Being stubborn is not always thought of as a good thing. However, as Calvin Coolidge pointed out, persistence can be one of the most important virtues.
In terms of human endeavor, perseverance helps us hang in there and accomplish things. It even applies to our love life. Sometimes, the best kind of love is the stubborn kind. Stubborn love will throw its arms around the unlovable, the underdog, and the unlikely… And it won’t let go!
Just think about Ruth. Her story resonates through the centuries as a wonderful example. It starts in tragedy and ends in… Well, let’s just see where it goes!
Orpah and Ruth were sisters from Moab who married two brothers, the sons of Elimelech and Naomi. These girls left Moab and their families behind, and moved to Judea to make a life among strange people in a strange land. As it happened, both of these brothers and Elimelech up and died. (If you’re keeping score at home, that means Orpah and Ruth’s husbands died, and so did their Father-in-law.) Suddenly both the two younger women and their mother-in-law were thus tragically widowed.
Bad to Worse
Now, the prospects for a widow in that place and time were not good. The prospects for a widow with no children was even worse. Poverty was likely at best, and at worst women were subject to misuse without a man to protect them. (Yes I hear you strong women protesting, but it was a fairly primitive time. Women had far fewer options in ancient Judea than they do in America today.)
Naomi had decided to leave Moab and go back to her own people and try to live out her days on their charity. In all likelihood, she would remain a lonely, heartbroken woman. The chances of finding a suitable husband for her younger daughter-in-laws was remote if they stayed with Naomi, so Naomi urged the girls to go back to Moab and try to find a husband.
A Surprising decision
Orpah did the sensible thing. She looked at their situation, kissed her mother-in-law and left. But Ruth ignored logic and being sensible. She took stock of her situation and made a decision that has resonated through the centuries. “Ruth said: “Entreat me not to leave you, Or to turn back from following after you; For wherever you go, I will go; And wherever you lodge, I will lodge; Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God.” (Ruth 1:16, New King James)
Ruth stubbornly refused to leave Naomi, and stayed by her side for a journey back to an unknown land and an uncertain future. There she got to work in dry, dusty fields alongside beggars and slaves, picking up scraps that the harvesters left behind. This story could have gone wrong in so many ways, and yet it turned into an amazing story of redemption and hope when Ruth was noticed by Boaz, who bought the rights to both Ruth and Naomi to act as their kinsman-redeemer, marrying Ruth and reestablishing Naomi’s family name.
A Stubborn Decision
Ruth’s stubborn love for Naomi seemed destined to force her into obscurity and poverty, but instead it opened doors and changed her life completely; and did you know it also changed Israel’s future, and sent ripples through the pond of history that have touched all of its banks, and have even touched you and me?
If you like connecting the dots, Ruth had a son named Obed, who was the grandfather of King David. So, if you have ever been encouraged by a Psalm, then you have been touched by Ruth’s stubborn love. If you have ever profited from a Proverb (written by David’s son), then you have been touched by Ruth’s stubborn love. Her simple act of faithfulness to her mother-in-law turned into an eternal legacy, one that is influencing me right now. It’s also therefore touching YOU.
I have been the blessed recipient of stubborn love several times, including parents who never absolutely despaired, and an amazing wife who has loved me in spite of myself, and who never gave up on me. And, oh yeah, there was love so stubborn that a brutal whipping couldn’t stop it, the temptation to turn aside couldn’t end it, and a crucifixion couldn’t diminish it. May you, too, find stubborn love in the midst of a thoughtless, temporary and selfish world.
The Best Kind of Love
Naomi’s husband died, and then she lost her sons as well;
Her loss and grief were greater than she had the words to tell.
She told her dead sons’ widows both to leave her there behind,
So they could build a better life and find some peace of mind.
Orpah left. But Ruth said, “Mother, both of us will grieve.
But please, Naomi, in your grief, entreat me not to leave!
No matter what will come our way, there’s one thing you can know:
Wherever you stay, I’ll stay, and I will go wherever you go.
Our prospects are uncertain, and our future may be flawed,
But your people will be my people and your God will be my God.”
Naomi realized then that Ruth just could not be got rid of,
And acquiesced to be blessed by Ruth’s stubborn, stubborn love.
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