Naomi And Ruth: Unintentional Mentor (Daily Devotional)

Hi everyone, welcome to Living Supernaturally. Thank you so much for giving us this opportunity to minister to you through God’s word. This week, we have been talking about mentorship and we have looked at quite a few examples from the bible. Today, we will talk about Naomi and Ruth, the unintentional mentor. Ruth chapter 1, verse 16, ‘Ruth replied, “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.’ The story of Naomi and Ruth is a beautiful story of restoration. Naomi was in a foreign territory, physically and emotionally. She lived in a foreign land not by choice but because of famine in her home country. She also suffered the overwhelming loss of her husband and sons there. Naomi described herself as bitter and empty. She probably didn’t see herself worthy as a mentor to her daughter in law. We don’t know how the relationship began with Naomi and her daughter in law but a strong bond was formed between them. When Naomi encouraged Ruth to leave her and to return to her homeland, this young woman declared her loyalty by saying, ‘we will go back with you to your people.’ Naomi explained that there was virtually no hope of a family future for them in their home and Orpah, one of her daughters in laws said goodbye, but Ruth was persuaded not to leave Naomi. She made a passionate commitment- your people shall be my people and your God my God. Through a loving relationship, Ruth expressed faith both to Naomi and to her God. Ruth sought Naomi’s advice when she wanted to glean for wheats. Afterward, Naomi started offering Ruth advice. This is something for us mentors to remember also; it is the mentee who sets the pace for the relationship. The mentor may have their own goals for the relationship but the mentee is the one who leads the direction. Once a relationship is built, the mentor can move freely, suggest things because he/ she will have a better understanding of where the mentee is coming from and where the mentee wants to go in life. We never know what influence our words and actions might have on people and the lives that we speak into. Sometimes, we feel empty, we feel lonely but our life can be an example for others. This is what Christianity is, whether we like it or not, we choose to be a mentor or a mentee to build God’s kingdom here on earth. Let’s pray, Father, we thank you for this call you’ve given us. Even as we look at the story of Naomi and Ruth, Naomi being empty, in pain and burden, but you used her to mentor Ruth. Same way, I pray that you will use our weaknesses, make it our strength that we may mentor, help and uplift people around us. We thank you that you use broken vessels to build your kingdom, we give you all the praise and glory, in Jesus’s name we pray, Amen.

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