Category: Hope

The Almighty Referee

Eunice Patricia AberLeave a comment

In organised sports, there is always a term for when the opponent tries to or gets an unfair advantage. And there are always safeguards against it. For example, in football, an off-side goal is not counted. In boxing, you cannot beat your opponent when he is already down. In Tennis, you can only serve when your opponent is ready to receive… and many more.

It seems to me that we, knowing our vicious tendencies and callous hearts, have come to define boundaries in which we can protect ourselves against each other – at least in organised sports we do. It is called fair play. That’s what referees are for. Even in day to day arguments, fair play is a rule we try to abide by voluntarily, albeit imperfectly… “You do not say things to purposefully put the other person down.” Or at least you shouldn’t.

And so it is with that same understanding of human dignity that I went to meet the LORD one morning. I felt that, for once, we as humans had done better than He had.

Because, as I recalled and inspected my recent tackles with my opponent, the devil, I could see clearly – in broad daylight – points and spots where he obviously low balled. Where he callously used an unfair advantage over me. And I felt betrayed by my referee – who I imagined should have been God.
He was not supposed to allow it!
It was not fair play when the other opponent could use whatever artillery was present at his disposal against me.

And then, after a long silence, He began to speak. The Almighty Referee… He reminded me of Job. Yes, Job, my very relatable brother and forefather. Yes, this very Job who had been a reference in many a conversation. Big Sigh.
But this time, the example was different. He took me back; back and back to when he was having a conversation with my opponent. There. He showed me what he wanted me to see (Job 1-2).

That I should not expect Him to referee in the same way that humans do. “His ways are much higher than mine – anyway (Isaiah 55:8-9)” – I almost rolled my eyes at the annoying thought, but then remembered in whose presence I stood.
In Job’s story, the only unfair advantage the opponent had was “to take the life of Job” (Job 2:6). And He, the Referee of Referees, had stood watch to ensure that never happened.

Even when Job’s opponent, the devil, tried the sly move of pitting Job’s wife against him – causing her to say words that could have driven Job to his own death nonetheless, the Almighty Referee stood watch and never allowed that to happen (Job 2:9-10).
The goal did not count! It was offside and so did not have any effect on Job.
The Almighty Referee had stood watch all this time.

Unlike the games we humans organise and oversee, we are never in full view of the playing ground – or might I say the battle ground – that we are on with our enemy, the devil. In human games and fights, we have a full knowledge of what the referee must do and where the fouls and penalties come from. However, while living life, we do not have that full view. Or many times we are too busy living life to learn the tricks and traps of the enemy, and so he gets an advantage over us (2 Corinthians 2:11).

Our greatest weapon and most important defence is our total trust and reliance on the Almighty Referee, God. And our knowledge of Him and what advantages we have in Him. Daniel said that the people that know their God shall wax strong and do exploits (Daniel 11:32). And in knowing God, we get to understand that we already have a sure advantage, for our victory has been claimed since the foundations of the world (Revelations 13:8, 1 Corinthians 15:57).

That my friends is how I understood what I must do – should the enemy come dangling his illegitimate “victories” over me. And also what I must do to ensure that I do not once more find myself doubting the intentions and nobility of my most gracious and attentive Almighty Referee.

Will I do all that I have learned?
By the sure Grace of God I will!

Till we meet in heaven, or by the grace and will of God – somewhere on the face of this earth, remember with me that the battle is not over until the last whistle is blown by the referee!
And thank God, Oh, thanks be to the Almighty God!
Thank God that it is the Almighty Referee, and not our opponent, who determines when the last whistle gets blown.

Isaiah 59:19 So shall they fear the name of the Lord from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him.

Selah…

The Waiting Room – While I wait

Vivian Martha5 Comments

Waiting is hard! Anyone who has had to wait on the Lord for anything will testify to this. It will test every confession of faith, trust, and hope in God you have ever professed. It is even more challenging when other seemingly good options are available, but you must still wait on God’s will and His perfect timing.

