“My daughter, wait until you learn how the matter turns out…” In Ruth, we find one of my favorite women of the Bible whose story has a dozen different lessons we could walk away with. Recently I was struck by Ruth’s relationship with her mother-in-law Naomi. Instead of staying in her own land, Ruth commits herself to the mother of her late husband and leaves what she knows to follow her home.
As the rest of her story unfolds, Ruth turns to Naomi again and again for wise counsel and instruction. Ruth’s story leaves her waiting again and again. She has, at some point before the written account begins, waited for a husband. But then the husband is taken from her in death. She moves with Naomi then must wait for a new normal to settle in (how many of us can relate to that??). She works while she waits, gathering grain in Boaz’s field, and it is there that she is first noticed.
Later on, she waits at Boaz’s feet for him to awaken and become her kinsman redeemer, then she must wait again for the matter to be settled in town. Waiting, waiting, waiting. I can almost feel the hope rising in her chest at every turn, her fists white-knucked as she clings to the faith now shared with Naomi as they await the outcome.
She doesn’t suffer the wait alone. She leans on her mother-in-law for guidance, and she not only listens but follows. When we are in waiting seasons it is important for us to surround ourselves with godly counsel and women of wisdom who we can trust to speak life and light into our lives.
Naomi had seen more of the world and had her own life experiences and faith to reassure her daughter-in-law in one of the most trying seasons of her young life. And Ruth’s trust in the wait did not go unanswered.
I pray that our waiting seasons lead us to places of greater hope, and that a tribe rallies around us to encourage us along the way. If you do not have women who can encourage and inspire you, who you can go to for godly advice and spiritual wisdom, seek them out in your church and community. It could make all the difference.
additional supplies: Illustrated Faith Print & Pray Shop (Retired) Advent Bits | Succulent Stickers from the Michael’s Dollar Spot
Beautiful page on Ruth’s story! (And those succulents look real!) :D
~ kittywittycreates (Instagram)