A Way Back

I am currently doing a Bible study of Ruth through the First 5 app. If you don't know what that is it is created by Proverbs 31 and they have many studies available. Of the studies that I've done I would say they are for anyone, not just women. They begin with a foundations week and then have lessons Mondays-Fridays and a weekend study. 

Well, I started this one late and missed the foundations week, but I can go back and do it anytime. I got something out of the daily teachings each day and even some things beyond the teachings. The weekend one for this past week was called 'The Way Back". The teaching was good but I was struck with a similarity. 

Jacob sent his sons to Egypt because there was a famine in the land, the Promised Land. If you know the story you know they found much more than food in Egypt. They found their brother, Joseph, that they sold into slavery and he was the reason their family was rescued from death. Pharaoh invited his father and extensive family to come to Egypt to live and offered them the best land (Genesis 45). That's a pretty good offer, but they were already living in the land promised to his grandfather, Abraham. Why should they leave that land, even for the best land of Egypt? Even in a famine?

Jacob, or Israel as he's called at this point, heads out to Egypt, but he had his doubts. He stops in Beersheba and offers sacrifices to God. God spoke to him and told him not to fear going to Egypt. He promised to make his family into a great nation while in Egypt (Genesis 46). Interestingly, it might have been the best land but it was separate from the Egyptians because they detested shepherds. Hmm, Jesus is the Great Shepherd. But that's a whole different discussion.

Eventually, over 400 years of living there, they went from honored guests to slaves. I wonder how many people over the years thought about God telling Jacob to not fear going there, even though it obviously didn't turn out well for them. They did indeed become a huge nation, but great? 

Jump ahead a ways and Moses is leading them out of Egypt and back to the Promise Land. Even though they were slaves, they left with gold and silver and clothes given to them by the Egyptians who begged them to leave. They left with increase.

Now back to Ruth. Naomi and her husband, Elimelek, and two sons are about to leave the Promise Land due, once again, to famine. They did not go to back to Egypt but went to the closer land of Moab. Moab was their enemy, but they went anyway. This time is different though. There is no mention of them making sacrifices and hearing from God to go. There is no invitation from the ruler of Moab. There is no mention of choice land or even what Elimelek would do when he got there.

Elimelek dies and his sons marry Moabite women and then after living in Moab for 10 years the sons die as well. Naomi hears that the famine is finally over and God has provided for His people, so she decides to go home. She leaves Moab with her daughter-in-laws and it seems nothing else. No one handed her gold or silver or even clothes as she left. All she had with her was these young women and one of them she convinces to go back home. She left with decrease.

Ruth, her daughter-in-law who does return with her, eventually becomes the grandmother of King David and the multiple times-great grandmother of Jesus. So Naomi didn't leave with nothing.

Famine drove both Jacob and his family out of the Promised Land and famine drove Naomi and her family out of the same land. God told Jacob to not fear going and that they would become a great nation. There is no evidence that Elimelek spoke to God about it at all. Jacob's family did grow into a great nation. Elimelek's family fell apart. The Israelites were given gifts to get out. Naomi was given nothing, but Ruth chose to go with her, and she turned out to be a life-saving gift. 

We all face our own versions of famine. If we talk to God and listen to Him, He will direct our steps. Even if He takes us into a place we never thought we'd go. Or we can take matters into our own hands and step out of His plan and will. But here's the thing. In both cases we can go back. We can end up right back in His promises. We may end up with treasures or we may end up back there with new people in our lives. We may go back with more or with less. But regardless He still has a plan. He still has a purpose. He still has a destiny for us. 

Sometimes I think that I have more power than I do, and that my mis-steps mean His will can't be accomplished. Here's the thing, He already knew I'd make the mis-steps and included them in the plan. And I'm definitely not powerful enough to thwart His plans. I just need to go back to Him. Because He still has a plan for me. He still has a purpose. He still has my destiny. 

Becoming His Ruth

I used to blog a lot, and some of the posts were really open, really raw. Not that the others weren't, but when I wrote some of them I felt like I was opening up my heart and pouring it out through the keyboard. This might be one of those posts.

When I was ten years-old I realized the desire of my heart. I wanted a family, a husband and children. Most of my life I had an absent father. I wanted something more. I wanted a man who would love me and a house full of children to love on. That desire has never gone away. There have been times, many of them, when I felt hopeless though. The years have gone by and I've been disappointed. I've been sure that it wouldn't happen more than I've been hopeful that it will. Yesterday, a hopeful day, I thought about the kind of man I want to marry. He needs to be my Boaz. He needs to see the value in me. He needs to spread himself over me and protect me. He needs to cherish me. He needs to be the father of my children.

As I longed for my Boaz, I came to the realization that I need to be his Ruth. I need to be willing to do  the menial hard work to help those in my life, those that depend on me. I need to be willing to step out and risk rejection. I need to be willing to honor him. I need to be the mother to his children. I need to become his Ruth.

Ruth suffered loss. She journeyed long to get away her old life to find her new one. She rejected the gods of her people. She toiled over back breaking work with little reward. She reached out and risked being rejected. She took a chance. She accepted an amazing gift. She loved her family. She loved her husband. She became a mother.

