Month: June 2020

  • Knowing God

    Seeing God’s Love in the Details

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    Life can be messy sometimes, and unfortunately, no one is exempt. Trials and struggles land across the shoulders of good and bad people. When the heavy hits, it can be easy to start believing that God is disconnected, removed, and distant. 

    But what if God is really the One who sees every detail of our lives from start to finish, and plans ahead for us, knowing just what we will need, right when we need it? What if our Heavenly Father showed us His love by stepping into our situation and redeeming it beyond anything we could dare to imagine? What if He is doing that in your life right now? 

    We catch a glimpse of God working this way in the story of Ruth. You can read the whole story in the Bible, in the book of Ruth, but I’ll give you the three-minute version here.

    Ruth’s story actually starts with her mother-in-law, Naomi, who lived in Moab with her husband Elimilek and two sons, Mahlon and Kilion, and their wives, Orpah and Ruth. Originally, Naomi hailed from Bethlehem, but famine in the land had prompted the family’s move to Moab.

    In just a short time, tragedy struck and Naomi lost her husband and both of her sons, leaving Naomi to fend for herself along with her widowed daughters-in-law. Naomi had heard that there was food back in her hometown of Bethlehem, and having nothing left, she decided to go there. Naomi loved Orpah and Ruth and was concerned for them, so she encouraged them to go back home to their families, so they could remarry and have some hope of security. Eventually, Orpah agreed and tearily set out for her home, but Ruth doubled down and made one of the most famous covenant promises in the Bible in verses 16 & 17:

    “Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.”

    So the bereaved pair went on to Bethlehem and arrived in the late spring, around the beginning of the barley harvest. During that time, it was the practice of harvesters to allow strangers, widows, and impoverished people to come after the day’s work and glean grain that had been missed or fallen to the ground. So Ruth asked Naomi to let her go glean in the fields to bring them back some grain. 

    This is where Ruth’s story could easily be a Hallmark movie. The field Ruth just happened to go to turned out to be one of Boaz’s fields! Boaz, of course, noticed her working there and invited Ruth to stay and work alongside the other women in his household, where he gave her food, water, and safety.

    Ruth was blown away by Boaz’s generosity and asked why he would show her such generosity, especially as a foreigner. Boaz, being all dreamy-like, said her reputation has preceded her. He had heard about what she did for Naomi and was, frankly, impressed. 

    Ruth was flooded with relief, and Boaz invited her to eat with the harvesters and instructed them to let her glean and to even take some grain out of the bundles for her. She kept working until evening and went home with enough grain to last them a couple of weeks!

    When Ruth told Naomi what happened, Naomi was amazed at God’s loving provision, because Boaz was a relative and a kinsman-redeemer. It was a tradition in their culture that when a man died and was childless, a close relative could marry his widow, which secured the family’s name and estate, as well as provided comfort and protection for the widow.

    So under Naomi’s wise advice, Ruth continued to work every day in Boaz’s fields until the harvest was over. Then at the right time, Naomi prompted Ruth to go to Boaz and seek him as her kinsman-redeemer.

    Like every good Hallmark movie, there was one hiccup. Boaz knew there was another man who was an even closer relative, and who had the right to be kinsman redeemer first. It was Boaz’s duty to ask him if he wanted to claim that right, knowing that he may not get to marry Ruth. After some suspense, the other relative gave up his right, which freed Boaz to finally marry Ruth! Roll Credits!

    As fun as Hallmark movies can be, it is incredible to see all of the truly “divine coincidences” that happen in Ruth’s story. Each step of the way, we see God’s loving provision and plan unfold, meeting Ruth & Naomi’s every need and loving them in all the details, even the things that we might think are beneath God’s notice. The blessing of being able to read Ruth’s whole story at once also gives us a 30,000 foot view of the scope of what God was doing through Ruth’s story. 

    After Ruth & Boaz were married, they had a son who would one day become grandfather to King David, and an ancestor of Jesus Christ. Let that sink in for a sec. God was actively working in every detail of Ruth’s story, redeeming her pain for purpose, and through her family, laid the groundwork for the redemption of all humanity.

    There was no way for Ruth to know that when she was at the crossroads, choosing whether to go home to her family or follow Naomi into unfamiliar territory, all that God would accomplish. Even when life seemed impossibly hard, Ruth and Naomi focused on God. They stepped out in faith and God lavished His love on them, working behind the scenes to orchestrate a future that they never could have on their own.

