Making the Hard Choices

Ruth 4:18–22 (ESV) Now these are the generations of Perez: Perez fathered Hezron, 19 Hezron fathered Ram, Ram fathered Amminadab, 20 Amminadab fathered Nahshon, Nahshon fathered Salmon, 21 Salmon fathered Boaz, Boaz fathered Obed, 22 Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered David.

Decisions shape our lives. Then they shape other people's lives forever.

No Ruth, no David. Yes, God would have worked through another lineage to bring about the righteous king and ultimately, the Messiah. But Ruth changed not only her story but the story of countless others because she made good and hard decisions. Her sister-in-law Orpah goes down in history with the person in the Bible whose name most closely resembles a modern celebrity. Ruth goes down in history as a woman of courage, loyalty, kindness, hard work, dedication, purity, and strength.

What will your story be?

We are living in an age when feelings define most people's decisions. This is sad but it is also dangerous. MOST of our feelings are extremely temporary. Anger lasts for a moment. sadness or mourning a few days more weeks, at the most a few years. Other short-term emotions like happiness, loneliness, fear or frustration are not fitting guides for our lives. Simply put, do NOT "follow your gut." Your gut is way too impulsive to make choices for your life.

Looking back on Ruth's story we see the hard choices are usually the best choices. 

Instead of staying with people she knew and grew up with, she made the hard choice to go with Naomi to God's people in God's land.

Instead of apathy, she made the hard decision of going out to work in the fields. And not only working in the fields but working long and hard with little break. This is what gets her noticed by Boaz's workmen and ultimately, by Boaz himself.

Instead of lust and youthful desire, she chose purity and holiness. This truly made an impression on Boaz and it also protected her reputation. Suppose she lured Boaz with sexual advances, her reputation would have been that she only got Boaz because she used those baser instincts.

Instead of frustration when Boaz advises her about the nearest redeemer, Ruth chooses patience and trust in the final decision. I could imagine how that may have been the hardest moment for her as all she had done could have been for naught if another man not as noble as Boaz ended up taking her as his wife.

The point we MUST consider is this: Ruth was NOT reacting to her circumstances the way you would EXPECT. In other words, she didn't do what came natural and it ended up changing her life.

Now, this is not to say that sometimes the right decision is the easier one. But in my life, I've found that kind of situation is RARE. Most of the time, it will be doing what doesn't come "natural" to see God show up in supernatural ways. It is for this reason that God STRENGTHENS us. Remember that phrase from Paul in Philippians 4:13? "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me?" Well, the "all things" MUST be "hard things" because you don't need anyone to strengthen you for the easy things.

Elsewhere Paul arrives back at the churches he began to check on their progress. Evidently, some were starting to take the easy path. See what happens:
Acts 14:21–22 (ESV) When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, 22 strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.

I think a simple equation may work well: Hard choices now make for a joy-filled life later. Easy choices now could make for a miserable life later. You make your choices, then your choices make you. So what kind of person will your present choices make?