Before I release each Woman Crush Wednesdays episode in my free group, Women of Influence, I re-watch them to write the show notes.
(Women of influence is a hub and sisterhood that I created for business women of faith to network, form community, learn from each other and weekly guest experts (via interviews with me). These interviews are the Woman Crush Wednesdays episodes which you can click here to access now!)
As I listened to Marlyne Pierce (who helps leaders build more profitable products and higher performing teams at scale) speak at the beginning of last week, she shared something that really spoke to me:
"What feels like intuition can sometimes be instinct".
An illustration of this quote can be seen through the events of Ruth’s life
For example, to quote from a previous devotional on success and what NOT to do:
Ruth 1:3-14, says:
"Then Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died; and she was left, and her two sons. 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. Then both Mahlon and Chilion also died; so the woman survived her two sons and her husband.
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. Therefore she went out from the place where she was, and her two daughters-in-law with her; and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah. And Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, 'Go, return each to her mother’s house. The Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. The Lord grant that you may find rest, each in the house of her husband.'
So she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept. And they said to her, 'Surely we will return with you to your people.'
But Naomi said, 'Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? Are there still sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands? Turn back, my daughters, go—for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, if I should have a husband tonight and should also bear sons, would you wait for them till they were grown? Would you restrain yourselves from having husbands? No, my daughters; for it grieves me very much for your sakes that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me!'
Then they lifted up their voices and wept again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law [and left], but Ruth clung to her."
The rest of Ruth 1 then goes on to detail how:
Ruth not only clung to Naomi but refused to leave her (Ruth 1:16-17)
Seeing how determined Ruth was to go with her, Naomi finally relented and let Ruth journey to Bethlehem with her (Ruth 1:18-22)
The result?
Well, Ruth’s decision to follow Naomi led to her:
Marrying Boaz and birthing children (Ruth 4:13-22)
Becoming one of Jesus' fore-mothers, as Jesus was a direct descendant of hers (Matthew 1:1-16)
In other words, Orpah represents our instincts and how they can sabotage us
Because, in choosing to go "back to her people and to her gods" (Ruth 1:15), Orpah chose to return to what was familiar and comfortable to her rather than rock the boat or shake things up. Orpah essentially had a "better the devil you know than the angel you don't" mentality. Ruth, on the other hand, forsook all of these things in faith that if she shed her (previous) life, she'd gain in her new one.
I go into more detail about how your instincts may actually be sabotaging your success (and how to avoid it) below:
Press play to hear it now, sis!