Ruth 1:1-6
1. Now it came to pass, in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem, Judah, went to dwell in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons.
2. The name of the man was Elimelech, the name of his wife was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion—Ephrathites of Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to the country of Moab and remained there.
3. Then Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died; and she was left, and her two sons.
4. Now they took wives of the women of Moab: the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth. And they dwelt there about ten years.
5. Then both Mahlon and Chilion also died; so the woman survived her two sons and her husband. Naomi Returns with Ruth
6. Then she arose with her daughters-in-law that she might return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the country of Moab that the Lord had visited His people by giving them bread.
In Ukraine, we met a Nigerian in a Rehabilitation Centre. A young man with perfect Russian intonation. We never knew he was a Nigerian until he began to communicate with us. He knew us from the movies when he was back home in Nigeria.
He had married in Ukraine and had a beautiful wife and children with a settled home and a good job. A little quarrel with his wife had resulted in his wife calling the police on him and had landed in court and then in prison. He served his jail term and came back to discover the wife had brought in another man and the police had warned him never to get so close to the house lest he find himself back in jail. He became homeless, jobless and helpless. He began to live wherever he could find a shelter for the day including train stations.
During one of those times he slept in train stations, he met some groups of young men who were in drugs. He began to move with them and for a while, he was housed by them but had now been entrenched into doing drugs. The addiction took toll on him and he ended up in Rehabilitation Centre. He lost all in the strange land.
In London, some years ago, We were in a car been taking back to where we were lodged. It was in the evening. Then, as I looked out of the car window, I saw a young black man, searching the garbage container for anything to eat. He must have come from a country in Africa or any of the Carribean nations. He had lost all in that foreign country.
But there are those who have been blessed in the foreign countries also. We were in the house of a man of God whose entire congregational members are the white indigenes of the land. The Lord blessed his works. There are many whose business have blossom in the strange land. There are those like Daniel and Joseph who have prospered and are even ruling and governing in the strange land.
I have seen many prospered men in Nigeria who have relocated to foreign land and have lost all. I have seen men who are managers in companies in Nigeria, but have become attendants at eateries and gas stations.
Elimelech went to the foreign land because his land was in economic crisis. He relocated with his wife Naomi and his two sons. Elimelech died and his two sons also died in the land of greener pasture, leaving behind his wife Naomi and their individual wife.
Then, news came to Naomi in the land of Moab that God had visited the land of Israel again and the land is blossoming again with food and resources. Food had come again and money was in circulation again.Naomi rose up from the land of Moab and came back to her native land to the welcoming hands of those she had left behind several years ago.
It was God who relocated Daniel and he became a Prime Minister in Babylon. It was of God’s making for Joseph to be transported to Egypt to be a ruler in Egypt. But when Elimelech and his wife relocated to the land of Moab because of the economic crisis of the land, they lost lives and property.
The Lord spoke to Isaac when he took faced a serious famine in the land and was contemplating relocating to Egypt:
Genesis 26:1-3
1. There was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines, in Gerar.
2. Then the Lord appeared to him and said: “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land of which I shall tell you.
3. Dwell in this land, and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and your descendants I give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father.
Isaac obeyed the Lord and stayed. And we saw the result in Verse 12-14
12. Then Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and the Lord blessed him.
13. The man began to prosper, and continued prospering until he became very prosperous; 14. for he had possessions of flocks and possessions of herds and a great number of servants. So the Philistines envied him.
Therefore, it is not wise to relocate out of your country of domain to another country you think has the greener pasture unless the Lord Himself relocate you for His own purpose. A greener pasture of a country today could turn to a dry ground tomorrow, therefore, allow the Lord who knows the ending from the beginning to carry you on.
I have met a lot of young people leaving the country to another countries only to discover that things are not as easy as they had imagined. A lot of young and elderly people could no longer come back home because years have been wasted in foreign countries. I have seen people who have come back home after several years of wasted labor in strange land, only to start all over again behind their mates and colleagues. Let the Lord Himself relocate you and never be moved by what you see for now because political, economic and social atmosphere could change at any time.
Wherever the Lord plant your feet, He will make you prosper there. As we keep praying for our Dear Country, God will fight for us and make our Nation Nigeria put on her glorious apparel again. This nation shall yet Praise the Lord. It shall yet be the Pride of Africa and the Black people. Truly, our Leadership is bad. But the Leadership of today was the Followership of yesteryears. It is well.
Source: Evang. Mike Bamiloye
Aphorism CITY 