Disclaimer: I know that today’s post is not going to be everyone’s cup of tea. I’m fine with that. I respect your right to a different belief system or lack thereof. Really. No judgement from me. If you do choose to comment (which I would LOVE), I just ask that you be respectful and remember that this is me, sharing a very personal side of myself. Be kind.
I never, ever write about my faith. Why? I don’t know. It seems really personal. It’s definitely controversial. There is nothing simple about my faith. And yet, here I am – writing. All thanks to the She Reads Truth community (and my good friend Eva). I hope this goes well.
Oddly, that’s the entire focus of this post. Hope. For the last two weeks I’ve been participating in a She Reads Truth bible study on the book of Ruth. If I’m honest, I wasn’t sure I’d keep up with it. But I did. And I’m better off because of it.
The book of Ruth is full of hope – something I sorely lack a lot of the time. Oh, I hope for things, sure.
- I hope (sometimes it seems futile) to become a mama.
- I hope to feel successful again some day.
- I hope this blog takes off at some point.
- I hope that I am a good wife.
But hoping for things and being filled with hope – well, that’s two different things, isn’t it?
I can’t say for sure, but Ruth seemed pretty full of hope. She never appeared to doubt or fret. (Though she’s human so a part of me thinks she must’ve at some point. We all do.) She was full of hope when she left her family to stay with her mother-in-law. (Do you love your MIL that much?) She was full of hope when she met Boaz and her mother-in-law, Naomi decided to play matchmaker. So full, in fact, she was willing to risk total humiliation just for a chance at a new marriage and a life she never thought she’d have when her first husband died! She was full of hope when Boaz had to follow their customs and ask a man she’d never even met if he wanted to marry Ruth instead. (Y’all, I just couldn’t have held out hope there. That’s so not me. I’d have been convinced I was going to end up Mrs. Strange Dude.)
She kept the faith – even when she must’ve wanted to turn back. She was most definitely a stronger woman than me! What about you?
I think the most baffling part of this whole thing is that she was able to just wait on God, full of hope for better things.
“Sit still (wait), my daughter, until you learn how the matter turns out…” Ruth 3:18
Sit still? Are you crazy? I can’t sit still for any reason (thanks anxiety!), but for big things like Ruth was so hope filled and waiting for? YEAH RIGHT!
And yet, here I am two weeks in to this study and which verse out of this entire book keeps popping up? Yeah…the one about sitting still and waiting for God.
Me: “I want to be a good wife and a mama, Lord.”
God: “Sit still, and wait.”Me: “I want to feel successful, Lord.”
God: “Um, sit still and wait.”Me: “Could you just help me out with this blogging thing, Lord?”
God: *sigh* “SIT STILL AND WAIT”
So I sit (somewhat still, it’s a new skill…takes practice) and wait. And I work on being filled with hope and not just hopeful for things.
Tough job, huh?
I know this though:
“And now, Lord, what do I wait for and expect? My hope and expectation are in You.” – Psalm 39:7
What about you? Are you like me, working on being filled with hope? It’s hard, I know. But I have to remind myself that I am not ruled by my circumstances. I can be filled with hope even when I feel lacking. We both can.
57 Comments
“I can be filled with hope even when I feel lacking”
Ah, I’m so glad that you decided to share, and that you have been tagging along with SRT. It’s a really great community and there’s tons of truth and encouragement to be heard.
Anyways, I really needed that last line there. I’ve had a pretty rough and tough week and I definitely feel lacking. Lacking in all the things and all the ways and I’ve totally had no hope. Writing this down as a reminder. Seriously, thanks!
Jordyn
http://www.shewhofears.com
You are NOT alone Jordyn! I’m so glad that line could encourage you. I hope your week gets better!
Thank you for sharing about hope and faith. Waiting is really tough for me too. Blessings, Carrie
Thanks Carrie! Waiting is the hardest skill. Maybe that’s why God gives us a lot of practice? 😉
Great words of encouragement! I’m bad at waiting as well….and perhaps Ruth was and that’s why Naomi admonished her to be still….lol just a thought! Thank you for sharing! Great job and wonderful perspective
Haha! That makes me feel a little better Valarie! To think of Ruth fidgeting and fussing around the house waiting on Boaz. I love that imagery!
