I don’t know about you, but I love a good love story.  Ruth has all the elements of a perfect one, with the added blessing of the underlying story of redemption.

As I worked through the study, the one thing that kept tugging at my heart was the “ordinariness” of it all and the wonder God can make of the simplest of lives.

Ruth appeared to be  the most ordinary of women.  She married, was widowed, went back to her mother-in-law’s hometown, met a man and got married.  However, there was something quite extraordinary about Ruth.  It was her love and devotion to her mother-in-law and to her God.

She chose to walk away from her own home, where there was every expectation that she could find a husband and get married again, and go with Naomi to a strange land.  More than that, she chose to worship the God that Naomi worshiped. She was making a lifetime commitment.

“But Ruth said, ‘Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge.  Your people will be my people, and your God, my God.  Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried.  Thus may the Lord do to me, and worse, if anything but death parts you and me.’”

Ruth1:16-17

From that moment on, everything she did honored that commitment.  She went to work in the fields to glean wheat  as a humble servant in order to provide for Naomi.  She worked faithfully day after day.  After meeting Boaz, their kinsman redeemer,  she obediently followed all of Naomi’s instructions.  It is a lovely story with a miraculous ending.  If you’ve never read it, you will find the little book of Ruth in the Old Testament.

Eventually Boaz and Ruth were married.  They had a little boy named Obed.  Obed had a son named Jesse.  Jesse had a son named David.  Yes, that David!  I am so excited over that, I could jump up and down -  for generations down the line there was a son born named Jesus.

Who would have imagined that an ordinary girl would be part of such an extraordinary story.  Ruth could not have known what the future held.  She lived a virtuous life, simply doing what her circumstances demanded of her.  She lived selflessly and graciously, and God blessed her abundantly.

That means so much to me.  When I get discouraged by the “smallness” of my life, by the mundane, monotonous things I do on a daily basis, I can know that as I do them as unto the Lord, He will make something great of them.  Perhaps not great in the eyes of the world, but great in the eyes of the One who really matters.  Who can know what the sum of our small sacrifices will bring to those who come after us?

Blessings,

Linda

picture from Kelly Minter’s website www.livingroomseries.com

It seems this person said some very damaging things during a heated argument, and as always seems to be the case in this technological age, someone got it on tape.  Apparently is wasn’t the first time this person had hurled a verbal barrage that made the media rounds.  The reporter didn’t hold out much hope for a bright future in the entertainment business.

I thought about how foolish it all was.  There doesn’t seem to be a thing that happens any more that someone doesn’t record and then publish for all the world to see or hear.  If that celebrity had just taken a moment to take a deep breath and think about the consequences of his words, the outcome might have been very different.  Words are very powerful things and once spoken we can never get them back.

Later, while taking my walk, a little song from my childhood Sunday School classes just popped into my head.  One of the verses says:

“Be careful little mouth what you say.

Be careful little mouth what you say.

There’s a Father up above and He’s looking down in love,

So be careful little mouth what you say.”

A Father up above – One who not only hears every word I speak but knows what they will be before I utter a syllable.  Every word of anger, gossip, criticism, complaint, falsehood, sarcasm – He hears them all.  Jesus spoke about words during His time on earth:

“And I tell you this, you must give an account on judgment day for every idle word you speak.”

Matthew 12:36

As humiliating as it would be to have foolish words we have spoken broadcast over the internet, how would it be to stand before the Lord to give an account of those same words?  It makes me want to guard my tongue very carefully.

We cannot be perfect in all that we say, but we can ask for help to speak in a way that is pleasing to the Lord.  He is gracious and merciful and understands our weakness.  He readily forgives us when we fail.  When  our hearts are right before Him, we will speak words that edify and glorify.  Jesus also said:

“For whatever is in your heart determines what you say.”

Matt. 12:34

“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.”

Psalm 19:14

Blessings,

Linda

In many respects these are difficult days.  Whether you keep up with the news on a daily basis or just hear an occasional report, it is almost impossible to avoid the fact that our country is in the midst of upheaval.  It seems that everywhere we turn there is disaster, controversy and discontent.  It is easy to simply be overwhelmed by it all.

Many are facing financial troubles.  There have been devastating weather events – such heartbreaking loss of life.  Without getting into politics, there is grave concern about the direction our country is heading.  It is enough to make us lose heart, to feel a bit fearful about the future and to wonder if things will ever be made right.

Rather than using my own words, I wanted to share something I read this week that gave me such hope and encouragement.  Listen to what our Father has to say:

“God sits above the circle of the earth.  The people below seem like grasshoppers to Him!  He spreads out the heavens like a curtain and makes His tent from them. He judges the great people of the world and brings them all to nothing.  They hardly get started, barely taking root, when He blows on them and they wither.  The wind carries them off like chaff.

‘To whom will you compare Me?  Who is my equal?’ asks the Holy One.

Look up into the heavens.  Who created all the stars?  He brings them out like an army, one after another, calling each by its name.  Because of His great power and incomparable strength not a single one is missing.  O Jacob, how can you say the Lord does not see your troubles?  O Israel, how can you say God ignores your rights?  Have you never heard?  Have you never understood?   The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth.  He never grows weak or weary.  No one can measure the depths of His understanding.  He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless.  Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion.  But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.  They will soar high on wings like eagles.  They will run and not grow weary.  They will walk and not faint.”

Isaiah 40: 22-31

We have a Father who is more powerful, more wise, more holy, more loving than we can possibly comprehend.  What peace to know that we can safely rest in the shelter of His wings – whatever the circumstances.

Blessings,

Linda