A Small Picture of My Heart

I am so appreciating the story of Ruth right now, and the provision and protection from Boaz based only on her reputation in the town. She was an outsider, a woman from Moab, and yet she made a commitment to Naomi, to go where she went and to worship her God.

Boaz had heard around town all that she had done in caring for her mother-in-law, and when she happened upon his field to glean among the servants, he told her not to go elsewhere but to stay close. He had also told the young men not to touch her, protecting her from scorn and abuse.

This was before they knew each other well, and in fact, before Ruth even knew that he was a close relative and could do anything about her situation. And even without that knowledge, she was overjoyed when she returned to Naomi with the news of her work for the day!

I love that God chose to record this for us! I love that He has sent Jesus as our provider and protector! And I love that God cares so much that He would capture for us this picture of His grace so that we could see Him at work in such a gentle way!

Oh, and the way that God directed every piece of this!? Yeah, that's the God I know!

Brokenness and the Reality of Love

Friends, this morning I am hit with the realization that we often don't know people the way that we think we do. I've had several conversations that have reinforced this lately. A few have been one person sharing with me something about someone else that that person, for some reason, has kept hidden from me (not that I need to know everything about everyone I know, but these are pretty big things). One conversation was finding out that I and a friend had mutual acquaintances, and this person's perspective lacked the knowledge of some true character things as well (not things that were mine to share...).

From all of these, I've realized that we cannot be truly loved if we are not really ourselves. I think of those who have shared their deep hurts and sins (don't worry, I'm going to share them) with me, and how much humility, honesty, courage, and vulnerability that takes. I think of the brutal honesty with which some of it was shared, almost in a protective "see here!" sort of way, as if to guard themselves from judgment or the pain of rejection.

I have tried my best to express grace and love and compassion in the midst of that sharing. I want my friends to know that they are loved, even when sometimes that love is in the form of correction and instruction. I am imperfect, and thus I'm sure that not all of my intentions and best efforts at love have been perfectly executed.

But as I was thinking about my own desire to love those who do not share with me the darker side of things for fear of rejection, God stepped in and spoke in my heart that it's the same with Him. He already knows (not through someone else telling Him, but because He is God) our darker sides. He knows our sins, our hurt, and the things we do not want to tell Him. And He loves us so much!!! It's true that He does not want these things to be who we are, but He loves us enough to hold us close to Him and tell us that nothing can separate us from His love (Romans 8:35-39).

So here's my challenge to you, my friends. Share with God your deepest secrets, pain, and sins. He can take it! He wants you to know that you are loved with an everlasting love (Jeremiah 31:3), and nothing will ever change that. And then take some of those things to the people around you. God has placed us within community to help us. We are to be expressions of His love to those He has placed in our lives, and that means that other believers around us ought to be people we can talk with without fearing rejection.

Only when we know someone knows our brokenness and can we know that their love is real.

Conclusion of First Chronicles

I have been listening to First Chronicles for the past couple days, and as this book draws to a close, here is what God shared with me concerning the work He has set before each of us.

David passes his reign of Israel on to Solomon with instructions to build the house of God, since God had told him (David) that not he, but Solomon, would build it. (1 Chronicles 28:6 " And he said unto me, Solomon thy son, he shall build my house and my courts: for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father.")

I love how David not only passes along the instructions TO build, but HOW TO build the house of God. AND he had the materials necessary for such building and gave them to Solomon as well! Even in knowing he was not to be the one to build, he stored up what was necessary so that his successor could do so.

I wonder if there are things in all of our lives that God has asked us to prepare in advance for someone else to bring to completion. I know there have been many times when God has given me the starts of something, or placed me into something, not to bring it to completion, but to set the stage for someone else to complete it.

Until now, I've wrestled with my lack of bringing things to completion, but God has used me as a catalyst for His purposes in the lives of others, and I have been grateful to participate! In this I will rejoice!