Running isn't always a good exercise...

"It came to pass that there was a famine in the land.  And a certain man of Bethlehem, Judah went to dwell in the country of Moab, he & his wife and his two sons."  Ruth 1:1

Have you ever wanted to run?  I have many times and I must say, the times that I gave in to the urge did not prove to be profitable!

The book of Ruth opens with this type of dilemma. We read of a family that left home, but more than that, they left the covering of God that was over that home.  Judah was a land established by God through Abraham.  (Times of famine usually occured due to disobedience, but they always remained under the promise of covenant that God established with Abraham.  God always turned things around when they came to Him in repentance.)  Anyway, Elimilech & his family left Judah and went to Moab.  Moab was a nation that descended from Lot's son; a son that was born to him through his daughter.  Yup, that's what I said.  (see Genesis 19:30-38)  Are you getting the picture?

God plants, establishes and promises to take care of His own.  We are to trust Him in the place that He leads us.  He will make good on His Word.  I can't help but think of Job here, when he cried out...

"Even though He (God) slay me, yet will I trust Him." (Job 13:15)  In other words, no matter what God allows to come across my path I will trust, wait for, hope in and expect His deliverance & provision.

I want to live with that same determination; a tenasity that stays where God places me, expecting His provision and blessing no matter what is all around me.  I want to live with a confident trust that God will take care of me and my family because He said He would.  I thank God for the examples He gives us in scripture; examples of those who just 'got it' as well of those who learnt to 'get it'. 

I'll end with something that I heard recently in a sermon from Peter Reid:

"It is my privilege and prerogative to:
GO where I'm sent,
STAY where I'm put,
DO what I'm told,
REPEAT what I've heard and then,
LEAVE when I'm done...
AND God chooses that moment; not me."