Heart of Grace

Posted by Barbara Ptasznik

It’s been over 3 weeks that over 300 girls went to school and were kidnapped… Only a few have escaped. My heart and prayers go out to all of these families! I couldn’t even imagine being a parent sending my daughter to school and then not seeing her for 3 weeks only to find out she along with her classmates are being sold for about $12! Please keep these families in your prayers! // #bringbackourgirls #nigeria #prayfornigeria

This is a tragic, beautiful and rich story. A woman with a husband and two sons gains two daughters through marriage… then loses her husband, and then tragically loses both her sons. In a time of famine and great need, she releases both of her daughter-in-law’s to return to their homeland and remarry - start again. A very selfless thing for her to do as she would be left with no one to care for her. One of the women did return to her home after much convincing. But Ruth would not leave her mother-in-law’s side. “Don’t ask me to leave you and turn back. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live.” Ruth was a proselyte, meaning that she was not born a Jew, and was not an Israelite. But through marriage, she took on the culture and beliefs of her husband who was an Israelite and a Jew - someone who believed in God. Returning to her homeland meant for Ruth returning to her old way of life - her old beliefs and customs. She wasn’t just saying to her mother-in-law that she was going to stay and look after her because she was a good person. She was making a statement about who she wanted to be and how she wanted to live. “Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God.” Not every opportunity that knocks should be answered with an open door. Ruth had the opportunity to go back, turn around, leave her new way of life for the old and the known. But she was determined to move forward with faith and hope that her destiny did not lie in what was behind her, but in what was to come in this new land and way of living. Hope and determination in God drove her forward. Wherever Jesus is leading you today, make a determination in your heart to say “wherever you go, I will go”. Leave behind the old and set out in the new - in faith and hope that in Jesus the best is yet to come.” via @PhotoRepost_app

Remember, in Christ you are a new creature. The old has passed away. Don’t let it cling to you! Identify with Christ and embrace the freedom and victory He has for you!