    It might be tempting to think that God was just working things out for Ruth because of who would later be born in her line of ancestry. But Ruth’s story is there for us to get a clearer picture of God’s love at work in our everyday lives, and to see what faith in action can look like. 

    We all have our own story, with twists and turns, some good, some bad. God is actively working in our stories, too. He is already present in the details of our lives and gives us the same love and attention He gave to Ruth and Naomi. He sees us, loves us, and there is no detail beneath His notice and care.

    I know there have been times that I’ve felt overwhelmed, knocked flat by life’s blows, not knowing what my next step should be. Without fail, when I focus on God, my perspective shifts and I begin to recognize all the ways He has already been working to meet me in the middle of my mess. I am reminded that God is faithful and unrelenting in His love for us. I can more readily trust that He has planned ahead for anything I may face and that His plans will come together at just the right time, in just the right way.

    When Naomi and Ruth followed God faithfully in the circumstances that were right in front of them, God used them to help establish a lineage of the coming Messiah that would change the world forever. What if our being faithful in our own circumstances could have a kingdom effect in the world? How might your faith and trust in God impact those around you as you wait on the Lord?

    We are all invited to be a part of God’s greater story of unfailing love and redemption. He weaves our story into His, paying careful attention to every detail and guiding our every step, even the ones that seem mundane. All we need to do is keep our eyes fixed on Him. When we lean in and seek shelter and protection at His feet, he never fails to give it. When we give Him our whole hearts, we can have peace and wisdom in any situation, good or bad, knowing that He is there in the details and will lead us through. The road may be rough in some patches, but we can trust that He will work all things together for the good of those who love Him, because ultimately, He loved us first.

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  • Identity in Christ, In The Word

    He Calls Me Daughter

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    Have you ever gone through a time of suffering that made it difficult to see anything beyond your circumstance? Maybe you began to see yourself through the lens of your trial? In Mark 5:24-34, there is a woman whose story has impacted me greatly. Her story of suffering has given me hope and has helped me see my Savior in a whole new way. The story doesn’t tell us her name, we only know her as the “woman who suffers from bleeding”. 

    For this woman, her suffering was a physical trial. She had been bleeding for 12 years. That’s a long time! Loss of blood takes a toll on the body–it can cause anemia leading to lower energy and depression. On top of the loss of blood, there was the physical pain of the procedures she endured to try to fix her problem. Scripture tells us that she went to many doctors, but her condition only got worse.

    As with most times of suffering, her pain was multifaceted. It wasn’t just physical. There was emotional suffering involved as well. Because she was bleeding (assuming it was menstrual) she was considered unclean in her society. That meant she couldn’t be around other people, she couldn’t go to the temple to worship, she couldn’t even touch her own husband. This isolation would have been overwhelming. I wonder if this was the worst part of the suffering.

    Then Jesus walks into the scene and His presence brought her hope. She had heard the stories of healing and began to wonder, “Could he heal me?”. Could he erase 12 years of isolation, loneliness, pain and suffering? She is desperate so she leaves her house and ventures out into public to meet Jesus. Jesus is surrounded by a large crowd and was headed on an urgent mission to help a man whose daughter was dying. 

    She sees Jesus in the crowd, but doesn’t have the courage to walk up and ask him for help. Years of being isolated stole that confidence from her. But her faith gave her the courage to reach out to Him anyway. She gets close and thinks, “if only I could just touch his robe, I would be healed.” Mark 5:29 says “immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering”. After 12 long years, she finally receives the healing and relief she was so desperately seeking.

    While she was now healed from her physical suffering, Jesus was not content with leaving it at that. Realizing what had just happened, Jesus turns around and asks, “Who touched me?” He wanted to speak to the person who received the healing. Trembling, this woman who has been suffering and isolated for years, comes before Jesus and confesses what she did. She was might’ve been thinking she was going to be reprimanded, but she instead received words of encouragement. I can imagine Jesus smiling at her, reassuring her that going to him is never something you should be afraid to do. Jesus said,

    “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

    Mark 5:34

    These two sentences that Jesus speaks to her are beautiful, and in the moment, it would be easy to miss what he is really saying. He first affirms her physical healing, declaring it for all to hear. But, he is not done yet. Next, he invites her to a completely new life… Jesus tells her to have peace and be freed from her suffering. Why would he need to command her to be freed from her suffering? He just told her she was healed. This is the beauty of Jesus. He knew that physical suffering was only a part of what this woman had suffered over the past 12 years. He knew for 12 years she had been identified as the “woman who suffered from bleeding”. Not only was this how everyone else saw her, but how she saw herself as well. It was a reality that consumed her life and left her feeling isolated and alone. 

