This morning I was reading a passage in the Revised Common Lectionary (I read it on my iPad using the Lectionary app). For those who think the Bible is a stiff book with no sense of beauty, they clearly have not read the Old Testament book of Ruth. I’ve never read through it without being moved greatly and marveling at the grace God extends.
There was a passage in Ruth Chapter 1 (v.6) that especially stuck out to me that I’m thinking through. It says, “Then she started to return with her daughters-in-law from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the country of Moab that the Lord had had consideration for His people and given them food.” What does that mean? God had consideration for people and had given them food? What about people in other countries? Did He not care for all people everywhere? Did He not provide food for people in other countries? Were others left to fend for themselves? What was God up to? At first glance, it makes my heart race, searching to try to figure out why God helped some but not others.
I’m a firm believer that every line of Scripture is there for a reason (though we may not always know what that is). It reveals something about God, God’s heartbeat for humanity, and our role within His plan for mankind. But this is exactly the kind of passage that causes me to think. And it forces me to acknowledge that I don’t understand everything about God, and I don’t fully understand everything about that great story, and maybe God doesn’t intend for me to know. It reminds me that for those of us who follow Jesus, it’s okay sometimes to be uncomfortable, to have hard, honest conversations with God, to pour out our hearts and to let Him know that we don’t know why people suffer around the world. To express our grief that brothers and sisters around the globe go without while we have plenty. To acknowledge that the problems of humanity seem overwhelming and that we are too small to make a difference. God is okay with us living in the mess, with questioning, with agonizing, with struggling. It’s in the struggle that we often find Him, patiently waiting for us to calm and to remember that He alone is God.
I look back at this verse, and marvel- seeing that God in His great compassion reached out and cared for some, though He didn’t have to care for any. His great compassion is more than I can understand. And with that, my restless heart finds rest… in the ONE who sees the big picture, who stretches His hand where He chooses… and I ask Him how I may be a part. Oh that God would use us as a people to be His hands and feet throughout the earth.
My little ramble for today.