How Risky Faith Unlocks God’s Better Plan
“If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.” –Exodus 33:15 NIV
The Unconventional Choice
After my husband and I married, we faced a difficult decision. He had lost his job during our engagement and couldn’t find work nearby. We both wanted to relocate—eventually. Quitting my job, the one income between us, felt absurd. It made no financial sense. But that’s exactly what I felt God calling us to do.
Ruth faced a similar decision. After her husband died, Ruth was left with her mother-in-law, Naomi, and her sister-in-law, Orpah—all widows. Naomi had no more sons to give them. She released Ruth and Orpah to return to their homelands, so they could find husbands and remarry. It made sense culturally and financially for both young women. Orpah left—but Ruth refused and said to her mother-in-law: “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God” (Ruth 1:16).
Ruth’s decision must have felt absurd. Irrational. Maybe even irresponsible. It went against all cultural norms. She wasn’t staying in her comfort zone. By clinging to Naomi, Ruth gave up the possibility of marrying again—her only viable option for a stable future. By doing so, she also spiritually released everything she once believed and embraced Naomi’s people and her God. That took incredible risk—and tremendous faith.
God rewarded Ruth for that faith. Within months of Naomi and Ruth’s arrival in Bethlehem, Ruth found favor with a man named Boaz—a distant relative of her husband’s family. Their love story is one of the most beloved books of the Bible. God restored what Ruth had sacrificed. He gave her a husband and provided Ruth and Naomi with a new future.
While not quite as counter-cultural, I quit my job to move across the country with my husband. It was risky. We had no income, no health insurance, and no guarantees—but God provided for our needs every step of the way. Within a few months, my husband found a new job, and we began building a new life together, not apart.
Like Ruth, our decision was unconventional. But we knew that taking a risk with God was better than making a safe decision that didn’t include Him.
If you are facing a decision today that feels counter-cultural, take some time to listen for God’s voice. Which way is He asking you to go? Don’t be afraid to step out in faith—even if it involves a risk.
Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it.” –Isaiah 30:21
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Scripture is quoted from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
