Blessing in what we have come out of

16 But Ruth said, “Don’t force me to leave you! Don’t force me to go back to my own people. Let me go with you. Wherever you go, I will go. Wherever you sleep, I will sleep. Your people will be my people. Your God will be my God. 17 Where you die, I will die, and that is where I will be buried. I ask the Lord to punish me if I don’t keep this promise: Only death will separate us.” (Ruth 1:16-17 ERV)

Naomi found herself widowed, losing both sons, as well. A widow in her day and age relied upon sons to take care of her, but now they were gone and she only had her two daughter-in-laws who could possibly help support her. The desire to remain together as a "family unit" is strong, but when it comes to leaving a place where you are comfortable, surrounded by friends and other family members, it can be quite difficult. The time comes when Naomi wants to return to her home land - to be nearer her own kin. Perhaps someone will act as a "redeemer" on her behalf to provide for her needs well into her advanced age. This means "new ties" would have to be broken in order to return to "old ties". One such tie would not be broken, though, for Ruth's desire was to stay with her mother-in-law. There are indeed times when the journey one thought they were taking for their "well-being" ends up totally contrary to where they thought they were headed. It could be that journey "ends" with "new beginnings".

Naomi had moved away from her homeland not in search of great wealth, but in order to survive famine and hard times. The truth of the matter is that sometimes we find ourselves in "new places" because the circumstances dictated a change in our "normal plans". Something got "disturbed" in our normal course of actions, causing us to be in places of uncertainty, hardship, and even despair on occasion. It is in these moments we find what defines us and what will direct our future actions. Naomi knows the provision of her needs could be accomplished in this foreign land she was in, but she also knows the provision of her needs may be even greater should she be in the place where God has prepared for each of her needs to be met. Just because some of our needs are being met right where we are doesn't mean God hasn't prepared something much greater for us when we go into the place he prepares for us! Both are places of provision, but one is better than the other!

I think Douglas Adams states it very well when he says: "I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I ended up where I intended to be." We often intend to go in one direction, but find our destination just a little bit different than where we were "going". Naomi was in search of provision (food, shelter, and daily needs met). Her "going" was directed by her husband, the leader of the household, taking her into a land she neither knew, nor one in which she really felt a sense of "belonging" while living there. When her circumstances change, her desire to be "home" really drove her to pick up and return, although she had little to return to where she was going. Yet, in so doing, she was finding herself "ending up" where she intended to be - safe under the protection of a kinsman redeemer. Not only did she end up where she intended to be (and where God intended her to be), but she had a companion for the journey, and a friend for life in her daughter-in-law Ruth. God made a way for the provision of her future needs by the blessing of this daughter-in-law in her life - for it was her service that found them at a place where all their combined needs would be cared for all the rest of their days.

Naomi's intention: Get home and somehow she'd find scraps in the fields where some manner of small provision could meet her needs. 
God's intention: Gather in the fields of the one who would become her kinsman redeemer - the one who would make way for handfuls of grains to be left "on purpose" for both the women's needs to be abundantly met. 

God's intended destination for us may not necessarily become evident to us within hardship, but regardless of where we come into the "place of his planned provision", we need to remember this - the journey hasn't been wasted, for we often bring INTO the final destination something of great blessing from what we have COME OUT OF. Just sayin!

Destiny or not

12 I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. 13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. (Philippians 3:12-14 NLT)

It is a well-known fact that an object moves toward where it is pointed or directed. In terms of our lives, it has to do with our "line of sight" - we focus on something and we move toward it - or avoid it all together as something dangerous we should stay away from. Unless we are cliff diving we probably don't move beyond the edge of the cliff - but how many times do we get right up to the edge just to "look over" to see what is there? There are times we allow things into our focus, getting just a little too close to the edge for our safety and security - whether it be in the realm of our emotions, spiritual lives, or our physical body. We push beyond where we should go all because our focus draws us into someplace we probably shouldn't go.

