Day 19: God’s Providence: When to Act—When to Wait (Ruth 3:12-18)
Today’s Passage: Ruth 3:12-18
How well do you wait? I recently said to a friend, “You don’t ‘idle’ very well.” He was a bit taken off guard.
I thought he knew that about himself, yet he replied, “No one has ever said that about me before!” Oops, another “foot-in-mouth” moment.
There is a point: sometimes we need to be able to idle, to wait.
The key is knowing when to act, and when to wait.
Today in the text, Ruth is told to go and wait—twice! (see verses 12 and 18).
Now, in between there is work going on. Barley is loaded into what was part of her wedding ensemble, and she returns home with 6 measures. 6 measures sounded like a lot, so I went looking and found that each measure is about 2.5 gallons. She carried 15 gallons of barley home. (Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary via www.biblehub.com)
No doubt when she arrived home, the barley needed attending to. For some folks, work helps us wait.
My mother was brilliant at filling the waiting moments of life with work. Take Christmas Eve for example. It was when we cut down our tree, put it up, made wreaths, completely decorated the house, and prepped food, all culminating in church late at night. The day flew by, and in the end we were exhausted. She did not want to endure four idle children impatiently awaiting Christmas morning.
I titled today’s reflection: When to Act—When to Wait. Knowing which path can be challenging. Sometimes we procrastinate. Sometimes we know the action we need to take, but we do not do it. Other times we’ve taken the action and simply need to wait. Then there are times we’ve taken some action, and we are wondering if we need to take more action or simply wait.
Discerning the difference is key. For Ruth, there was not much more she could do. I think Boaz, knowing he was one of Naomi’s kinsman-redeemers (verse 12), may have been trying to discern whether he was to take action or wait.
Notice how he points out that there is another kinsman-redeemer. I wonder if Boaz was waiting on that person to approach Naomi. We’ll see in chapter 4 that this other person was “first in line” as it were.
Yet now, God has placed Ruth at his feet. He faced a choice. Send her away and keep waiting, or take action.
I expect you have had situations (maybe you are in the middle of one now) where you are trying to discern whether to keep waiting, or take action.
When you find yourself in a situation of discernment, there is a path. This path is called prayer and counsel. First, spend time with God in prayer and study His Word. Second, seek the counsel of godly people. It’s important to not skip step one.
This process may yield clarity, or not. The good news is that God is sovereign, and God is pleased that you are wrestling to do His will!
I often think, “Well Lord, even if I get this wrong, you know I’ve sought your will, and I know you are in control.”
In the end, He is not surprised, and He is sovereign.