Let’s look at this through the stories we find in the book of Ruth.

“So the two women went on until they came to Bethlehem. When they arrived in Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them, and the women exclaimed, ‘Can this be Naomi?’ ‘Don’t call me Naomi,’ she told them. ‘Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter. I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The Lord has afflicted me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me.’ So Naomi returned from Moab, accompanied by Ruth the Moabite, her daughter-in-law, arriving in Bethlehem as the barley harvest was beginning.””

–Ruth 1:19-22

Circumstances make us come out of our shell. This can happen positively or negatively. Naomi and her family left during the time of famine, and you think that it makes sense; but the issue is that they all left the Promised Land.

This happens to us as well — the situation drives us to run to a shelter that, on occasion, is not God. But God wants us to remember that He is with us.

Ruth 2
Boaz didn’t leave the Promised Land; he stayed, and God made him a man of great wealth. We may be like Naomi and Ruth, returning from our bad — yet justified — choices, and we realize that we had to settle for less. Even when we justify our wrong choices, God will strengthen us and bless us to make the right choice, even in difficult circumstances.

Ruth 4
It’s important to recognize our mistakes and learn from them in order to truly appreciate the blessings that God has in store for us.

I encourage you to pray and ask God to give you the patience to wait for His perfect plan

instead of settling for anything less.