Thanks for sharing. I agree that verse 3:18 stands out as well. Sometimes those moments we wait take longer than just a trip to the city (as it did Boaz). And more often than not that’s exactly what we do. All we can do. Pray. Wait. And then Praise. Thanks for sharing again!!
Can I encourage you? SRT community is excellent! One of the things they encouraged me to do was to remember that our Faith is supposed to be personal but not private! Feel free to share and trust God’s got your back. How can we edify the body if we don’t share our life with each other. Many blessings to you on your journey!
“Faith is supposed to be personal but not private!” I LOVE that. Thanks for that reminder Chelsea!
Such a beautiful post friend!!!
It’s all because of you and your leadership into this study!
Yes, yes and yes! I have a tendency to try and play God to make things happen. I need to sit still and wait, instead. I’m not very good at it!
This is a wonderful post. Thanks for sharing!
I’m so with you Michele! I try so hard to make things happen. I’m sure God just shakes His head at me! Thanks for your sweet comments.
So thankful you shared! God has already named you (and me!) “Full of Hope,” even when we’ve named ourselves “Lacking”! I wonder if there’s a Hebrew word we could use to refer to ourselves in these ways (you know, like Naomi meaning “pleasant” and Mara meaning “bitter”). It sounds silly, but it seems appropriate! 🙂
I think you’re right Christina! We need a Hebrew word for “impatient” or “full of hope”. I’m glad you stopped by.
Sitting still is so hard.. I struggle with it too! But when I do wait patiently for the Lord, He does great things! Thanks for sharing your thoughts 🙂
Lea don’t you just wonder if God wants to glue our behind to a seat sometimes so He CAN do those great things? He must laugh at us, I swear. 🙂
I, too, hope for things but am trying to be more hopeful. Beautiful post!
Thank you Taryn! I know we can do this!
Beautifully written Christina. I love that you focused on hope and the differnce betweenhoping andbeing filled withhope. Such a key truth in this story. That line is one that jumped out at me also. Thankyou for steppingout and sharing. Iremember being in a place of hoping to be a mama, this is such a tender hope and for me a place so difficult to keep my hope. Praying this morning that you will become more andmore hopefilled.
Thank you so much Melinda! Stepping out in faith and being hopeful is NOT an easy thing, but I’m working on it!
I too am in a situation where I am needing to wait on the Lord. I agree it is not an easy thing
No ma’am it is not! But we can do this Sherri!
Amen. I am not begging God for answers on the same issues, but I am begging God for answers. Sometimes I end my week feeling like “that was just a whole week of prayers unanswered” and “why aren’t you hearing me GOD!” When in reality, He is telling me to wait. It’s not that I lack an answer, it’s that I lack the answer I want. Sigh.
But you’re right, and Ruth was right! We have to hope. We have the one who sees it all and knows it all in our hearts. So we can hope in the Lord!
Oh Claire, I feel you! It’s so hard to delay gratification isn’t it? I will be thinking of you today. 🙂
Sitting still is definitely a skill that takes practice! haha We like to be DOING something to help things along! Submission is not always easy. Anxiety wears us down. Being filled with hope . . . It is easy to get despondent with the fast pace and all the demands the world places on us. I love the verse from Psalms . . . My hope and my expectation are in you Lord. We know He is faithful. Stay in the word. Know His truths. Hide them in your heart. I am thankful for the SRT devotionals and the community here.
Sometimes I think God wants to glue my behind to the chair! This is such an amazing community. 🙂 Thanks for your comments Judy.
Thank you for sharing Cristina. I can relate to your struggle and your so right is so hard to stand still and wait on God’s hidden treasures. Just like you I’m waiting on God’s time to become a mother, to start my career after graduating a few months ago, and on starting a new ministry for God.
Today I’m lacking hope, I’m barely holding on but then I read this post and it brought back hope. Once again I was reminded that I’m not the only one waiting on God and once again I’m reminded that God has a happy ending for both of us. Therefore, lets hold on sister and when we feel like we are lacking lets focuse on God once again. He is the only way. God bless you!
I’m so glad my post could give you a little hope for today! Hang in there Gema!
Beautifully said! Keep sharing your faith on here- it’s a beautiful thing! I, too, am hoping to be a mama. A hope like that is full of more downs than ups but im sure it has made me better off and I will be a more godly mama!