Sarah illustrated this very well in the book of Genesis in the Old Testament. She waited so many years for a promised son and eventually got tired. One day, an idea came to mind; she went to her husband, Abraham, and offered a solution for their barrenness. Instead of waiting indefinitely with no assurance, her maid Hagar would bring the promise of a son to fulfilment. “Maybe I can have children through her” (Genesis 16:2b), she said. Abraham, perhaps tired of the wait as well, listened to his wife, accepted the proposal, and went into Hagar; and thus, Ishmael was born. Genesis 16:3 “So he went into Hagar, and she conceived.” However, in God’s kingdom, the child recognised as the promised son was Isaac, who came after the wait.

It has been many years since Abraham and Sarah’s story; however, I believe there will always be someone waiting on the Lord in every generation. Waiting for different reasons: a job, a business, a breakthrough, healing, marriage, a child, ministry, the voice of God – the list is endless.

In my earlier post, I wrote about three things that cause delay: ignorance, the devil, and God. In this post, I focus on the last part: waiting on God. This is for those waiting on the lord. I will list three things we should do while we wait on the Lord.

1. Do not lose your joy

The thing about a promise is that when it is first given, there is excitement, awe, and thanksgiving. But over time, the promise becomes a painful memory as days turn into months and months into years – a reason to question your sanity and whether it was God whom you heard speaking. And life is cruel. It will constantly demand results, and at some point, those doing well will deem you a failure. All this can cause you to be angry and disappointed in God, leading to a loss of joy. We always try to justify it; stating the reasons for our lack of joy and the bitterness that follows afterwards. But remember that whatever the devil can steal, he will steal, even if it is your joy.

However, in this kingdom, joy is strength. The joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10). Joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. When the Spirit of God gives it, it is independent of your current circumstances. In Matthew, Jesus teaches us something. Matthew 6:31-32 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. While waiting, we can forget that God hears, knows, or He often responds in grand style, but God understands more than we think he does, and he is very determined to make glory come from our lives. The Bible calls him Faithful. Even with Ishmael already born, God still sent Isaac, the son of the promise. Therefore, while I wait, I do not lose my joy.

2. Remain in prayer

Luke 18:1 And He spoke a parable unto them to this end that men ought always to pray and not to faint. Prayer is a kingdom principle; there is no way around it. The German theologian and greatest force in the Protestant movement in Europe Martin Luther said, “I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer.” The results may not come after the first time that you say amen, but you press forward in prayer.

Sometimes there is an instruction to follow before the manifestation of what you have prayed for. You will receive this instruction only in the place of prayer. Notice the prophets in the Old Testament. The word of the Lord often came with instructions. Prayer is not just to talk to God but to hear what he has to say and listen for instruction.

Jeremiah 2:1-2 Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Go and cry in the hearing of Jerusalem, saying, “Thus says the Lord.”…

Isaiah 7:3 Then the Lord said to Isaiah, “Go out now to meet Ahaz, you and Shear-Jashub, your son, at the end of the aqueduct from the upper pool, on the highway to the Fuller’s Field.”

Ezekiel 3:1-2 Moreover, He said to me, “Son of man, eat what you find; eat this scroll, and go speak to the house of Israel.” So I opened my mouth, and He caused me to eat that scroll.

1 Kings 19:15 Then the Lord said to him: “Go, return on your way to the Wilderness of Damascus; and when you arrive, anoint Hazel as king over Syria.

All the verses above illustrate an instruction from the Lord for the prophets to carry on. Remember we are co-labourer’s with Christ therefore, we must know what role we play in that relationship. 1 Corinthians 3:9 For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building. Prayer will guide us in the way to go. The gospel of Luke introduces a woman very briefly but her story carries an important message. Anna was a prophetess (Luke 2:36-38) who perceived that the savior would come in her time. While she waited for that appointed time, she dedicated her life to fasting and praying in the temple. Therefore, while I wait, I will pray.

3. Praise is comely

I have always wondered why every church service starts with praise and worship. I learnt that it is not just for singing and dancing; it is done in honour of our God. It is an acknowledgement of the one from whom all blessings flow. Sometimes he will place a song on your heart that will minister to you more than any other song in that season. It could be an old song or a new one that God is writing through you. While marching around the walls of Jericho, it was not prayer but blowing the trumpets and a loud shout that brought the wall of Jericho down. There is power in praise.

