Gleanings from Ruth

Ruth was instructed to wash herself, to anoint herself, to put on her best and go down to the threshing floor, but not to make herself known.  She was in a process of preparation.  The Lord Himself is preparing us, but there are steps we are required to take.  The Lord has cleansed.  He has anointed us with the Holy Spirit.  He calls us telling us to put on the best – Jesus.  We are to go to the place He has prepared for us.  In this process, the Lord desires for us not to make our self known.  We are to trust and allow Him to finish the work He has started in us so His purposes will be made known.
The Lord desires us to be ready, willing and in the right place waiting for His instructions.  Sometimes it seems as though we are in the middle of the night, everything seems dim where we wonder if the morning is truly coming that He makes His plans known.  We may not be aware of or see His plans, but they are still in the works.  The Lord can and will bring about His plans even when it seems like it is the middle of the night – our darkest hour.
The Lord calls us to know Him, knowing who He is within us.  When we know and are known by Him, we will be able to make Him known to those around us.  Many times, when we only have a glimpse we try to make it known.  Knowing who we are, knowing to whom we belong will bring blessings to us and others.  It becomes easy to fall into fear in the midst of the preparation for the blessing.
There are some things we are not to make known to people.  The Lord in His time will reveal for others His plans and purposes.  Many times, we tell people what the Lord Himself desires to reveal.  Unless the Lord reveals, it usually won’t be seen regardless of how much we try to make it known.  When we tell all we know we hinder the Lord in His secrets.  What the Lord is doing in secret reveals who He is in us.  When we know who He is in us, then we will begin to know Him in the secret place.  In the secret places, we begin to see and understand He is in control of all things, no matter how they seem.  We cannot judge or go by appearance and it is by this knowledge that we can rest in Him, trusting in His process.
The Lord desires to take what we already have to bless us.  Many times, we look for the blessing to come to us from something new or different.  The Lord delights in taking the familiar and turning it into the blessing.  When the Lord sends His blessing or His provision, we must have a way prepared within us to contain what He is pouring unto us.  We think – if I just had the blessing, provision, etc I would be able to do this or … He waits until we have nothing so He can reveal to us who He is, to move us from one level of faith to another.  We then know it is not about us but about Him and we did not make things happen but experienced the results of His move.
We are released after the fact to begin to tell of what He has done for us.  We often make the mistake of telling people what the Lord is going to do prematurely, causing those around us to wonder where we’re coming from.  Look at what happened to Joseph.  We lose sight of the fact those around us cannot see what we see and cannot hear what we hear.  After the fact, it cannot be discounted because it is something real, tangible, or measured – seen.  This causes not only our faith to be built up, but it increases faith in others.  The Lord is working on our behalf and He will not rest until He has settled things to accomplish all He purposes.
Ruth was an outsider or one who was not considered by those in Israel (the church) but the Lord had a plan where He would demonstrate His mercy.  He would demonstrate that His ways are not our ways.  He looks at the heart.  He saw Ruth’s heart.  Ruth was one who was outside of those called of God, but the Lord was touched by the attitude of her heart in the events and situations of her life.
Ruth was not in the lineage of David and of the Lord Jesus Christ by accident or because she just happened to be, she was there by divine purpose for His destiny.  She didn’t set out to make this happen.  She lived her life and walked with the Lord according to what was in her heart, day by day, trusting in Him to provide and take care of her.  She walked by that unseen, unknowing faith which was grown and cultivated in her heart by the Lord.
Walking, living and serving Naomi was not an easy task, but was born of something birthed within her heart.  Naomi was an embittered woman, but Ruth in faith and trust in the Lord received from her.  Ruth’s heart was so open she was able to receive instruction from a woman who was well acquainted with her own bitterness.  In the midst of a difficult or trying situation that the Lord looks upon the attitude of our heart to receive His word from the vessels of His choosing.  Often it is in the midst of the darkest point of a difficult situation that the Lord’s plans unfold.  There is a time when all is dark we are to be still and wait for the Lord’s unfolding purpose.
Ruth did not purpose to become Boaz’s wife; she purposed to serve the Lord following the advice and counsel of the one in her life.  The Lord uses whom He wills and at times we think, well this person is… so we don’t pay attention.  Too often, we are focused on how we think things are going to work out that we fail to see the things the Lord is accomplishing in the molding of our character into the image of His son, Jesus.
We must stay focused on the Lord, walking according to all He has deposited within our heart.  We are to know that whatever the circumstance and who ever we find ourselves with, the Lord is truly in control.  He is working according to His plan.  He will work out circumstances for our good according to His purposes if we remain focused on Him rather than to be overcome or overwhelmed by what we see in the natural.  Open and ready hearts before the Lord can go in any direction He chooses.  Many times, we find ourselves in situations with people who the Lord, unbeknown to us, is using to move us closer to his destined purpose.
We find ourselves during these times focused on our self, the situation or the people causing us to be overwhelmed.  When we give place to our emotions, they can become a motivating force.  A person motivated by emotion will be unstable, because of double mindedness at the mercy of what we feel.  What we feel is what we feel, but that doesn’t make the feelings right and at times certainly not a measure of reality.  Keeping our eyes on the Lord will cause us to see Him, as He is, high and lifted up, above every situation, circumstance, and purpose.  Having our eyes fixed on Him makes a way for any possibility regardless of our feelings.
It is in the “any” possibilities that the suddenly comes.  He is not only the God of the impossible but also of the suddenly.  However, many of the suddenlies or overnight successes usually have much required advance preparation.  To look to the suddenly and the impossibilities, one has to walk and live in the process of preparation.
This is a season of preparation for the release of the suddenly of Lord in all He has purposed and all He destined for our lives, and for the advancement of His Kingdom.