They married Moabite women, one named Orpah and the other Ruth. After they had lived there about ten years, both Mahlon and Kilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband. Ruth 1: 4-5

Naomi’s story seems to unravel with sorrow upon sorrow. First, after moving to a strange land, she became a widow. In her grief, she transferred her security to her two married sons. But after ten fleeting years, they too were taken, leaving her isolated and vulnerable. Only two daughters-in-law remained beside her. Though her husband’s initial concern for his family’s welfare had been commendable, he compromised their overall well-being by moving them to a place God said was prohibited. Once there, temptation bloomed, and his sons joined themselves to foreign wives.

This was the family’s second compromise. The Chaldee, the language used by sacred writers of certain portions of the Old Testament, suggests that their untimely deaths were the direct harvest of disobedience.

Compromise always bears fruit, and its bitter taste lingers. I cannot read Naomi’s story without recognizing my own. Each time I aligned myself with unholy partnerships, the fallout returned to haunt me.

*I agreed to co-write pieces of music with people I was at odds with spiritually. Songs emerged from our collaboration that I felt pressured to record.

*I signed contracts with companies, though I had serious misgivings. Those alliances birthed endless stalemates, breeding frustration rather than creativity.

*I listened to unstable voices in seasons when God’s way seemed too strange, too slow. I set aside His whisper for the counsel that thundered louder. Those choices left aftertastes I still recoil from.

Holy alliances are worth the wait. Today I seek counsel differently. I do value feedback from experts in their field but I also turn to fellow contemplatives—souls who hear God clearly and deeply. Honoring His ways, even when they stretch me, has already spared me needless pain. I move forward with a surer step, clothed not in fear of the next consequence, but in confidence that His alliances bring both peace and fruit that will endure.

Guard my steps from unholy alliances, and give me courage to trust Your strange and narrow way. Amen