Letting Go of the Past for a Brighter Future

“Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead.” Philippians 3:13

The story in the book of Ruth begins with famine and death.  A husband (Elimelech) moves his wife, Naomi and his two sons (Mahlon and Chilion) out of Bethlehem-Judah (house of bread) to Moab (waste or nothingness) because of a famine. While in Moab, the two sons marry two Moabite women, Ruth and Orpah.

Ten years later, Naomi’s husband and both sons die. They had fled to Moab to escape a possible death from famine, and died in the midst of plenty leaving their widowed wives in grief, desolation, poverty, uncertainty and hopelessness.

Naomi was bitter at God for the loss of her husband, sons and future. She decided to leave Moab, a place of bad experiences and memories, and return to her native land, Bethlehem-Judah, because she heard that “the Lord had visited His people in giving them bread.”

She was determined to return alone, but her daughter-in-law, Ruth, begged her to take her to Bethlehem. Naomi and Ruth clinging to each other let go of their past sorrows, failures and hurts experienced in Moab and looked forward to something better in Bethlehem-Judah.

Everything turned around for Ruth and Naomi. Ruth went from poverty to riches and from serving idol gods to a worshiper of the true God. The book ends with Naomi holding a baby named Obed who was the father of Jesse, the father of David of the lineage of Jesus Christ.

If we choose to live in the past, we choose not to live! The Word of God is always leading us to keep looking forward for what is yet to come. We cannot begin to imagine what God has prepared for us in the future.

If Naomi and Ruth had decided to give up and stay in Moab, they would have missed the greatest blessing of their lives in Bethlehem-Judah! 

Pray this Prayer:

Father, I want to start this year with a new determination!  No matter what lies in my past, and no matter how difficult my circumstances, I will trust you as Naomi did. She discovered that you are the God who is with us, even in the midst of life’s challenges. You are the God who faithfully cares, provides and protects.

Lord, I pray for a new direction in my life. Help me to break free from the bondage of my past, to become better by forgetting what is behind in my Moab, and to build a brighter future under Your guidance in my Bethlehem-Judah.  

In Jesus Name