    Now Jesus tells her to free herself from that identity and live in a new one. She has a new name. Daughter! Remember how Jesus addressed her? Daughter. No longer isolated, but now part of a family, an heir in God’s kingdom. Bleeding was part of her story that definitely shaped her, but it was never meant to be her identity. 

    I can relate to this. I have often defined myself by my trials and suffering. In my mind the suffering can seem all consuming and I have allowed it to become my identity. I can see myself as “the woman with an anxiety disorder”. I have asked to be free from my anxiety, but it is still my constant companion. So how do I reconcile these different outcomes? I know God doesn’t play favorites. He doesn’t love some more than others. So what am I supposed to learn from this story?

    As I asked God these questions, God spoke to me through this story. He helped me see that the key is knowing my true identity. My identity is not a woman who struggles with anxiety from dusk to dawn. The anxiety is a part of my story, but it is not who I am. I am Daughter, His beloved daughter. And God is calling me to live within that identity because it affects the rest of my story. It impacts how I live within the suffering. 

    The truth of being called Daughter by God allows me to pause and hold on to God as my anchor when the storm of anxiety overwhelms me. His strength allows me to thrive in anxiety and not just survive.

    It is this strength from God that brought me through one of the most difficult experiences of my life. I remember sitting anxiously in a room in Colorado, crying out in despair while my son continued to suffer debilitating seizures. It appeared that he would never be freed from them, and I didn’t know how I was going to cope. God met me there and said, “Daughter, receive my peace and I promise to walk with you as you care for your son.” As I chose to embrace my identity as Daughter and take my suffering to God my Father, my story of pain and suffering became interwoven in a story of redemption, strength, and beauty. It became a testament to the amazing love of my Heavenly Father. 

    Are you going through a time of trial or suffering now? If so, be encouraged that God invites you to come to Him with your suffering and receive strength, healing and a new identity. Even if full healing doesn’t happen this side of heaven, our story can change like the woman in this story. Her identity is no longer a woman with bleeding. She was called Daughter by her Savior, Jesus Christ. You also are not defined by your suffering. Your identity has been secured by the one who created you. You are God’s beloved Daughter!

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  • Heart Stuff, Prayer

    Merciful God And Father, Hear Our Prayer…

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    Merciful God and Father,

    You are good, you are mighty and you are just. Our hearts break with our brothers and sisters in the black community as we grieve the tragic and unjust loss of yet another soul. Our hearts ache for our friends and family who are not just grieving, but also shouldering the weight of fear, misunderstanding, bias, discrimination and hate. 

    We come to you in lament, Lord, eyes straining to see your face, and thankful that we can call upon your name. We draw near to your throne, hearts in our hands. 

    God, we call upon your goodness. May your Holy Spirit stir in our hearts compassion, love, kindness, and gentleness. Show us how to help carry the weight of our neighbors’ sorrow and share in their tears. Break our hearts wide open over what breaks yours. Open our eyes to see as you see, and our hearts to love as you love. Lord, instill in us your goodness and mercy. May every word we utter, every action we take glorify you and and point to Christ, so true healing and transformation may take place. May the light of your love shine so brightly through your people that there is no room for darkness to take hold.

    Father, we call upon your might. You sacrificed your own Son that we might live. Lord we are all created in your image, with no one person better than any other. By your son’s sacrifice we are saved under one blood making us brothers and sisters. Let there be no divide in our minds, hearts, and actions. Mighty God, let the power of your presence defeat hatred, racism, injustice, and evil. Reconstruct our hearts and our humanity through the lens of the sacrifice of your Son. Come near to us Lord, and do your mighty work in us and through us today. 

    Lord, we long for righteous justice. Our hearts burn with a desire to see to wrongs made right and justice delivered. But first Father, examine our hearts, and fix what is broken within us. Realign our vision not just to recognize injustice, but to speak boldly and to put love into action. Work in the hearts and minds of our leaders-in government, in our churches and communities and in our very own families. Please grant us wisdom and discernment, and boldness to not be silent, but instead to stand for what is right. You did not give us a spirit of timidity but your Spirit of power, love, and self-discipline. Help us in all circumstances to do what is right and just. Please forgive us when we fall short.

    In all things Lord, you are God and you are good. Help us to really love one another, to hate what is wrong, and to hold tightly to what is good. 

    In Jesus’ Name, 

    Amen.

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