Consider David, the man God testifies about and says was a man after his own heart. Acts 13:22 And when He had removed him, He raised for them David as king, to whom also He gave testimony and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will. One of his greatest secrets was praise. In the cave of Adullam, when he was hiding from King Saul, waiting for the appointed time to be king, he praised. When he was repenting from the sin of killing an innocent man and taking his wife, he praised. When his son Absalom overthrew him and took over the kingdom and he was in great distress, he raised a psalm of praise to the Lord. Therefore, while I wait, I will praise.

My heartfelt prayer is that we will not grow weary in the season of waiting on the Lord, but we shall have joy unspeakable, we shall remain in prayer and our lips shall be full of praise. For he has promised in Isaiah 40:31 that those who wait on the Lord. Shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

Selah

The Waiting Room – Why delay happens

Vivian Martha5 Comments

When I was studying the English language in high school, we had a section called “composition writing”. Adding similes and proverbs while writing our compositions always gave us additional marks. I managed to collect a few proverbs which I kept writing in every exam. One of them was, “Good things come to those who wait.” I was reminded of this proverb while writing about the waiting room. It is an encouragement to know that waiting is not always in vain. Good things come to those who wait.

However, life does not always allow us to think of the good things at the end, but rather the immediate negative feelings while we wait. We often develop feelings of defeat and failure, especially when others advance past us and seem to have everything going for them. In the first part of this series, I talked about the awesome fact that the Bible is no stranger to delay and that waiting is a posture which every child of God, including our ancient forefathers, has to take in one way or another. In this write-up, I explore three reasons why we experience delay so that we may each identify the root cause of delay in our lives and know how we can deal with such seasons.

Delay due to ignorance

When delay happens, we often want to play the victim, blaming others for our situation, or blaming forces above and beyond our control. However, there are times when no force is available and no enemy stands in the way but ourselves.

Hosea 4:6: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me.” “Moreover, since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.”

Hosea teaches that we pay a high price due to our ignorance. God rejected the Israelites as priests due to their lack of knowledge. The effects of such a decision are catastrophic. When the Lord, who opens doors and shuts them, rejects you, there is a reason for concern. The question then is, what knowledge did these people lack which led to their destruction? Let’s talk about three of these:

Lack of knowledge of the systems and workings of God: God does not operate randomly; he is a God of order. 1 Corinthians 14:33 “For God is not a God of disorder but of peace—as in all the congregations of the Lord’s people”. God will only entrust us with tasks which we are equipped to handle and the first part of being equipped is having the knowledge and understanding of the systems and workings of God.

Lack of knowledge of oneself and one’s purpose: Men spend years pursuing things God never called them to do and, in the process, delay what God has called them to do and the blessing and progression which comes with it. Moses spent years as a prince in Egypt and then as a fugitive tending to his in-law’s sheep; all the while not knowing that God had called him to lead the Israelites out of a life of slavery in the hands of the Egyptians.

Lack of knowledge and understanding of the world system and how it works: King Solomon, considered the wisest man in the Bible, illustrated this point well. He understood how the world worked, why people were poor, how to build cities, and what made a man prosper. Follow closely and you will find the same things taught today by motivational speakers. The point is that the principles do not change, and failure to learn them causes delay. If all we do is to wait for the good things at the end and never gain understanding, the waiting room will only be prolonged. The solution is not to wait but to take action by gaining wisdom and understanding.

Delay due to satanic influences

As New Testament believers, sometimes we are quick to rule out this option; however, sometimes, delay is backed by hell. The devil and his cohorts stand in the way and make it difficult for any breakthrough to happen for the children of God. Revelations 12:13 “Now, when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child.” The devil was cast out into the world, and he immediately started persecuting men. Even when Jesus died for our sins on the cross and redeemed man, Satan did not leave the earth. He is still as determined as before to destroy man, and delay is one of the tools he uses. The devil knows he cannot stop the blessings of God from reaching us, but he can at least delay them. 

So why does he cause delay and fight to ensure that things take a long time? It is because he knows delay causes weariness (Proverbs 13:12). And once men are tired, they will make all sorts of wrong decisions; they will curse God, and in the worst-case scenario, they will turn away from the faith. Even the best can make mistakes when they are delayed. In the parable of the ten virgins, the groom delayed, and both the wise and the foolish slept. If he can delay you long enough, certain options that were never acceptable become considerable. When an illness takes too long and costs too much money, a person may be able to sign deals they never thought they could, or the village healer can become an option!

