Reliable people shine during difficult times. Interior qualities rest untested until hardship or crisis pull them to the surface.

The story of Ruth is a wonderful example. At a crossroads in life, Ruth chose to move to a foreign land in support of her mother-in-law. This after the deaths of Ruth’s husband and father-in-law. Two women, all alone, journeying into an uncertain future.

At first Ruth’s mother-in-law insisted that Ruth return to her parents. 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. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried.

A beautiful statement of commitment, one I always love hearing at wedding ceremonies. Brides and grooms repeat these words on days of celebration, with the trials of life over the horizon. But Ruth spoke them in a grim situation. She knew every step forward would be difficult, yet she chose her path.

Of course, the story ends with a happily ever after moment. Years later Ruth’s great-grandson is crowned David the king. But Ruth guessed none of this when she pledged to follow her mother-in-law into an unknown and scary place.

I pray for the Lord to develop Ruth-like qualities in myself. When I find Ruth-like people in my life, I try to keep them close, because you can never have too many reliable people around you.

Ruth 1 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo by Miltiadis Fragkidis

At times everything looks bleak. I appreciate the words written by David as he shared his raw frustrations when the world went dark. Here’s an example:

Help, Lord, for no one is faithful anymore; those who are loyal have vanished from the human race. Everyone lies to their neighbor; they flatter with their lips but harbor deception in their hearts.

David endured empty flattery, endless boasting and wicked sharp tongues in those around him, with no end in sight. Proximity to power draws out the worst as people vie for a piece of the action. David watched this play out before him and grew despondent.

In his exasperation, David turned to the Lord. He contrasted the speech of the vile with the words of God:

The words of the Lord are flawless, like silver purified in a crucible, like gold refined seven times.

Trapped in a circus of posturing and arguing, the cacophony of jealous advisors and untiring critics, David pulled out his scrolls and allowed the solid, enduring words of scripture to calm his heart and ease his mind.

Flawless. David returned again and again to God’s word. Remarkably, the same words on David’s scrolls fill the Bible on my desk. Plus more wisdom from David himself and the Lord Jesus Christ.

When the world goes dark, it’s good to know where to find a source of light.

Psalm 12 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo by Viktor Talashuk

Matthias followed Jesus wholeheartedly from the earliest days of ministry. After the resurrection of Jesus and the death of Judas, the remaining eleven disciples felt the need to round out their number again to twelve. They nominated two men, and finally settled on Matthias.

Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias; so he was added to the eleven disciples.

No more mention of Matthias comes from the book of Acts, but that doesn’t mean this committed follower of Jesus didn’t stay active. Church history places him in various areas around the Roman world, and claims he died a martyr while preaching the gospel somewhere near the Black Sea.

If so, he joined all the original disciples save one in dying for the message of Jesus. Matthias came strong off the bench. He represents the many early followers of Jesus who served the Lord, at great cost to themselves, and gave their lives for the cause.

Those of us who hold to the Christian faith today owe a debt to Matthias, and to countless others who without acclaim quietly carry on the faith.

Acts 1 in Through the Bible in 2024

Matthias by Peter Paul Rubens, 1611

The book of Judges ends with a crazy story, one I wouldn’t believe if it wasn’t written in the Bible:

A gang of men brutally rape and murder a woman while she’s passing through their town. Her cowardly husband dismembers her body and send parts throughout the nation. Men from across the country, incensed at this horrible crime, gather to punish the evildoers (from every town save one). In the meantime, the clan of the perpetrators gathers in their defense. A bloody civil war ensues, producing tens of thousands of casualties. The defending tribe is overwhelmed and nearly wiped out. Now mourning the imminent loss of one of the tribes of Israel, the leaders of the victorious clans search for wives for the survivors (having previously killed all their innocent women and children). First they march to the town that failed to turn out earlier and put everyone to the sword, except the virgin women. When this fell short of the quota, they allowed the remaining single men to kidnap brides from a nearby festival. Problem solved. Then they all went home.

Judges chronicles a society rapidly devolving. The author comments, In those days Israel had no king; everyone did what was right in their own eyes.

I like the idea of doing whatever I want whenever I want to do it. However, as this story illustrates, absolute freedom fails to bring out the best in human nature. Despite the appeal, freedom without limits eventually leads to chaos. The strong dominate the weak and innocent people suffer.

The Israelites yo-yoed between the ways of the Lord and living as they saw fit. The stories recorded in Judges, as bizarre as they read, remain strong examples of how the way of the self results in chaos, while following the Lord leads to flourishing.

Judges 19-21 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo by Jackson Simmer