Ruth 1:15-18

¹⁵ “Look,” said Naomi, “your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with her.” ¹⁶ But 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. ¹⁷ Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.” ¹⁸ When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.

An encounter with the living God must completely and radically transform us. This encounter will contradict nearly everything that we have previously known as “true.” As the living God enters into our lives, “truth” is measured and found only in God Himself. This transforms the entire landscape of our personal life. While the choices we make as we are led by God defy our past rationale, the degree of opposition to our newly found path with God is minimal compared to the degree of danger we now see in the decision to proceed on our own, without God.

Encountering the living God does not add to, assist in or enhance our life. If we believe that, we are sadly confusing an encounter with God with a surge in emotional desperation and the need for temporary gratification. To encounter God as He is and not as we desire Him to be is to lay our lives at the feet of our Father and Creator, demanding only His forgiveness and direction. Once we encounter God through Jesus Christ there is no other way. There is no other name.

If we claim the name of Jesus Christ yet do not completely abandon our plans, desires and direction, we bring shame to the name of Jesus. We simply add to the problems we face daily, problems that Jesus came to heal and eradicate. God does not desire to produce in each of us mere moments of joy, peace and fulfillment. God did not send His son Jesus to die so that we could have temporary respite from our pain and suffering. To approach God in this way is to continue in a life where we remain the ultimate judge of what is and what isn’t true. This ultimately is the biggest lie of all, yet the easiest lie for us to believe. God is truth. To encounter Him is to ultimately find truth. From such an encounter, the only true life is found in Him and the only true life is directed and guided by Him. No other thing can come between.