Life is filled with needs, dreams, desires, and hope. These are some of the deepest, most personal longings we carry inside of us from the moment of birth. God has placed within every human a propensity to dream and hope for things we cannot see. Our lives are continually transitioning. Even when we don’t feel like change is happening, it is. The challenge for us is to keep holding on to an enduring hope in spite of all the contradictions and disappointments along the journey.
Imagine being royalty, yet you chose to marry a man unlike any you’ve ever known. He is not royalty and his culture is so different from yours. He and his family worship a God who is foreign to all your spiritual experience. The god you know is brutal and to be feared. Deep in your heart is hope that there is a God who cares about you and your future. In the recesses of your heart is the aspiration to live a life of purpose. You want to leave a lasting legacy.
You have envisioned what your life is going to be like, the joy of a loving marriage and your home filled with children playing. Now imagine the challenge in your heart to live day to day keeping house for the one you love, yet month after month and year after year there is no child to cradle in your arms. There is no laughter ricocheting off the walls of your home. Hope is faltering in the depth of your soul.
Here you are eking out an existence on the back side of a mountain. Yet nothing seems to change for the better. To make matters worse your spouse dies along with his late father and brother. The hope in your heart has been extinguished. Never did I imagine the granddaughter of King Eglon being destitute.
Your mother in law comes and tells you there is plenty of food in her country. She wants to return to her people and her place of worship. At forty years of age you decide to leave your mountain and journey with your elderly mother in law to a place you’ve never been. A flicker of hope sputters in your heart. Maybe there is hope for the future.
After the long journey to a new town we still need to eat and so I work in the field to provide for us. Like any alien in a new land, this is harder than I thought. Hard work in the brutal sun takes its toll. But she has caught the eye of the owner. He sees her servant heart and hard work. He eventually marries her. She has a son and comes into the lineage of the savior of the world.
God had promised her Moabite grandfather that a son would sit on the throne of God. We see Ruth and Boaz descendants; David, Solomon and all the kings of the Davidic Dynasty to Jesus himself who is seated on the throne and rules and reigns over all the earth. God’s love and grace is always extended to the unlikely people. No matter how insignificant we may feel, God has given us a purpose and fans the flame of hope in our hearts.
God is looking to see if we are living a life of faith with hope in our hearts. “The eyes of the Lord are upon even the weakest worshipers who love him— those who wait in hope and expectation for the strong, steady love of God.” Psalm 33:18. The great news is that our good, good Father loves us and He weaves His faith and hope with ours and brings us through this journey in life.
Michael Hyatt tells us, “You can’t get to where you want to go, unless you start with where you are.” Ruth started where she was and by faith and hope got to where she wanted to go. God’s grace carried her. Wherever you are today, God’s eyes are on you. Even in your weakness He loves you and will carry you on your journey. Let the disappointments go and focus where you want to go. Faith will bring your hopes into reality!
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