S1E6: What is the Difference between TRUSTING God and DEVOTING Your Life to Him?

What is the difference between TRUSTING God and DEVOTING your life to Him?This is a picture I took from the top of an ancient stone fortress, standing tall on a rocky mesa called Masada in the southern Judean Desert. It’s an impressive sight carved out and built upon cliffs made up of chalk, dolomite and marl strata about 1,300 feet (400 meters) above the Dead Sea. With the mountains of Moab in the background, this desert climate and the surrounding area is virtually uninhabited and undeveloped.It’s highly likely this is the region Naomi and her daughter-in-law Ruth would have traveled through as they made their way back from Moab to Bethlehem, in the Promised Land of Israel, Naomi’s people. Naomi first arrived in Moab with her husband Elimelech, and their two sons, Mahlon and Kilion. It was in the days when there was a severe famine in the land of Israel in which they decided to relocate to Moab. However, after they arrived, the Bible tells us that…† Then Elimelech died, and Naomi was left with her two sons. The two sons married Moabite women. One married a woman named Orpah, and the other a woman named Ruth. But about ten years later, both Mahlon and Kilion died. This left Naomi alone, without her two sons or her husband. Ruth‬ ‭1‬:‭3‬-‭5‬ ‭NLT‬‬But then Naomi heard that the LORD had started blessing His people again with good crops, so she got ready to leave Moab and head back to Bethlehem with her two daughters-in-law, most likely through this desert region pictured above. However on the way, Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law to go back to their own mothers’ home. Orpah and Ruth didn’t want to. They cried and wept together. Naomi kissed them good-bye and Orpah left, but Ruth refused to leave Naomi’s side.† But Ruth replied, “Don’t ask me to leave you and turn back. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. Wherever you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord punish me severely if I allow anything but death to separate us!” When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she said nothing more. Ruth‬ ‭1‬:‭16‬-‭18‬ ‭NLT‬‬The situation was horrible for this family. All three of these women lost their husbands. Naomi lost not only her husband, but her two sons as well, and she was very bitter about that. While Orpah decided to return to her family in Moab,… Ruth refused to let her circumstances define her future and the kind of person she wanted to be in life. Ruth didn’t want a future in Moab, but in a land filled with promise! She didn’t want to leave her mother-in-law to become a person connected with the false gods of her ancestors. She wanted to live the rest of her life with the mother-in-law she loved dearly and become the kind of person in whom she could have a relationship with the One true God, the God of Israel.Ruth more than trusted God for the outcomes of her circumstances, she devoted her life to Him. What’s the difference between trusting God and devoting yourself to Him and His leading for your life? Take a listen and find out!You can also READ MORE by clicking on the link below. https://yanceyvaldez.com/what-is-the-difference-between-trusting-god-and-devoting-your-life-to-him/ Send us Fan MailSupport the showDid you like what you heard today?For more information about this podcast, episodes, and ways to support it, check out our website at https://DeepenYourFaithRenewYourLife.com.Consider also partnering with us, with a PREMIUM CONTENT monthly subscription. It’s real easy through our Buzzsprout link at https://deepenyourfaithrenewyourlife.buzzsprout.com . You’ll get bonus episodes we have specifically set apart for our supporting subscribers.Any positive ratings, kind words in the comments section, or sharing this podcast with friends and loved ones are also great ways to show our support! Find us on… Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/DeepenYourFaithRenewYourLife/ X at https://twitter.com/yanceyvaldez LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/yancey-valdez-35793311b/  Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/yanceyvaldez/ This podcast is produced and hosted by Yancey Valdez. Cover art by Yancey Valdez. Copyright © 2024 by Yancey Valdez. All rights reserved.