From Tragedy to Triumph: Ruth’s Story and the Power of Choosing God

Where Did Your Story Begin?

Where did your story begin? Did your journey begin in a season of triumph or tragedy? Many of the stories in our life are birthed through tragedy, but God does great and mighty things through them.

The book of Ruth is one of my favorite books in the Bible. It is the perfect example of how God can take a season of tragedy and turn it into a season of triumph.

Ruth was a Moabitess. The day Ruth married Mahlon, though she still lived in Moab, she walked into a foreign land spiritually. She had been raised completely different than Mahlon had. The God she served was not the God her husband's family served.

A Season of Loss

Ruth’s life as a wife to Mahlon tragically ended roughly ten years later. Her world came crashing down around her in an instant. She became a widow overnight and she had no heir to preserve her future.

I can't imagine what she must have felt. She had dedicated a decade of her life to this man. She was now walking into an unknown future once again.

When Life Feels Like a Foreign Land

During the first year of my marriage it felt like I had walked into a foreign land. My life as I had known it was suddenly completely different. I married young. I had all these dreams and aspirations for marriage but I never considered the small everyday things in my life that would change.

My days were no longer centered around only me, now I had another human to fit into my day. I loved my husband deeply but the struggle of change spun fiercely inside of me. I had so much to learn about life. It was extremely hard for me for several months that first year in our modern world.

I can't imagine being in Ruth's shoes in her day.

The Power of a Faith-Filled Decision

When the season of death came to visit, Ruth had a decision to make. Would she stay or would she go?

Ruth chose to go. She chose to leave everything she knew, everything familiar to her behind, and follow the God of her mother-in-law. She made the right decision. God blessed her greatly for choosing Him. He led her to Boaz, the kinsman redeemer that would change her forever.

When Change Comes Unexpectedly

Friend, what do you do when change comes unexpectedly or tragedy strikes? It is sure to come to all of us at some point. Life changes quickly at times. It can come by no fault of our own, but it can also come by our own doing as it did me through my choice to marry young.

My struggle of change in my early months of marriage was obviously nothing compared to Ruth’s at that time, but it was still hard for me to process.

Friend, we must do as Ruth did. We must choose to follow God.

A Faith That Follows

“Whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God.” — Ruth 1:16 (KJV)

Ruth left all she knew, she left all that was familiar to her, but most importantly she left a false religion and ran to the one true God. God took Ruth’s tragic moments of her first marriage and transformed them into beautiful new beginnings. He can do the same for us if we choose to follow Him and trust Him with our life.

If this post spoke to your heart and you’d like to press deeper in your prayer life, I’d love to invite you to explore Book one of my devotional series, His Name Is Jesus. It was written through the trials and struggles God used to shape my journey of prayer. May its words draw you closer to Him and remind you that everything God touches becomes beautiful.

His Name Is Jesus