#getittogethergirl

 

One day she got herself together, she and her two daughters-in-law, to leave the country of Moab and set out for home.

Ruth 1:6 (The Message)

 I confess that I have not read much of The Message Bible.  I am old school (or maybe, just old) when it comes to my bibles. Well, maybe not so old for the King James, but old enough for the NIV and the ESV. And when it comes to paraphrases, my go-to has always been The Living Bible. Nothing against any of the others, of course. Just personal preference because I think it came first, and we all have our own linguistic structure that tends to tilt more toward certain ways of expression than others.

            Having said that, I recently ran into this passage, and it stuck with me, and lit a small flame. It was in The Message, which gave the verse a totally new spin for me.

            The story of Ruth and Naomi is a classic. We all know about it. Naomi and husband leave Bethlehem with children to pursue the BC version of the American Dream. The boys marry. Everybody’s happy. Then the men die. Naomi decides to go back with daughters-in-law. Orpah stays, Ruth leaves. Ruth meets Boaz. They marry. They have a baby. Behold, the David dynasty is born. And they lived happily ever after (well, not quite, but…).

            It really is a nice love story. Lots of Bible studies and sermons have been written about it. There’s even that special verse that everyone loved to use in my times at weddings—I haven’t heard it much lately, though. However, like so many others in the Bible, there is so much more to it. I am sure we can do a verse-by-verse study of it and learn so much! Oh, wait, it’s done already.

For Ruth 1:6, most of the traditional Bible translations, including King James, say that she “arose”. Then I read The Message, and I think that for now, I want to take it in a different direction. The Message says that she “got herself together”.

            Well, women, sometimes we can be a mess, can’t we? Sometimes it is life that’s messy. However, in the midst of it all, we can hear the voice of our savior saying, “get it together girl”, I got this. I am with you. I have your back. Come, bring on the mess. I can handle it.

            I wish I could take credit, but the idea for #getittogethergirl was born in a church in Texas way before I even moved there. As I was told, one day, in a woman’s bible study, someone read this passage in Ruth, making emphasis on the got herself together part. She snapped her fingers and said something to the effect of, “There, maybe we should make this our motto for our daily life: #getittogethergirl.”

            A funny comment. Happens in small groups all the time. The issue was soon forgotten. However, it did resonate with one of the other women attending the study, and she did take it to heart. So, whenever something went wrong, or the day seemed to go sideways, she would tell herself, “#getittogethergirl! God’s got this.”

            Fast forward to 2022. Another Bible study. As I heard the story, the #getittogethergirl thing resonated with me as well. I got the bug for writing about it. So was born this 40-day devotional. I hope that as you read it, no matter what is going on in your life, you can stop and remember who you are, and whose you are, and say to yourself, “#getittogethergirl, God’s got this.”

            What if, indeed, we made it our motto for daily life? Let’s face it. Life is messy. We are messy. It is so easy to become undone at any particular moment. We make mistakes, we sin. Others make mistakes, they sin. Things just happen that propel us to make foolish and bad decisions. Others make foolish and bad decisions. Circumstances can drive us to madness.

            It doesn't matter where you are in life. Home, career, ministry, retirement. If you are walking with God faithfully, or if you have drifted away a bit. We could all use a little #getittogethergirl in our life. Whatever your situation, physical, emotional, spiritual; you don’t need to become undone because God’s got this, so, sister, arise, there is bread in Bethlehem. #getittogethergirl.

            So, there. Grab a cup of coffee. Read the book of Ruth this week. See you next week.

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