either stand true to your faith or to give in to opinions around you. When that day arrives, keep this close to your heart:
Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest. – Joshua 1:9
Stand strong in your faith and get ready to take on the world!
You are loved by an almighty God,
Darlene Schacht
The Time-Warp Wife
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I’m really sad your study of Ruth can’t be printed like the Esther Bible Study. I purchased your guide on Amazon but your blog posts are so much more in depth. My laptop recently crashed and it’s so hard to read your blog from my iPhone. Guess my eyes are just too old to handle it. Hope you go back to your old style. I printed out the verses, pages to color, bookmarks and questions from Esther and shrunk them to fit my Bible study journal. I thought I learned so much from it and I was so excited you were doing Ruth. Now I guess I’ll just have to look for another Ruth Bible Study. Terri
I agree, I preferred the old style bible study. I got far more from it.