Day 2: Ruth 1:6-7 - We’re going home

6 When Naomi heard in Moab that the Lord had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them, she and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from there. 7 With her two daughters-in-law she left the place where she had been living and set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah.

​The story takes a turn when word gets to Naomi that the Lord had come to the aid of his people, the Israelites. Remember the cycle the Israelites were in…rebellion, remorse, God’s hand/peace, repeat. The tide seems to have turned and there is peace in Israel now. With no family ties to Moab and nowhere to turn, Naomi decides to head home.

Notice how the text says that she “left the place where she had been living”. She doesn’t call where she has been for over ten years home. It isn’t home. Just a place to stay for a while. But now it is time to head home.
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Do you ever feel like you are in a holding pattern? You are somewhere in your life…maybe even for a LONG time…but it just isn’t home. Maybe a place you just don’t seem to fit in. A time of waiting. Facing a hard unwanted circumstance.

If so, you aren’t alone. Sit tight. God has good plans for you. Sometimes the biggest redemption comes out of the biggest loss.
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Naomi has nothing, but she hears things may be looking up back home. She doesn’t hesitate. She prepares to go.
 
How can we keep our eyes open to the next step God may be wanting us to take? Have you ever thought that sometimes God gets us to move out of necessity? That He gets us to a place where we feel like we have no other options?
 
Like Naomi we have to be ready to pack up and go. We may not know what lies ahead and we may feel like we literally have nothing, but we need to trust that God’s plans are good and he is always waiting to redeem and make things right if we are willing to turn to Him.
 
Where in your life do you feel like you aren’t “home”? You might not feel at “home” because you aren’t and God is wanting you to begin to move.
 
Pray that God will show you the next step to get there and then pack up and prepare to go. It may be a new group of friends God is telling you to reach out to. It may be a new opportunity or new location or even a new attitude towards something.
 
Lean into Him. Trust in His good plans.