The Storm

As the South and Northeast prepare for "Irene" to hit this weekend, I can't help but think of the storms of my life...   I have been walking through one of the longest financial droughts of  my life for the last 2 years.  It has been humbling to say the very least. I have struggled with doubt and pride, fear and frustration, and my willingness to praise Him through it and count it all joy.  I don't have a crystal ball, so I don't know how long this particular storm will last, nor do I know the scope of what will come of it, but there are a few things I can stand on; one of which is that this is not my home.

God has a way of stripping us of everything that we exalt above Himself.  When I sing songs of worship, surrender;  the "all of me" type songs, God responds with a  "Yes and Amen."  He then sets things into motion, in order that my confession and my life line up with one another and more importantly with His will.

As I read through the book of Ruth this morning, that truth became even more clear to me.  Ruth made her confession of "where you go, I will go, where you lodge, I will lodge.  Your people shall be my people and your God, my God"... (Ruth 1:16)  I too have made this confession.  Ruth clung to Naomi, and followed her.   "Now, Naomi had a kinsman of her husband's, a man of wealth... named Boaz and he came from Bethlehem..."the man is a near relative of ours, one who has the right to redeem us."

I am so grateful that my Redeemer had been given the right to redeem me.  I am delighted to glean in His fields.  I am pleased that I have found favor with Him and that He sees all that I am and all that I have done.  He has allowed me to come under his wings of refuge and find strength.  "The Lord recompense you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge." Ruth 2:12

This is not my home.  Just as Moab was not Naomi's home.  She sojourned there for a period of time and then returned to her kinsman redeemer. She went through the trials of this life, and even though she tried to change her name to bitterness, He called her Naomi, for she was indeed pleasant to behold. 

I am a sojourner on this earth.  The road is pretty bumpy right now, and this current storm seems to endure beyond what I can bear, but I know that it won't be long until I am reunited with my Kinsman Redeemer; and He will call me by a new name and put a new song in my heart.  In that time, I will be fully satisfied!  And like Ruth, I will be His Bride, forever.