The Story Chapter 9 - You Don't Have To Wait To Be Accepted

We've all "been there, done that."  You've found a special someone.  You have gone out on a few dates and you find yourself feeling something down deep in your gut.  It's not mere infatuation.  It's not just something giddy.  It is something deeper.  Then you get the courage to do the unthinkable.  You say, "I love you."  You've made the first move and now you wait.  It really is only a few seconds, but it feels like an eternity waiting for them to respond.

Finally the wait is over.  You've put it out there and they respond with, "I love you too."  We're relieved.  We're excited.  

We all have that desire to be accepted don't we?  We all have that need to hear those words from that special someone.  In fact, that desire made it in to Maslow's well-known hierarchy of needs.  He theorized that acceptance is basic to our nature and to our psychological health.

Ruth had the same need as we do.  She was a Moabite living in Bethlehem who we meet in chapter 8 of The Story.  She ended up there with her mother-in-law Naomi when her husband died.  And she found herself picking up the leftovers after the harvest in the field owned by a man named Boaz.

Boaz new she was an outsider - a Moabite - the same people who would oppress his nation for eighteen years.  You might expect there to be some animosity from Boaz toward Ruth.  Instead, Boaz tells Ruth, "May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge."

He accepted her, but he goes even further.  Ruth finds him asleep on the threshing floor and lies down at his feet.  When he awakens, Ruth asks him to "spread the corner of your garment over me, since you are a family guardian."  The word for "garment" is the same Hebrew word for "wings" in the blessing Boaz had pronounced over Ruth.  God's acceptance came to Ruth through this man Boaz.

Your acceptance did too.  You see, Boaz and Ruth had a son named Obed, the father of Jesse, the father of David.  In Matthew's genealogy the lineage of Jesus is traced through David.  Boaz is there too along with his mother Rahab (Matt. 1:5).  Yes...that Rahab.  The prostitute that lived in Canaan and sheltered the spies Joshua had sent into the land.

It never ceases to amaze me that God doesn't just work through rich people or famous people or even people who have it all together.  God specializes in the unspecial, often the "undesirable" to fulfill His incredible plans.  He accepts us right where we are, no matter where we've been or what we've done.  Not only does He accept us, He desires us and He uses us.