Ruth 2:1-4:22; John 4:43-54; Psalm 105:16-36; Proverbs 14:26-27
“Naomi took [Ruth’s] baby and cuddled him to her breast. And she cared for him as if he were her own. The neighbor women said, “Now at last Naomi has a son again!” And they named him Obed. He became the father of Jesse and the grandfather of David.”
“Jesus asked, ‘Will you never believe in me unless you see miraculous signs and wonders?’ The official pleaded, ‘Lord, please come now before my little boy dies.’ Then Jesus told him, ‘Go back home. Your son will live!’ And the man believed what Jesus said and started home.”
‘Those who fear the Lord are secure; he will be a refuge for their children.”
There is a plain beauty in how God’s ministry to the humble is always exactly what’s needed to bring them into His plan. The more I read, the more it seems the Spirit saves Damascus Road experiences for the self-righteous, those too proud to be reached any other way. He is gentler with the modest but uses them just as mightily, and that is important to understand when ego threatens to get in the way.
Ruth, a “pagan” Moabite, was always true to one allegiance – providing for and protecting Naomi. Nothing was beneath her that could be a tool used for that purpose. She stood firm against the humiliation of picking up the leavings of Boaz’s harvesters, endured the judgment of “real” workers, and even suffered through the embarrassing presumption of dipping her bread in their cup as directed by Boaz. Then, she accepted her mother-in-law’s direction to go lay at Boaz’s feet. Ruth did not fear vulnerability, and she remained steadfastly focused on Naomi. In turn, her priorities and course remained clear, and she was not dissuaded by pride or gossip. Many may feel Ruth demeaned herself, but those folks shouldn’t miss the final verses. Without Ruth’s humility, there would have been no Jesus Christ, because there would have been no King David. I know the retort. God would have found another way. True enough. But in no way does that possibility diminish the reality that His plan for Christ went through Ruth.
How often does our pride or aversion to vulnerability cause us to be a barrier around which the path of God is forced to detour? The good news is we’ll likely never know, at least this side of heaven. That’s also the bad news. Undoubtedly, we have left countless blessings on the table because we were too busy, too important or too wounded to stoop to pick them up or stop to accept them. The Capernaum official knew better. As a public official, being told to go home was not the warm and reassuring answer he was expecting. It probably felt like a rebuke. Still, this humble man simply “believed Jesus’ word” and started home. He could have taken any perceived slight personally, argued about it, insisted on a personal visit and likely never would have seen the blessing of simple faith. But because he swallowed his pride, his son was saved, and his entire household believed. If we read Jesus’ words carefully, the son and family got better results from the father’s unadorned trust than they ever would have experienced had the man insisted on more personal attention and comfort.
In summary, it sure seems like God does a lot more for us when the results are not about us, especially when we are humble enough to just accept in faith what He offers. Ruth helped Naomi, willingly giving up other opportunities. She was blessed beyond anything she could ever have dreamed. The official accepted Jesus’ word without demanding reassurance or personal comfort, and his whole house entered the Kingdom. The conclusions are inescapable. Our allegiances need to be to something other than ourselves. We need to accept what the Spirit offers in humble gratitude. We need to give up our own ideas of success. In Godly trust is the greatest power and healing. As difficult as it may be to give up place and power and personal significance, Christ was pretty clear that only the meek shall inherit the earth.
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