Decisions shape destiny. From Ruth's "wherever you go, I will go" to four lepers who refused to sit at the gate and die, Dr. Ethel Sefakor Boadum on choosing the less-familiar road and trusting the God who walks it with you. Anchor texts: Ruth 1–2 and 2 Kings 7, framed by Robert Frost's 1916 poem. The road being difficult doesn't mean the road is wrong, and not deciding is itself a decision.
The seven movements
- One life: Albin's letter. A 16-year-old named Albin died, and his funeral overflowed with testimony: "God has been good to me." A short life, lived large. You have one life to live on earth, so remember your Creator while you have breath (Ecclesiastes 12:1). You cannot call back time when it's lost.
- Two roads diverged. Frost's lone traveler stands where two roads split, able to take only one. Every one of us stands there sometime: stay or go, familiar or faith. Which road, and with whom will you walk it? "In all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight" (Proverbs 3:5–6).
- Wherever you go: Ruth's defining yes. Famine, three funerals, and a crossroads in Moab. Orpah chose the realistic road home, and no shame on her. Ruth chose the road not taken: "Wherever you go, I will go… your people shall be my people and your God my God" (Ruth 1:16). She didn't know how or when. She just went. That is faith.
- Don't live the bitter name. Naomi came home saying "call me Mara, bitterness" (Ruth 1:20). But Jabez, literally named Pain, called on God: "bless me indeed, enlarge my territory," and God granted it (1 Chronicles 4:9–10). Even a name they gave you can be changed through prayer.
- The barley harvest: God's timing meets your step. They left in famine and arrived "at the beginning of the barley harvest" (Ruth 1:22). God is a master orchestrator of times and seasons (Psalm 145:14–15). Don't give up on yourself: the road being difficult does not mean the road is wrong.
- Glean like it matters. Ruth didn't hide or wallow; she went straight into action, and worked so well a field owner asked "who is this lady?" (Ruth 2:2–3, 23). Be excellent wherever you are. And don't look like your problems. Her loyalty and boldness put a Moabite foreigner into the genealogy of Jesus (Matthew 1:5).
- Four lepers at twilight. Four lepers at the gate asked, "Why sit here until we die?" Not deciding is still a decision. They rose at twilight, found the enemy camp abandoned, God had done it His way, and remembered: "This is a day of good news, and we are not doing right to keep silent" (2 Kings 7:1–9). Their one decision fed a starving city.
That has made all the difference
"I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference," and the difference is yours to choose. Trust God with the road ahead; you don't need to know how. Press toward the mark (Philippians 3:14). Decisions determine your destiny, including the decision to follow Jesus.