Not What We Signed Up For
Written by: Beth Owen, Communications Director
Admin Council Devotion November 2025
Not What We Signed Up For
I’m in that stage of life where I’m constantly going to weddings, bridal showers, baby showers, and celebrations of all kinds. Google calls it the “Parade-of-Parties” stage. It feels like everyone around me, including me, is going through major life changes all at once.
In my experience, the most terrifying event in this parade is the bachelorette party.
Suddenly, you’re on a trip with anywhere from three to thirty-three girls you barely know. You’re expected to bond, get along, learn everyone’s name, their Enneagram, their coffee order, and act like you’ve been best friends for years. All the while, you’re thinking, “I didn’t sign up for this… I signed up to stand next to my friend while she looks pretty.” But okay, if it makes the bride happy.
I recently got engaged too, which has been wonderful. But you know how people say, “You didn’t just marry him, you married his whole family!” Yeah. I didn’t fully grasp that beforehand. Trying to learn fifty new names, an entire family tree, and everyone’s unique personality wasn’t something I realized I was signing up for.
And yet, here’s the surprising thing.
By showing up—by choosing loyalty to the people I love—I’ve gained something I didn’t expect. I’ve gained community. I’ve gained friendships. I’ve gained people who support me, pray for me, and show up for me. What once felt overwhelming has turned into something beautiful…something I didn’t even know I needed.
And that’s where Ruth’s story comes in.
Ruth and the Choice She Never Planned For
Ruth is introduced to us as a recently widowed woman facing an overwhelming choice. She can return to her family and the gods of her people, or she can follow her mother-in-law, Naomi, to a foreign land and serve the God of Israel.
Sometimes God leads us into situations that stretch us, challenge us, or overwhelm us. Sometimes we find ourselves facing circumstances far bigger than what we ever signed up for.
Ruth signed up to marry Naomi’s son.
She did not sign up to be widowed.
She did not sign up to be poor.
She certainly did not sign up to gather leftover grain in a stranger’s field just to survive.
Sometimes God takes us farther than we planned to go. Sometimes He leads us into seasons we never expected. And sometimes He places us in situations that feel bigger than anything we imagined.
And that’s where I think we are right now as a church.
We may not see the whole story.
We may feel like we’ve walked through a season of uncertainty.
We may be standing in a moment that feels heavier than we expected.
Yet Ruth shows us another way forward.
Choosing Faithfulness in Uncertainty
In Ruth 1:16, she makes a powerful decision:
“Do not urge me to leave you or 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.”
Ruth chose faithfulness when the road ahead was unclear. She chose the path of God even when it cost her comfort, security, and certainty.
And because of that choice, God blessed her in ways she never could have imagined.
Ruth—this foreign widow who simply chose obedience—found her kinsman-redeemer, Boaz. She became the great-great-grandmother of King David and part of the lineage of our Redeemer, Jesus Christ.
Her story reminds us of something essential:
God honors faithfulness, even when we don’t see the full picture.
God honors obedience, even when the path feels confusing.
God honors courage, even when we feel in over our heads.
God Is Still Writing
In this season, God is still writing.
He is still restoring.
He is still leading.
We have the opportunity to mirror Ruth’s posture:
We can choose faithfulness, even when we don’t have all the answers.
We can walk together in unity, even when the future feels unclear.
We can trust the God who writes the story, even when we don’t know what the next chapter holds.
As Romans 8:28 reminds us:
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
When Ruth stepped into that field to gather grain, she wasn’t trying to solve her entire life. She was simply placing herself where God’s provision could reach her. And God took that small act of faithfulness and turned it into redemption.
I believe He can do the same for us.
Encouragement
“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”
—Hebrews 11:1
We may not yet see everything God is doing at Christ United, but this much is true:
He is not done with our church.
He is not done with us.
And He will deliver—because that is who He is.
Prayer
Lord, thank You for the way You lead us—even when the path looks different from what we imagined. Thank You for the unexpected people, relationships, and communities that shape us for the better.
Give us the courage of Ruth to remain faithful in uncertainty. Help us trust You when we feel stretched thin or overwhelmed. Grant us wisdom rooted in Your Spirit and unity grounded in Your love. Place us where Your provision can meet us, and guide us into the next chapter according to Your plan.
We place our trust in You, our great Redeemer.
Amen.
