THE AWESOME NATURE OF HOPE

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Her mother-in-law asked her, "Where did you glean today? Where did you work? Blessed be the man who took notice of you!"

Then Ruth told her mother-in-law about the one at whose place she had been working. "The name of the man I worked with today is Boaz," she said.

"The Lord bless him!" Naomi said to her daughter-in-law. "He has not stopped showing his kindness to the living and the dead." She added, "That man is our close relative; he is one of our kinsman-redeemers."

Then Ruth the Moabitess said, "He even said to me, 'Stay with my workers until they finish harvesting all my grain.' "

Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, "It will be good for you, my daughter, to go with his girls, because in someone else's field you might be harmed."

So Ruth stayed close to the servant girls of Boaz to glean until the barley and wheat harvests were finished. And she lived with her mother-in-law.

Ruth 2:19-23

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Have you ever had a time in your life when you felt hopeless? A time when you felt oppressed by despair and sorrow? A time when things seemed so much more dark than light? I know I have.

After learning about my first wife’s affair with my next door neighbor many years ago, I remember how devastated I was to learn that I had been deceived by someone I loved and trusted so very much. My family broke apart and I was left alone…single for the first time in 10 years. The isolation was maddening…my pain and sadness was worse.

For years, I wondered what I might have done to deserve my circumstances. I had trouble finding answers. I equally had trouble finding relief from my desolate, downtrodden spirit. Indeed, I felt little hope in my life then.

I can’t help but think Naomi must have felt the same way. Losing a husband was bad enough, particularly because widows weren’t particularly taken care of well in Old Testament society. Without their provider and supporter, they were often left to fend for themselves. Tough times usually followed a husband’s death and Naomi knew this. Well, at least she had her sons to watch after her so that somewhat softened the blow…at least until they both died as well, leaving their Moabite wives widowed as well. Hope had to seem very far off for Naomi and Ruth as they returned to Bethlehem. Little did they know though that God had hope right around the corner for them…and in a place they least expected it.

It happens like this sometimes in our lives. Just when we see things as dark and hopeless, God shines His light on us, typically through a person that He sends to rescue us…a redeemer. For me, ironically, this redeemer was named Grace.

I was volunteering in a Norfolk elementary school, tutoring two third grade classes. I had gone faithfully for around four months when one day I happened to run into the Assistant Principal on my way out of the building. We had spoken several times before but it was always business. I didn’t even know her first name. She was always Ms. White to me.

Well, that day we spoke about the coming weekend. She said she was going to the movies and, with all the courage I could muster (I was not very good at being single, I’m afraid), I asked her if she was going alone. She said she wasn’t and my hopes were dashed, at least for the moment. For she then told me that although she was going with someone, she added that they didn’t know what direction they were going in. And with that, her name was called over the announcing system and she excused herself. I was left wondering what “doesn’t know what direction he wants to go in” meant. But…I have to admit, I felt a spark of hope…something I hadn’t felt for a long, long time.

As Ruth returned to Naomi with all the wheat she gleaned, Naomi marveled right away at the amount she produced. It was so much more than one would typically see from a gleaning outing. Curious, she asks Ruth, “Where did you glean today? Where did you work? Blessed be the man who took notice of you!" To which Ruth replied, “The name of the man I worked with today is Boaz.”

The name Boaz resonated with Naomi. She felt a spark of instant hope…something she hadn’t felt for a long time.

Little did Ruth know who she had been gleaning from…but God knew fully. For it was all part of His plan for all involved…for Naomi…for Ruth…and for Boaz.

So with the news that it had been Boaz that Ruth had been gleaning from, Naomi exclaimed, “The Lord bless him!...He has not stopped showing his kindness to the living and the dead….That man is our close relative; he is one of our kinsman-redeemers."

Indeed, Ruth had ended up in Boaz’s field by God’s design…for God intended on using Boaz to redeem Naomi and Ruth. He was put into their lives for a reason…to rescue and deliver and save and, ultimately, bring hope.

“He doesn’t know what direction he wants to go in.” Those words echoed in my head as I tried to figure out what they meant. At the time, I didn’t see it but God was working this out step-by-step. And my next step ended up being flowers to Ms. White (aka Grace) asking her to go to dinner with me. I was due to go to sea for six weeks and had a feeling I had a narrow window of opportunity if there was any chance that Ms. White and I might be able to see each other outside of school. So the flowers were delivered and when I was in school the next week, she told me the answer was yes…and we went to dinner that next evening. There, it was obvious that we had so much in common and there was potential for a relationship but not until Ms. White laid down some ground rules. I remember her words as clear as day as she said, “If we’re going to have a relationship, God has to be first in everything.” I also remember my heart racing about a million miles an hour because I hadn’t been walking with the Lord for well over 12 years. You’ll remember that I didn’t know why I had gone through what I went through in my life. Try walking without God for over 12 years and see how things turn out for you. Better yet, please don’t. Been there, done that, wouldn’t wish it on anyone.

So I said I was good with her request. God would be first in our relationship. I got right with him in my life and grace and I would marry less than a year after that first dinner. That was nearly 16 years ago and it’s been simply amazing where the Lord has taken me over that time…and how He is using me in amazing ways in ministry to help others come to know Him…just as He used Grace to reach me 16 years ago. Grace was my redeemer…the one the Lord sent to rescue me and bring me from despair to hope. Boaz was the one the Lord used to bring Naomi and Ruth to that same place. And the good news is that He is using people each and every day to do the same thing…maybe He’ll use you next…you never know.

Yes friends, we serve a Lord who is in the redeeming business. For He gave His Son Jesus on the cross to redeem us from the despair of sin and destruction and bring us the hope of a new life eternal so that death might not be the end but just the beginning for all who would believe and trust in Christ as Savior. In Jesus…in Boaz…in Grace…and in all others the Lord uses to redeem and rescue…we see the awesome nature of hope, not a worldly hope that is fleeting…but rather a divine, holy hope that endures not just in the here and now but in the here after. And that is truly reason for all of us to rejoice and give thanks. Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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