Hurry Up and Wait

This past Sunday I continued preaching through the Book of Ruth, specifically from the first part of Ruth Chapter 4. This passage deals with Boaz meeting at the town gate with the other man that could have bought Naomi’s land and married Ruth. There are many interesting cultural details happening in the verses, such as exchanging sandals to show that Boaz was being given the right to be the kinsman-redeemer for Ruth and marry her. They met at the town gate. The town gate was the place where the business and disputes of the town were dealt with in Jewish life. I could go on about all these details, and I find them to be fascinating, but what I want to focus on isn’t even mentioned in the passage.

I want to talk about what Ruth was doing during this moment. Ruth wasn’t at the town gate. Her name is mentioned, but she isn’t there. She was at home with Naomi. Naomi had told her at the end of Chapter 3 to stay put and wait for Boaz to take care of things. Can you imagine how hard that was for her? She was sitting at home while her fate was being determined. Who she would marry would determine the course of her life. She had gone to Boaz and proposed marriage to him, and he wanted to marry her, but he had to deal with the fact someone else was a closer relative to the family and would have the right of first refusal to buy Naomi’s land and then marry Ruth. We know how the story ends. Boaz marries Ruth and they live happily ever after, but Ruth didn’t know any of that. She was living it all out in the moment.

The thing to remember for Ruth is at this point she has to trust God. She had done all she could, and now it was in His hands. She had worked hard since arriving in Bethlehem to provide for her and Naomi. She had displayed character and integrity in all she did. She approached Boaz to propose marriage, and she did so in a way that didn’t compromise her values. She has done all she can and now it is all in God’s hands. This is a difficult thing for Ruth and for us to do. We like to be in control of our lives. We are never really in control, but we like to think we are and we like to try to be in control. Letting go of even this false sense of control is difficult, but it is necessary for our lives.

What we need to immulate from Ruth is what she did after she did her part. She did what she thought God wanted her to do, and then she simply had to leave it all in His hands. She had to wait. I look at this and think about my daughter. She has a rare genetic disorder called glutaric acidemia type-1. She was diagnosed very early in her life. She has had many challenges to over come, and praise God she is doing well. I had a really hard time with all of this. I kept many of my thoughts and feelings private as I wrestled with how to deal with all of this. I finally came to the conclusion, with God’s help, that I had to put it in His hands. I couldn’t be in control of all of this. Through much prayer and surrender I gave it to Him. How I approach things now is I do everything I can do to make sure she is well taken care of and then the rest is in God’s hands. I wish I could tell you that I have this attitude everytime, and am perfect in this but I am not. I have to remind myself often that He is the one in control. He blessed me with her, and has instructed me as a father to take care of her and provide for her. I do that to the best of my ability, and then I have to let the ultimate outcome be in God’s hands.

I firmly think this is how we should approach every area of our lives. We as individuals should strive to live and do as the Bible teaches us. We should desire to live lives of obiedience to God, and then we should be at peace with letting Him direct the ultimate outcome of our lives. What this does is free you from worry and stress because you have surrendered the end result to Him. This doesn’t mean I sit around and do nothing. It means that do what Ruth did, all I can, and then I leave the rest in the capable Hands of God. I no longer have to feel like I’m responsible for everything. I don’t have to worry about tomorrow. Tomorrow is in His hands.