The Book of Ruth ~ Devotion Nineteen

"Right Way ~ Wrong Way"


Now that Ruth had let Boaz know that she wanted him to marry her and be her kinsman-redeemer things were beginning to happen. Ruth trusted Boaz to take care of the legal process of becoming her kinsman-redeemer. She had gone home with the gift of grain and told Naomi what had happened. All she could do now was wait to hear from Boaz again.


Waiting is a hard thing to do. Some are better at it than others. Trusting is even harder. What is the hardest thing you've ever waited for? How did you trust that what you would hear would be good? Sometimes the result of our waiting is good and exciting. Sometimes waiting's result is hard and unwanted. How do we deal with the anxiety that results in our waiting time?


Lamentations 3:21-26 (NLT) Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this: The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!” The Lord is good to those who depend on him, to those who search for him. So it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the Lord.


The Bible says it is good to wait quietly. This means that we don't try to manipulate the outcome of our waiting. We can't speed up God's time table but we can prolong it. It is fully trusting that God will handle the situation His way. No amount of hand-wringing and fuss will change the waiting period to be shorter. God will do what He has to do and in the time He has chosen to do it.


Ruth and Naomi waited and trusted. Boaz went to work on the problem. Let's read what happened next. Put on your Old Testament glasses and read from the perspective of the ancient customs of the time.


Ruth 4:1-8 (NLT) Boaz went to the town gate and took a seat there. Just then the family redeemer he had mentioned came by, so Boaz called out to him, “Come over here and sit down, friend. I want to talk to you.” So they sat down together. Then Boaz called ten leaders from the town and asked them to sit as witnesses. And Boaz said to the family redeemer, “You know Naomi, who came back from Moab. She is selling the land that belonged to our relative Elimelech. I thought I should speak to you about it so that you can redeem it if you wish. If you want the land, then buy it here in the presence of these witnesses. But if you don’t want it, let me know right away, because I am next in line to redeem it after you.”
     The man replied, “All right, I’ll redeem it.”
     Then Boaz told him, “Of course, your purchase of the land from Naomi also requires that you marry Ruth, the Moabite widow. That way she can have children who will carry on her husband’s name and keep the land in the family.”
     “Then I can’t redeem it,” the family redeemer replied, “because this might endanger my own estate. You redeem the land; I cannot do it.”
     Now in those days it was the custom in Israel for anyone transferring a right of purchase to remove his sandal and hand it to the other party. This publicly validated the transaction. So the other family redeemer drew off his sandal as he said to Boaz, “You buy the land.”


Boaz knew the ancient process of the kinsman-redeemer. He knew there was a right way and a wrong way to go about becoming Ruth's kinsman-redeemer and he followed that process correctly.


First he went to the first person in line to redeem Ruth and the property her late husband had left her. He made sure that there were reliable people as witnesses to the discussion. Next he told the truth about the property and then he told them about Ruth and his obligation to her. When the man gave up his right to be the kinsman-redeemer the men sealed the deal with a sandal exchange. (Strange but short. Can you imagine the paperwork and court dates today?)


The point of the whole story is this. There is a right way and a wrong way to handle things. When we try to finagle the process that God has set and we go against Him, the time is extended until we get in line with His will.


Think about a time when you've had to wait for the Lord. What did you struggle with the most? Did you try to "fix" things so it would go your way? I know "manipulation" could be my middle name. However, God wants us to let go of the steering wheel and allow Him to have complete control.



Romans 11:32-34 (NLT) Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways! For who can know the Lord’s thoughts? Who knows enough to give him advice?

We can never know better than God's design for our lives. His process of doing things is always correct. It's hard to wait but with waiting comes resolution the way God meant it to be.

1 Peter 1:13-15 (NLT) So think clearly and exercise self-control. Look forward to the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy.

The old way we would handle things before we became under submission to Jesus was to try to fix what was happening to us. Now we are to lay the control to our lives in His very capable hands. There is a right was and a wrong way to wait. We must allow His ways to trump our old ways.

Isaiah 40:31 (NLT) But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.