Delay due to the purposes of God

Colossians 1:17 “He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” The Bible explains that everything holds together in God. Waiting is also included in that list. Sometimes God allows the process to be slower than our expectation. Fortunately or unfortunately, this is not delay which we can pray away. It is in God’s good and merciful design that some things go at a slow pace; at least slower than our expectations. All you have to do is trust that the process will be worth it. Some things could not have come if there was no waiting process. Some things are only possible because of the process. God is not punishing you but rather preparing you. Why does God cause us to wait? It is because he is preparing us for something big, and the process is designed to make us ready for the blessing (Romans 5:1-6). 

David in the Old Testament illustrates this point best: he was chosen by Prophet Samuel and anointed to be king, but it took him 13 years to get to the throne while it took Saul only a few days. The journey through the wilderness and the harsh conditions he went through prepared him to be the king that Israel needed. So much depended on him, and God had to take extra care to ensure that the process was worth it. In the end, when Jesus comes from among all the kings, it is David that he identifies with because he was the one whom he prepared to take the throne. 

I know that when we are going through periods of delay, the last thing we want to hear is “wait”. We want to hear that a breakthrough is coming now because it is never easy to wait. However, the good news is that God’s waiting room was designed to keep us only for a short time. We can never be there even a second longer than God has deemed necessary.

You will not wait forever. For at the right time, the door will open. However, in the meantime, understand that God is molding something great, and you can only appreciate it once the process is complete.

Shalom

The Waiting Room – The reality of delay

Vivian Martha4 Comments

We live in a time where everything happens fast. The 21st century is a period of speed; the invention of the 5G network, an upgrade from the 4G, which was working perfectly, should be evidence of that. Every new idea and invention will only be supported if it comes with the advantage of speed. The new telecom company promises faster internet speeds; the new bank promises shorter times in the queue and faster money transfers.

The system we live in operates on time; we go to school at a particular time, finish by a certain age, and get our first job at a certain age. Therefore, when we are young, we assume that our lives will automatically move at the same speed as or even faster than we have witnessed growing up. We use the current trend as the yardstick to measure what should happen and when.

However, I am now old enough to know that life does not always work out as planned. We all move at a different pace from what is dictated by our systems and culture. At some point, we move slower and experience delays in one or many areas. I have seen many things under the sun that have made me realize that delay is, in fact, real.

I have seen brilliant people – the ones everyone in the neighbourhood said had a bright future – fail to finish school for one reason or another. I have seen people stay for many years at a job they said was a starter job and intended to work for only two years while they looked for better opportunities. Six years later, the better opportunities never came. I have seen a university graduate who was told from a young age that education was the key to success sit in despair in their parent’s home four years after graduation with no job.

I have seen the good girl clock 35 before marriage. Everyone says she will make a good wife one day, but that day drags on and never seems to come. I have seen the most hard-working person take ten years at one level; every promotion has a condition they cannot meet. I have seen a married couple celebrate their firstborn’s 16th birthday in a rented house with three rooms. I have also seen a pastor have a congregation of 50 people even after 20 years in ministry. It can happen to prayer warriors and to lukewarm Christians.

I am no stranger to delay, and even though many days I put up a strong face, some days, waves of discouragement come. The questions start; why is life not moving, or if it is moving, why is it so slow? Why have I failed to leave the waiting room? Is there hope for me, or should I accept my fate and wait to experience certain things in heaven?

I remember a sermon from high school many years ago from a vibrant man of God. Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” The word of the Lord through Jeremiah was clear: God has plans for us, and they are good, and yet sometimes it feels like a paradox, a statement that mocks us when we do not see these promises; at least not in the time frame we wish them to be.

Was delay only experienced in the 21st century, or did men of old experience the same, and if they did, how did they leave the waiting room?

When I began to intentionally study the subject of delay from the Old Testament to the New Testament, I realized something. The men of old, the ones whose stories we know and love, went through periods of uncertainty, delay, trusting in God, and hoping against all hope. 

