Rest in His will.

Day 22

Ruth 3:1

Is not Boaz our relative, with whose young women you were? See, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor.

Rest in His will.

Rest is the outcome of being in God’s will. Therefore, we will never find rest until we do God’s will. With all the work Ruth did and all the effort she had put into caring for her mother-in-law, she still had not found rest. Had she continued on that path, while making ends meet and surviving day by day, that is all she would have accomplished. At the end of her life, there would be nothing to show for it, and all she would have to look back on was another day of the same.

How sad that we should live our lives that way, day after day after day, doing the same old thing, expecting nothing more than our daily pay, especially when we have all the resources God has given us. That is what happened to Ruth. She had God’s command at her disposal. God had told Israel that the widows who were left without inheritance were to be redeemed by the next closest relative so that the deceased’s name would not be erased from the earth, and they would be taken care of. Now, in Boaz, she clearly had the resources she needed. She just needed to access them.

That is exactly what happens when we settle into doing the same thing over and over without looking beyond our daily work and our daily routine, and without seeking God’s perfect will for our lives. We become deaf to his words and blind to his works. Life can keep us from living. So, we work ourselves to death, without the proper compensation.

Not that Ruth had been idle. She had kept busy doing what she thought was right and noble. The problem was that it was not her responsibility. It was not her job to look after her widowed mother-in-law. God’s will for her life was more than just the day-to-day business of life.

The irony is that it was all right there. She had been working for the very same man who was to bring her the rest she needed. If only she did the will of God. The Law had provided for her, and she needed to seek out that man who would take her so she could bring forth fruit into the world. But she had decided to settle. For the ordinary. For the day-to-day. For the enough. She may have had her reasons. “I’m not a Jew.” “I have to take care of my mother-in-law.” “I don’t have time.” “My best years are behind me.” So many reasons.

Isn’t that what we do, too? We get so caught up in the “have-tos” that we forget the “God wants-tos”. If God’s will were a circle, would you find yourself right in the very center of it, or just somewhere within the circle? Wouldn’t it be safer to be right in the middle where all the ratios meet? Wouldn’t you find rest knowing that you are being taken care of, without having to worry about tomorrow? #getittogethergirl. God has made provision for you. Look inside you. Are you anxious? Do you feel that life is passing you by and you have nothing to show for it? Maybe you need to seek your Boaz, your “redeemer”. Maybe you do have it already and can’t see it. What would it look like for you? A new job opportunity? A new place of service in church (or outside of it)? A leadership role that you never thought could be for you?

Would you ask God if you are in the middle of his will? If not, would you ask him to lead you there? He is your redeemer. He is your Boaz, getting ready to winnow. Go to him.

Father, I am tired. I go to work and come back, only to do the same the next day. I look forward to the weekends, thinking I can get the rest I need, only to find there is just another list of things to do; they are just different from the ones during the week. I ask that you give me that rest. Show me your will for my life, for only then will I find the rest I covet. What is my next step, Lord? Please go before me. I will follow.

 

My reflections:

“My yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Matthew 11:30

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