“May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.” Ruth 2:12 NIV
“Why can’t I do science first?” my daughter asked me one morning as we were starting our homeschool day. I’ve answered this question a dozen times but obviously the message hasn’t quite sunk in yet.
“You can do science on your own, and I only have a few hours to work with you before I have to start working, remember?” I answer with as little irritation as I can muster. She nods and dutifully pulls out the math book, so we can tackle long division first thing in the morning.
In a couple hours I do start work, and it’s classes and phone calls and paperwork back to back until the end of the day. It’s a Wednesday, so that means we have basketball practice tonight. I hang out in the bleachers scurrying to write down things I need to remember tomorrow or ideas that come to me for writing projects. The sound of a hundred basketballs drilling into my mind as I try to navigate my notes app. Then it’s back home for dinner and the evening routine before I fall into bed and try to write a couple paragraphs of the story I’m working on. My sweet husband and dog snoring on either side of me before drifting off to sleep. It’s a long day, yes, but it’s also filled with blessings beyond measure. Blessings of family, career, stability, and love – things that wouldn’t be nearly as strong if I hadn’t followed where He led.
It’s possible that a lot of people thought I was crazy when I said I was going to start working from home and homeschooling. I know my husband did, but when God calls you somewhere, you go. And when you do, blessings follow.
Sometimes God calls us to difficult or overwhelming places, like He did when he called me to work full time and homeschool. It feels daunting sometimes, much like it probably did when He called Ruth to leave her homeland and follow her mother-in-law to a new home.
In the story of Ruth, a young widow surrenders to the Lord, God of Israel, even though she was not an Israelite. He called her to leave her home and follow her mother-in-law into a land where she would be a foreigner, an outcast. Here, she finds herself in poverty and gathering wheat from the leavings of a rich man’s field. On the surface, it’s hardly a story that sounds like it will have a happy ending. In fact, Ruth’s mother-in-law urged her not to come but to stay behind with her own family. But here’s the thing – Ruth knew the Living God, so she had no fear in following where He led.
In doing so, she was eventually blessed with the love of the rich man whose field she worked in. They married and the Lord allowed her to have a baby as well! A son whose name appears in the genealogy of Jesus Christ.
When we follow God, it doesn’t mean that our path will be without obstacles or hard work, but it does mean that He will honor our sacrifice with blessings. It also means He will be our refuge and restore us when necessary. No matter how it may look on the surface, yielding to God’s calling is completely without risk. Just like Ruth, we should be ready to go wherever He calls us. What is God calling you to do? Are you afraid to answer? Are you prepared for the blessings in store if you do? Trust that His blessings are always worth it.
Pray for the courage to answer the call, and ask God to prepare you for the blessings He has planned for you.
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