Exactly a year ago I penned in these pages a reflection on what Ruth’s experience with Boaz in Ruth 3:3-4 might have to say about how we (ought to) approach God: we wash ourselves in preparation to meet the Master (Ruth 3:3a); we wait on God for Him to “notice” us and hear our petitions (Ruth 3:3b); and we watch – we do our own “noticing” – where the Lord is and go to where He is (Ruth 3:4a).
Recent developments in life and ministry have led me back to Ruth 3 again, although this time it’s what happens to Ruth after she washed, waited, and watched. We read of Boaz crashing at the far end of the grain pile after his evening meal. He wakes up in the middle of the night and freaks out upon discovering a woman (Ruth) lying at his feet! Thankfully, that won’t happen with our God were we to approach our Abba Father in this way for He knows everything and welcomes our “bold” and “brazen” behavior. When we approach God as Ruth did Boaz, a few interesting things are likely to happen, both on our part as well as on God’s part. Let’s begin with us: “‘Who are you?’ he asked. ‘I am your servant Ruth,’ she said. ‘Spread the corner of your garment over me, since you are a guardian-redeemer of our family’” (Ruth 3:9). We finally realize who we are – once we grasp who God is! Ruth declared to Boaz, “I am your servant.” Yet this self-awareness arises because Ruth understood and acknowledged who Boaz was to her: he was a guardian-redeemer of her family. Like Ruth, we understand that we are the servants of God Most High because He is our Guardian and our Redeemer. Paul reminds us that Christ has redeemed us from all wickedness and to purify for Himself a people that are His very own, eager to do what is good (Titus 2:14). Despite enduring intense physical suffering and mental and emotional anguish, Job – whom God twice referred to as His “servant” (Job 1:8 and 2:3) – famously insisted, “I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes – I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!” (Job 19:25-27). Even when all evidence seemed to point to the contrary, Job steadfastly refused to disavow God as his Guardian-Redeemer! And because Ruth saw Boaz as her guardian-redeemer, she petitioned him to cover her with his garment – that is, to grant her protection and provision as guardian-redeemers are expected to do for their kin folk. Likewise, we invite and welcome God’s protection and provision, we ask Him to spread the corner of His garment over us. Here I am reminded of the psalmist’s declaration, “Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust’” (Psalm 91:1-2). The psalmist goes on to say of God, “He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart” (Psalm 91:4). Whether pictured as garment or wing, I love the awesome truth of God’s sacred canopy covering, sheltering, and protecting us! And as we approach God, He is likely to surprise us with His response. As Boaz replied to Ruth: “‘The LORD bless you, my daughter,’ he replied” (Ruth 3:10a). Firstly, notice that while Ruth identified herself as Boaz’s servant, Boaz responded by blessing Ruth as his “daughter”! Much as I appreciate the fact that Boaz’s gesture could simply be reflecting the customs, formalities, and language appropriate to the ancient Israel of his time, it also highlights for me God’s readiness to bless and adopt us as His children (e.g., Romans 8:14-17; Galatians 3:26) – despite our identification as His servants! As Jesus says in John 15:15, “I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends…” Like the prodigal son in Luke 15, we come to the Father as slave or servant, but He instead calls and treats us as His daughter, His son, His friend. “This kindness is greater than that which you showed earlier: You have not run after the younger men, whether rich or poor” (Ruth 3:10b). Honestly, I cannot help but tear up every time I read these words because of their potential ramification: if Ruth’s refusal to run after younger guys is viewed by Boaz as a display of kindness toward him, can you imagine God saying to us something similar – that He treats our refusal to run after worthless idols and to worship Him alone as an act of kindness toward Him?! After all, have we not been commanded not to follow idols – it’s right there in the Ten Commandments (in Exodus 20:1-5) – but to worship God and He alone? And yet the Lord may well be speaking ever so tenderly to you and me: “Thank you my daughter, thank you my son, for your kindness toward me in choosing to worship and honor me alone.” Just imagine that! “And now, my daughter, don’t be afraid. I will do for you all you ask” (Ruth 3:11a). “I will do for you all you ask” – really?? Granted, God answers prayer but not always in the way we like or hope. When God says “No,” it’s because whatever we asked for may not be the right thing for us. Sometimes His “Yes” – in response to our persistent demand for things we shouldn’t have – is given as a signal lesson to us, like when the Israelites kept pestering God for meat because they got tired of His divine provision of manna, and they received and consumed quail for an entire month until they got violently sick (Numbers 11:20). But there’s no question here where Ruth’s request of Boaz, and ours of God, is concerned: if we seek God as our Guardian-Redeemer in accordance with His promises, then no matter how many promises God has made, they are always “Yes” in Christ (2 Corinthians 1:19-20)! God delights to grant us the desires of our hearts (Psalm 37:4) – so long as they are sought and pursued in accordance with His will. “All the people of my town know that you are a woman of noble character” (Ruth 3:11b). Just as Boaz readily complimented Ruth for her noble character – seen clearly in her commitment to and care for her mother-in-law Naomi, as well as her fidelity to Naomi’s God (Ruth 1:16) – God also readily compliments us, like the master who praises his servant’s faithfulness with a “Well done, good and faithful servant!” (Matthew 25:23). In 1 Chronicles 4:9, a descendant of Judah named Jabez is singled out as “more honorable than his brothers.” No one toils in obscurity when she or he is engaged in work that honors Christ. Just as Ruth’s noble efforts came to the notice and praise of Boaz, so too ours when we purpose to shine for God such that our good deeds cause others to glorify Him (Matthew 5:16)! Good works in themselves are not the issue here; it’s the motivation behind them that matters. We may accomplish a lot in Christian ministry – including prophesying, driving out demons, and performing many miracles all in God’s name – but we may fail to do the will of the Father because we did it all for self-gain and self-glory (Matthew 7:21-23). But God judges His good and faithful servants to be women and men of noble character! “Wait, my daughter, until you find out what happens” (Ruth 3:18a). After all that, there’s a kind of anticlimax: Ruth was forced to wait some more, while Boaz worked to settle the matter of her petition. Sometimes, God’s help and deliverance may take a while to happen. We’ve received God’s promise and assurance, only to find ourselves stuck in a period of waiting on Him to work things out! No child of God ever got to skip the discipline of waiting on God for His answer to prayer. As the prophet Micah once said, “But as for me, I watch in hope for the LORD, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me” (Micah 7:7). The neat thing I will leave for your consideration is this: our heavenly Father does not let us wait with nothing in hand! Before he got down to the business of fulfilling Ruth’s petition, Boaz instructed her, “‘Bring me the shawl you are wearing and hold it out.’ When she did so, he poured into it six measures of barley and placed the bundle on her” (Ruth 3:15). As you and I await expectantly for God to work our situations out in His time and way, let’s check our shawls and see what God has placed in them to keep us going while we wait. True, at times the waiting period looks rather bleak. In the prophet Habakkuk’s case, his wait for God was met with nonbudding fig trees, grape-less vines, a failing olive crop, and empty sheep pens and cattle stalls (Habakkuk 3:17). All Habakkuk had going for him, all he had “in his shawl,” was the Sovereign LORD, who alone was the prophet’s strength and joy (Habakkuk 3:18-19). And often times that’s all – that’s exactly who – we need, and He’s more than enough!
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