As God showed this to me, I cried. I cried and asked Him to help me become my Boaz's Ruth. I also prayed that He would make him my Boaz. My heart desires this. I have no idea how much longer this journey will be. I have no idea how hard the work will be. But I know that as scary as it is, frankly terrifying that it is, I want my Boaz and I want to be his Ruth.

When All Hope Seems Lost

I am not a Bible plan reader. I know that seems to be the new push in how to do Bible reading. You must follow a plan. I have read the entire Bible, many times. I have read the entire Old Testament all the books in a row. I have read the entire New Testament book by book. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with it, but it seems to be the push of late. When I finish a book of the Bible I pray. I don't open it up randomly and just start reading. Well, okay sometimes I do when I am hurting badly and 99% of the time the flip to is a profound verse or verses. God can do that, you know. Anyway, like I said I pray. I ask God what to read next. Sometimes His answer is a book; sometimes a set of books, like the Gospels; and sometimes it is an entire Testament of the Bible. This week I finished Amos, yup He told me to read Amos, and asked Him what I should read. I was glad when He told me Esther.

I love the book of Esther. We women get two books about hero women of faith, Ruth and Esther, and I love both books. I know there are other women mentioned throughout the Bible, women of great faith, but I love these two the most. They have so much in common if you really take time to notice and yet are so different as well. So, I gladly flipped the pages to Esther.

I have seen some new things, have had new revelations since reading the book again. That is one thing that I love about the Bible. If you read the same book, passage, or verse again you can get new revelation each time. Disclaimer - Reading the Bible helps you know about the Author, just like reading an autobiography helps you know about its author. But it takes more than just reading the Bible to know the Author.

I just read chapter 6. This is the chapter where the king can't sleep and asks to have scrolls of daily records read to him. He hears the story of Mordecai warning him of the plot to kill him. He asks what was done for this man and finds out nothing. He asks who is in the court so he can get advice. Side note - this guy doesn't seem to have any mind of his own. He is constantly asking for advice, offering up half his kingdom, and quickly signing on to murder plots. Just an observation. Anyway, it is none other than Haman, the guy who hates Mordecai and has hatched the plan of the annihilation of the entire Jewish race. He's so vain he thinks the king is talking about him when he asks how he should honor a man.

Meanwhile, Mordecai is in deep mourning because of the impending destruction of his people. He is waiting for Esther, to hopefully, save her people. He is in the "when all hope seems lost" stage of his life. Then out of the palace comes the guy who hates him and plans to kill him himself. Instead he puts a royal robe and crown on Mordecai, both worn previously by the king, and puts him on a horse, previously ridden by the king, and proclaims for all to hear, "this is what is done for whom the king especially wants to honor!"

When this is all over and he is back to waiting for word from Esther I wonder what he thought. "Thanks, that was nice, but I'm still going to die and so are all my people." Or "About time king, that was years ago. But how about instead of a robe, crown, and horsey ride you spare my life and while your at it, all the lives of my people." Or "But God, what was the point of that?" I am sure that I would have thought all of those and probably much more. Little did Mordecai know but that very day Esther told the king of the plot, Haman was to be killed on the gallows he erected for him to die on, and the king would issue proclamation that allowed the Jews to defend themselves against the attack and to confiscate anything owned by their enemies.

Now I've never had a wearing the king's robe or crown and be paraded around on his horse kind of day. And I have not been lead around by my enemy while he proclaimed that the king was honoring me. But this story makes me think of the verse that says that all things work together for those that love God. It makes me think about how satan wishes to destroy me, but I am a daughter of the Most High King. He rejoices over me with singing, it says so in His Word.

Even when it seems like all hope is lost, God can use anyone, even your enemy, to proclaim His love and pleasure in you. He can give you your own parade of sorts. I am sure it would look different for each of us. But just like Mordecai, the parade and proclamation didn't change the circumstance. Esther's intervention changed it. They still had to fight. People still had to die. Blood was still spilt.

In the midst of your difficulties, God may show you off, He may have a parade just for you. You may not understand, it may seem pointless but He has a day, maybe even that very day, planned to rescue you in the situation. He may remove it, but He may not. He may just give you the tools to fight back. He will give you the victory and He may even give you the territory that your enemy had.

Ultimately, Jesus intervened for us on the cross. He died and rose again so satan's plan to destroy God's people couldn't succeed. Did that make the enemy go away? No. Did it mean the enemy wouldn't still attack? No, we still have to fight. But just like the Jews had the king's proclamation to back them up we have our King's proclamation, His salvation.

When all hope seems lost  know God has a time planned when you will be able to look back and see how His hand was at work. You'll be able to see that He intervened, and maybe He will even used a certain person or people to accomplish that. You will see that even though you had to battle through, He gave you the tools to defeat your enemy. You will even see that parade He gave you and see it as His show of love and affection for you. His reminder that it is you He loves and no circumstance, no difficulty, no sin will ever change that!