Focus is a BIG deal, friends. It most certainly has a great deal to do with our destination, but it may also have a great deal to do with our destiny! Some think of one's destiny in life as one's "lot" in life - it is the combined set of circumstances that lead up to the outcome one realizes. It is more than fate that determines our course, though. It is a whole lot of choices along the way, sometimes with multiple course changes just based on what it is we are choosing to focus on at that moment. The destination is our target - destiny is what we feel we have little to no control over - it just is what it is. 

The truth is that we often do more to affect our destiny by the destination we are determined to reach than we might first want to admit. We make choices - both good and bad - and the sum of these choices often is described by some as our "destiny" in life - simply based on what they see as a result of our choices. The destination we reach at one point in our lives is determined by what it is we choose to focus upon with the greatest of determination. If I focus on losing weight and getting in shape, I drop pounds, lower my cholesterol, and generally feel more energized. The destination was a certain "pound range" or "size range", but was this my "destiny" in life? Not really, it was a place I wanted to reach - a point in time I hoped I would sustain, but it doesn't sustain me!

Our destiny often can be thought of more as what sustains us - what keeps us in the race, so to speak. I am determined to realize my eternity is spent with Jesus. That determination affects the choices I make, but I'll have to admit it doesn't affect ALL of the choices I make. Some of the time I choose to focus on stuff not really helping me grow in Christ - it isn't that I am changing my destiny by that lack of focus, because I am still a child of God. It is that I may not realize the fullness of the destination God has planned for me in this lifetime! While they are very similar, one thing is for sure - what we determine to be our focus in life will define our destiny into eternity. Just sayin!

Your destiny awaits!

Destination - the purpose for which someone is destined.  Really we can thing of being "destined" as being set apart for a particular purpose - we have a "use" defined for our lives.  Our "destination" is "in Christ" if we have entered into relationship with him.  If not, our "destination" is rather uncertain.

^25-27But now you have arrived at your destination: By faith in Christ you are in direct relationship with God. Your baptism in Christ was not just washing you up for a fresh start. It also involved dressing you in an adult faith wardrobe—Christ's life, the fulfillment of God's original promise.

(Galations 3:25-27 The Message)

The awesome point of this passage is the "direct" relationship we have with God through Christ.  The Apostle Paul has spent better than half of this letter to the Galations explaining the purpose of the Law of Moses as "pointing to" the destination he now reveals - life with God - direct, no middle-man involved.  In other words, we have IMMEDIATE access which is PERSONAL in nature - affording an opportunity for us to be frank and real with God.

For some, being "real" with God is a very frightening prospect.  Yet, if we have been brought into "direct" relationship with God through the work of Christ on the cross, we have no need to fear this relationship.  It is like having an "all-access" pass!  We can be straightforward - totally candid with God - because he does not judge us harshly for our wayward thoughts, our missteps, or our lack of trust.  He accepts us "IN" Christ.  Pure and simple.

Paul brings up another interesting point about baptism - it was not just a time of washing us up for a fresh start.  If it was, we'd be finding a place to be "baptized" every day!  In baptism, we make a "fresh start" - one which involves acknowledging our intention to live according to the truth God reveals in his Word.  The best of intentions does not get us to our destination, though.  It takes purposeful steps from point "A" to get to point "B".

This is where being dressed in an "adult faith wardrobe" comes into play.  In another of his letters, Paul directs us ever so carefully to consider how we "adorn" ourselves for the daily "warfare" of living according to the truth God reveals.  He calls it "putting on the whole armor of God" - utilizing the weapons of defense to repel temptation, avoiding the damage of compromise, etc.  He reminds us to take up the offensive weaponry, as well - utilizing the Word of God (the sword of the Spirit) to expose untruth, speak truth into dark times, etc.  How we are "adorned" matters.

Paul reminds us of the importance of being "fully dressed" with the wardrobe we are given.  If we bathe (baptism) - we also need to be clothed (applying the truth we are given)!  We often stop at baptism - we need to move on!  God brings us into direct, open, and frank relationship with him - IN CHRIST.  In turn, we are to enter into the enjoyment of this freedom, clothing ourselves with all he provides - our "adult faith wardrobe" found in Christ!