When Everything Changes
Life looked one way last year, and now it looks completely different. The job that gave identity and purpose - gone. The relationship that felt like forever - over. The health that was taken for granted - failing. The season of life that felt stable - suddenly shifted.
Loss doesn't just take something away - it changes everything. It disrupts the rhythm, erases the plans, and leaves this gaping hole where something important used to be. And somewhere in the middle of trying to figure out what's next, the question keeps coming: How do I even begin to rebuild from here?
The Woman Who Lost Everything
Ruth knew this feeling. She lost her husband, her financial security, and the entire future she'd planned. But it wasn't just her loss - her mother-in-law Naomi had also lost her husband and both sons, left with nothing but grief and uncertainty.
Naomi told Ruth and Orpah to go home, to go back to their families and start over. One daughter-in-law left. That made sense - why stay with a grieving woman who had nothing to offer?
But Ruth made a choice that seemed completely illogical: "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 1:16)
Ruth chose to walk into an uncertain future with no guarantees, to leave everything familiar behind and start over in a place where she knew no one and had nothing.
When Starting Over Feels Impossible
Ruth didn't have a plan. She didn't have a backup. She didn't even have hope that things would get better - she just had a choice to keep putting one foot in front of the other.
She ended up gleaning in fields - basically picking up leftover grain that harvesters dropped, the ancient equivalent of barely scraping by. It wasn't glamorous. It wasn't the life she'd planned. But it was moving forward when staying still felt easier.
And slowly, quietly, God was working. A kind landowner noticed her. Opportunities opened up that she never could have orchestrated. The future that emerged looked nothing like the one she'd lost - but it was beautiful in a completely different way.
Ruth became part of the lineage of Jesus. Her story of loss became part of the greatest story of redemption ever told. But she couldn't see that from the fields where she was just trying to survive another day.
When Loss Changes Everything
Sometimes what's lost doesn't come back. Sometimes the life before stays in the past. Sometimes the future looks completely different than what was planned.
But loss doesn't get the final word. Grief is real and valid - but it's not the end of the story. Moving forward doesn't mean pretending it doesn't hurt or that everything's fine. It just means choosing to take the next small step, even when the destination is unclear.
God's with you in the adjustment to the new normal. He's with you when reminders of what was lost pop up unexpectedly. He's with you when starting over feels exhausting. And He's working on something, even when all that's visible is what's missing.
A Prayer for Starting Over
God, the loss feels overwhelming. Life looks so different now, and it's hard to imagine how to move forward from here. The future that was planned is gone, and it's unclear what comes next.
Help believe that loss doesn't get the final word. Help trust that grief and hope can exist at the same time. Help find the strength to take one more step, even when the path ahead is foggy.
Be present in the adjustment. Be comfort when waves of sadness hit. Be hope when everything feels uncertain. And help remember that starting over doesn't mean the past didn't matter - it means carrying the lessons forward into whatever comes next.
Your plan may look nothing like what was lost, but help trust that something beautiful can still emerge.
In Jesus' name, Amen.
"He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds." - Psalm 147:3