Amen to that! I’m sure you will be a great mama. 🙂
I enjoyed reading this. Yes sitting still and waiting can be challenging. I hope the waiting on becoming a mom won’t be long. God bless you!
Thank you Dani! God bless YOU!
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. Your blog has really brought clarity to the Ruth study. I’m going through one of the most difficult situations I’ve ever been through and this study came at just the right time. Coincidence, I think not! Waiting on God and being filled with hope has proven to be difficult. I will get there though. Prayers for God’s divine hand in my life are appreciated.
And prayers for you Christina. Thank you again.
You have my prayers Courtney! I’m glad God could work through my blog post for you. Waiting is so hard. Hang in there!
I absolutely LOVE the book of Ruth! My dad is actually preaching through a series on Ruth right now and it’s been so good! She didn’t sit around feeling sorry for herself! She went out searching for someone in “whose eyes I will find grace” and God worked it out perfectly so she would “happen” upon the field of Boaz! Someone,by the way, who wouldn’t have a lower opinion of a Moabite woman because she wasn’t a Jew. You know why? (I’m sure this was pointed out in the book, but I think it’s so cool) RAHAB the harlot from Jericho was Boaz’s mother! He knew what it was like to see the grace of God work in a life and change someone in spite of their past. So he was open to Ruth and her circumstances. I could go on and on… 🙂 Thanks for sharing today-it pays off to be real with your readers!
I was struck by the issues with Ruth being a Moabitess given that she was in the lineage of Christ. I had never realized that before. In any other circumstance a Jewish man would NOT have taken her as a wife. So amazing that as someone who would have been considered to have no worth, God used her in the lineage of Christ! God can do all things, can’t He? Thanks for your comments and insight Nicole!
I know another pastor that calls Matthew 1 “Ruth chapter 5” because she’s in the lineage of Christ. 🙂
Oh neat! I would not have thought of that. 🙂
Thanks for the much needed reminder. I choose filled with hope over dispair. Thanks, Christina.
Always the best choice, even if it’s not the easiest one!
I love this post. I’ve been in those shoes so many times for various things…and the waiting *while hoping* is definitely the hardest part. It’s so much easier to have faith when things are going the way we want them to, but the very definition of hope is trusting in what we can’t see… Thanks so much for sharing.
Thanks Amy! Waiting is definitely the hardest part. I know you can relate. 🙂
Ruth has always been one of my favorites. I always go back and re-read her story when I’m feeling stressed and out of hope, even just with the little things. I think she must have fidgeted a little at some point, too. Who doesn’t when things seems to be going downhill? Sometimes half of the trial is the waiting part, patience and faith can be so hard to come by. And I think you’re right… that probably is why God gives us lots of practice. =) Thanks for sharing.
Waiting is *definitely* the hardest part.
Great post Christina, I’m okay with hope but like you sitting still, for me is close to impossible.
Mel I think we’re kindred spirits, I do! I can’t sit still for ANYTHING.
Thank you, Christina for being open about your hopes. I am glad to know that God is good all the time, even when we are waiting for things we wish He would take care of yesterday. Your post gave me hope for friends who are in painful circumstances. Blessings!
Thanks Capi! It *is* good to know He is good all the time. ALL. The. Time!
Great post!
Thanks Angela! 🙂
oh… seasons of waiting. Those are definitely hard while in the middle of them! BUT when we come out on the other side, and we see what God was working out in that time – things we didn’t even know at the time – it’s an amazing glimpse at the testimony He is creating in us, drawing us ever closer to His heart.
Thanks for sharing!
You are so right Jess! When we come out the other side it all makes sense!
Wow! What a beautiful post and one that I can very much relate to. I am hoping to start a blog soon, but because of circumstances in my personal life it may have to wait a bit longer. I cry out to the LORD, and He tells me (us) to patiently wait on Him. It is so difficult to hope and trust in Him sometimes (how miserably I fail oftentimes), but yet I know this is the only way. I can’t thank you enough for sharing your thoughts with us. I have needed this study of Ruth, and The Lord is definitely speaking straight to my heart regarding this study.
Waiting is so hard! Just know you aren’t alone in the waiting room. 😉 Thinking of you Amy.
Wow! This really resonated with me! Thank you!
I’m so glad Olivia! Thanks for coming over to check it out. 🙂