Abraham the father of believers had to wait 25 years, even after the promise of a son. Jacob had to wait for more than 20 years for the blessing and inheritance, even after seeing a stairway to heaven at Bethel, where God promised a blessing to the whole earth through him. Joseph dreamt, he was a leader at the age of 17, and he became governor at 30. David was anointed king as a teenager and waited for a decade before he sat on the throne. Lazarus, the one Jesus loved, fell sick and died, and for four days he was in the grave.

The stories are many, but one thing is clear; the Bible is no stranger to delay, and we are not the first to feel we have waited so long and have grown weary of the waiting room. Therefore, there must be a reason why delays happen. Most importantly, there should be a way out, and we should know what to do during such seasons of our lives. This blog series will address some of these aspects so that on a whole we become good “waiters” in the Kingdom of God.

The Story I will tell

Vivian Martha5 Comments

Everyone who walks with God has a story to tell. The stories may be different but one thing remains true – the experience you get along the journey leaves you with something to tell. Growing up, I thought my story would start on a high note and end like a fairy tale. It is what the preachers said on Sunday or at least the only parts I picked out. ‘Everything will be okay,’ they reiterated to our young and eager souls, a perfect way to keep us on our toes – waiting for tomorrow to come; excited about the beauty it concealed. Then life happened and storms of life hit so hard that they left me wondering if something was wrong with me or with my Faith. My story hit a pause button and I needed more than anything else to find out how other people were fairing – and for those who had made it, how they had avoided these storms and lived to tell their beautiful stories.

Therefore, I picked up my bible and began to go through the pages. And I realised it was full of people going through different stages of life, but they all had one common attribute: This grit like – bordering stubborn – Faith in God. Men like Job who were bold enough to tell God, ‘Kill me if you want, but I am not going anywhere [paraphrase]’. At the end of their lives, each learnt something about God and testified on the same thing: His never-ending Faithfulness to His word and His people. There is a plethora of men and women to write about but today I picked out three of them – all women (we will definitely look at the men another time!). Meet Hagar, Hannah, and the woman with the bleeding disease.

Hagar. We meet her in Genesis and in her story; she starts out as a slave to Abraham and Sarah. When Sarah and Abraham failed to have a child, they resorted to bringing her on board so she could bear a child for them. When she became pregnant, she started to forget her status and overlook her mistress. Sarah would not take it and started to treat her harshly. Unable to endure the harsh treatment, Hagar ran away. She ran into the desert alone and pregnant, unsure of the way to her home. After a long walk and with a lot of despair she rested near a well where an Angel found her. He asked her to go back and submit to Sarah, her mistress and he gave her the assurance that all would be well for her and the son that she would bear, even going as far as telling her that her son would have a great inheritance. What stands out for me is her response; ‘I have now seen the one who sees me (Genesis 16:13)‘; and she gave God a name ‘You are the God who sees‘. Hagar learnt on that day, after years of feeling unseen and unvalued, that God also saw her. There was a God who did not just see her master and mistress, but a God who saw slaves as well! So if Hagar could write her story, it would go: There is a God who sees me even when men do not see me.

Hannah. We meet Hannah in the book of Samuel. She starts out as a barren woman mocked by her co-wife for something that was not even her fault. Her predicament was the same year in and year out, and Hannah was always in tears. One day when she went with her husband to Shiloh to worship, she prayed so fervently that the priest Eli thought she was drunk. However, this time something different happened. Heaven answered! She bore a son, Samuel, who went on to become the voice of God in Israel for as long as he lived. When Hannah came to give thanks, she prayed, ‘He lifts the poor from the dust and lifts the beggar from the ash heap and sets them among princes and makes them inherit the throne of Glory (1 Samuel 2:8)‘. Hannah saw God take a despised barren woman and crown her with His Goodness. So if Hannah could write her story, it would go: There is a God who lifts us up, takes away the shame and pain, and fills us with laughter.

The woman with the bleeding disease. Her story is found in the gospel of Matthew, Mark and Luke. None of them is kind enough to tell us her name. All they say is that she had a bleeding disease for 12 years. One day she got the news that Jesus was coming to town and she joined the crowd coming to see him. Her Faith propelled her to touch Jesus’ cloak and when she did, she was healed immediately. Jesus then turned around and asked, ‘Who touched me?’. After a short search, she came forward and he told her; ‘Daughter, your Faith has made you well. Go in peace (Luke 8:48)‘. For many years, this woman’s identity and her story were tied to her disease, unable to even go to the temple. She was only one thing: the sick bleeding woman. However, that day Jesus called her something else: Daughter. Her Faith not only healed her but also led her to understand that her identity was not that of the sick bleeding woman, but she was a child of the most high God. So if this unnamed woman could write her story, it would go: There is a God who calls me His own.

