Ruth 3:7b (NIV)
“Ruth approached quietly, uncovered his feet,
and lay down.”
Rest in humility.
Pride takes many forms and has many faces. We all
know the face of arrogance. Many can recognize the face of false humility. Only
a few can recognize the face of the secret desire for recognition and
affirmation and affection, though it is the most prevalent. There are many
more, irrelevant for now. But unfortunately, they are all part of the original
offer that the serpent made when she said to Eve, “You will be like God.” I
wonder if it wasn’t there where it was born. Eve was created from Adam’s rib.
When she first appeared, she had to compete with all the other creatures that
were in the garden before her. The “new kid on the block” syndrome, to put it
nicely. The task of naming the animals had not been given to her. Everything
was done when she got there, and I am sure that, just as we do many times, she
had to compete for her husband’s time and attention.
This happened in my own life recently. I had
always dreamed of full-time ministry and helping others. As time went by, this
took on many forms, depending on my life stage at the time. But looking back, I
didn’t see many successes to record (at least in my opinion; another sublime
form of pride). Maybe they were not the successes I wanted to see. Now, after
publishing my first book, When Your Son Tells You: I’m Gay, I feel the
need to help parents of prodigal children. There is only one problem: I am in a
stage of life where doing something is pretty hard, if not impossible. I live
in a new small town where I don’t know anyone and no one knows me; I don’t even
have a church home, or a community that I can call “my tribe”.
Could it be that god has done this to humble me?
Could it be that after so many years, it is time for me to realize that my
desire to serve has been nothing more than a desire to be recognized
and affirmed? There is a lot more behind this. But maybe, just maybe, God
is making me recognize my own ineffectiveness and wants to make me humbler.
What about you? Do you feel the need to be
recognized and affirmed by the world, your church, your family? #getittogethergirl.
You don’t need it if you have the recognition and the affirmation of your
Father, your Groom, your Boaz. Lay down at his feet. Leave behind the
false pride that has kept you like a foreigner. When Ruth decided to come with
Naomi, she said, “Your God will be my God”, and right then and there, she was a
foreigner no more. That is why she could go to Boaz to claim her status as a
candidate for redemption and propose to him (to say it that way) according to
Israelite laws. When we decide to come to his feet, what comes to mind
is in humility. Come, you are no longer a stranger in the eyes of your
Father. Come and claim the redemption that He has promised. But do it with a
humble heart, knowing that when you humble yourself, you will be exalted.
Father, I come to your feet. Like the woman who
poured her perfume, I bring you my most valued possession, and I place it at
your feet. I have nothing left but the hope that you will redeem me. Forgive my
past pride, regardless of which form it took. Here I am. I love you and I only
wish to love and follow you, regardless of whether I receive anything in
return. Guide me, lead me, take me to the high places where I can freely run,
led by your right hand. In the name of Jesus, amen.
My
reflection:
“Whoever
exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”
Matthew
23:12
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