get up and go...

at church we are studying the book of ruth, which has always been a favorite of mine, it is a beautiful story of faithfulness. ruth's to naomi and God's to his people. it is also my first name. so from a very young age my mom would read us this story. needless to say i have heard the story and studied it over and over again, but this time it was different. i had never heard this perspective before and cannot stop thinking about it..

a ruth re-cap:

there was famine in bethlehem so naomi and her husband left with their 2 sons and went to moab. both of her sons married moabite women (which in these times was a bit socially unacceptable.) as the years went her husband died, and then her 2 sons died. so here she was in a far-away land with 2 daughters-in-law. she told the girls they were free to go back to their families homes (it was custonary for them to have stayed with her) and that she was going back to bethlehem. one of them, orpah, decided to do as she said, kissed her mother-in-law and left for home. but ruth decided to stay, saying "where you go i will go, your people will be my people, your God my God." so they returned to bethlehem, naomi and her mobite daughter-in-law, ruth. naomi, as you can imagine was very bitter, for she had lost everything and was returning to her home with nothing. they arrived just in time for the barley harvest. they were hungry and poor.

ruth 2:2&3:

and ruth the moabitess said to naomi, "let me go into the fields and pick up the left-over grain behind anyone in whose eyes i find favor." naomi said to her, "go ahead my daughter", so she went.... 

the beauty of this moment:

ruth does not let her circumstances determine her actions. she continues on, sad, lonely, a stranger to the land, hungry, poor, no status. despite all of this she goes on. she does the next thing. she takes action and moves forward. matt, our pastor talked about how God works in the mundane, dailyness of our lives. we want to see the big picture, what is God's plan for me, what should i do next, what is my purpose? all God wants us to do is move forward and he will continue to reveal that to us, in baby steps, as we live. action trumps everything. ruth came alongside her mother-in-law and made movement forward with and for her. God's "plan" for us is usually right in front of us. this is and was so inspiring for me to hear. as my life right now is just getting through the dailyness. the mr. and i have talked about how it's like groudhog day around here. it's hard to continue moving somedays, but thats my job right now, its God's plan for me. i'm a mom. i've got to keep moving, keep disciplining, keep encouraging, just keep on...i don't know what's next, i always wonder about working again, what the future holds, but for right now, everyday, i've just gotta get up and go.

God's faithfulness:

as the story continues, ruth ends up working in the field of boaz, who is a wealthy distant family member of naomis. he sees ruth, takes interest in her, tells her to continue in his fields and to stay near his servant girls so she stays safe, gives her more grain than they need, then eventually takes her as his wife to redeem their family and land! it is a beautiful story of ruth's faithfulness and God's provision, all she did was move forward obediently!

in what ways are you faithful?

are you  inspired by his movement?

-e.