Hagar’s story starts as a slave, Hannah as a barren woman and the woman with a bleeding disease without an identity. And yet they are the ones we read about today; who give us hope that our stories can change and they can end well. Studying these people’s stories helped me understand how I will tell my own story. That at every stage of life, God stayed Faithful and that the areas that caused me the most pain and shame – stories I wish were never known or told – that is where God started from. He started to mold and like the perfect molder He is, I trust He will make something beautiful out of my life. I will write that: when I was weak, I was made strong; when I was poor, I was made rich – for that is what the Lord has done for me. Therefore, when I tell my story, it will not be from a weak, shameful, and defeated perspective; but it will be full of the times when God came through.

The story I will tell will be of a God who stayed Faithful – even to me.

God of the Big Picture

Eunice Patricia AberLeave a comment

Today I was studying the book of Ruth and something caught my eye which I had never noticed before. When Ruth got married to Boaz, she conceived and gave birth [almost] immediately (Ruth 4:13). That made me wonder, “Wasn’t Ruth married to Naomi’s son, Mahlon, long enough to have children?” Indeed, when I turned back to Ruth 1, I discovered that the two were married for at least 10 years by the time of Mahlon’s death (Ruth 1: 4-5). The big question then is, “Why?”

Was it for the lack of trying that Ruth did not give birth all those 10 years? Or was it for the lack of interest in having children. My answer to both questions is “No”.

First of all, I say no because Ruth lived between the 4th and 6th Century BC (rough estimate from a quick Google search). During this time, the role of a woman was generally to tend the home and to bear children. Furthermore, “Reproduce and fill the earth” was still a very serious commitment at that time (since the earth was not full at all anyway). Therefore, we cannot say that Ruth and Mahlon were not trying. We also cannot say that they were not interested. Ruth in particular had become really close to this family and from the story, we can see that she desired nothing but to please her mother-in-law, Naomi. Ruth must have been truly interested in having children in order to carry on the family name and so was Naomi and Mahlon.

If Ruth and Mahlon were interested and were trying; and we know from the story that Ruth was not barren [I have thought for a second that Mahlon was the one who could not have children, but I will disregard that thought because there is no precedent in the Bible, that I know of, to indicate that the problem was with the man]. If all of the above was the case, why then didn’t Ruth have children for all the 10 years she was with Mahlon?

Could it be that the delay in childbirth was allowed by God? Could it be that God saw the bigger picture, where one day Ruth would have to go to Bethlehem as a widow and would need a kinsman redeemer?

Let me take a step back and explain myself. When Boaz was having that meeting with his relative and the clan elders in Ruth 4:1-12, he made this statement twice, “[Buy Ruth along with Elimelech’s other possessions]…. in order to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance”. This means that the major reason (probably only reason) that Ruth was even a part of this [kinsman redemption] transaction is because she had no children with Mahlon and thus it was justified for Boaz to marry her as part of the redemption – so as to preserve Mahlon’s and Elimelech’s lineage.

This is quite profound. If we step back 10 years from the time Ruth gave birth to her first child, we would meet a woman who did not know anything about the bigger picture. A woman who in that moment only thought about the fact that she could not have children and wondered desperately why this was so. She probably prayed earnestly to God; starting every year believing and hoping that it was the year she would conceive and ending the year crushed with disappointment.

Leaving the past and fast forwarding 10 years later, I can imagine Ruth seated at the makeup table on a her wedding day, looking back at the 10 years of disappointment and this time not with despair but with a knowing smile. Understanding finally that God’s delay was indeed not a delay. It was preservation.

I see her holding the beautifully embroidered fabric of her wedding dress; her mind flooded with the light of understanding. The Master had been interweaving a beautiful story behind the painful piercing of failure and disappointment.

On that day, and most profoundly on the day she gave birth to Obed, Ruth understood the God of the Bigger Picture.

2 Peter 3:9 The LORD is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.