In the Biblical book of Ruth, the primary characters are Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz. One lesser-known person is Orpah, Naomi’s other daughter-in-law, who returns to Moab. After the death of her husband and both of her sons, Naomi decides to return home when she hears there is food in Israel. As she departs, her daughters-in-law, Ruth and Orpah, are told it is okay for them to return to Moab to find husbands and build a future. At this, Ruth gives a beautiful speech about never leaving her, and Orpah weeps and then leaves.

Rabbinic tradition states that Orpah was not welcome in Moab, so she went to the land of the Philistines. There she remains unmarried but gives birth to six sons. All those boys were killed during the time of King David, with the most famous being Goliath. While there is no Biblical evidence of this, Jewish tradition paints her as a person who rejects God and whose family paid the price.

While it is fascinating to speculate what happened to her, what we are actually told in the story offers its own powerful lesson. Naomi was walking through a dark season with the loss of her immediate family. And when she was at her lowest, seen in her return home without family or financial gain, one of the two closest people in her life abandons her.

There are two things I want you to notice. First, in your darkest hours, people will leave you. It is inevitable. We must build our lives on our faith in God, not on the people closest to us. Second, it would be easy for Naomi to focus on Orpah rather than on Ruth. She could have spent the rest of her life filled with bitterness and hatred toward the person who abandoned her. She could have become pessimistic. Her life could have been shaped more by whoever left than by whoever stayed.

I am sure you have experienced pain in your life and watched people leave you behind. How did that impact you? I am also sure there was someone who stood beside you when all others left. How did you treat them?

Be sure to focus your attention, express your gratitude, and let your attitude be shaped more by the people who stay than by those who leave. Orpah’s story hurts, but Ruth gives life. Thank God for people like that.