Show me the way Lord, teach me your path… Lead me in your truth and teach me…
The journey with Christ Jesus can be long, has many challenges but as children of God,we always believe that there is light at the end of the tunnel, the promises of God will come to pass, we will see by faith what we could not see.
But what causes us to go another way than the road God has build for us? I want you to be aware of the choices we make and stay on the path of God.
Let’s a look at bible passage to understand
Ruth 1:1-5 (NKJV)Elimelech’s Family Goes to Moab
1 Now it came to pass, in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem, Judah, went to dwell in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. 2 The name of the man was Elimelech, the name of his wife was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion—Ephrathites of Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to the country of Moab and remained there. 3 Then Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died; and she was left, and her two sons. 4 Now they took wives of the women of Moab: the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth. And they dwelt there about ten years. 5 Then both Mahlon and Chilion also died; so the woman survived her two sons and her husband.
See what happened there. Elimelech decided to move to the country of Moab, because there was a famine in the land. He made his decision by himself to move without consulting his family or even God first.
If you read again the verses, God was not involved in his decision process. God is not even mentioned anywhere. He did not tell him ‘Elimelech, Go to the country of Moab’. This is the kind of mistake we do because you do not feel comfortable where we are, because the battle is too hard, the situation is to difficult and you find your own solutions. You don’t feel that where you are, God will make you successful anymore because you are not progressing. So you decide yourself what to do next, which direction you will take. Let me tell you, God is able to make you shine in a place of total darkness. Faith is really important when we are in those situation.
Elimelech had a total lack of faith in God, a lack of perseverance, hope and trust in God that he found his own easy way out to make things better for his life and his family. This was not the plan of God. He went to the country of Moab which is a cursed country due to the origin of the creation of the Moabites. Sometimes, we prefer to go to places that are even darker than where we were just because you see everything is well and nice. But it is all an illusion. What happened to Elimelech after? He ended up dying, his two sons also died after him. Let’s be careful to not die spiritually or even physically because of our decisions and also bring other people down with you. The devil is ready to tempt us when we are in a difficult situation.
James 4:7(NKJV)
7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
In every storm, there is something we can learn to go forward with God. Through my own journey, I learnt to trust God completely. I did the same as Elimelech did a few years back. I decided to leave the UK because I was thinking things will be easier where I was going. It was not the plan of God at all. I ended up dying spiritually out there. I forgot about God , church did not exist for me anymore, for me there was no point going, I was living a life without Christ. Many bad things happened to me. Until I told myself, this is not how it should be, something is not right and came back to the UK. I came back to church, it even took two years for God to talk to me again and reveal to me his plan once more and clearly.
If you feel like going on the easy road, I would encourage you to stay where you are, because God is never done with us. People can talk and laugh at you because of your situation, because since you have started your ministry nothing is happening, since you have opened your church, no one is coming, since you have left university, you cannot find a permanent job. Stay calm and carry on, persevere, trust in the Lord. God is always on time.
God will show you the way to a place with clear skies. Trying to find your own solution might lead to your own Moab country. Going sideways will only delay your journey even more. We are here to make the devil happy, we are children of God and we have the victory.
Stay strong, do not do like Elimelech did.
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Stay blessed
Claire B. Donzet
Claire B. Donzet 