SCRIPTURE:

Ephesians 1:7-10 (ESV)
7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

Psalm 34:22 (ESV)
22 The Lord redeems the life of his servants; none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.

DEVO:

Have you ever had to borrow faith from someone? What I mean is have you ever felt so depleted of confidence in God that you needed to hear from someone else how He moved greatly on their behalf in order to believe He could do the same for you? I find this to be one of the first steps in seeing God’s redemptive plan for your life. It certainly was the case for me in the immediate aftermath of my tragedy. As I study David’s life, I can’t help but wonder if there were moments in his journey where he borrowed faith from the stories he heard of those who had gone before him. Perhaps he sat around campfires listening to stories of those who experienced redemption despite the messes and mistakes threatening to derail their lives. Surely there was no one with a better redemption testimony in his heritage than his Great-Grandmother, Ruth.

Ruth is quite possibly the poster child for redemption. This may even be one of the first times in scripture the concept of “redemption” is overtly illustrated -- the writer even highlighting the term “kinsman redeemer,” a term we’ll further define as we go along. Over the next few days, I’d like for us to unpack the concept of redemption and how it has massive bearing on your current story. 

One of the primary questions I hear from people who are walking through a pain journey is this, “How do I experience a redemption story like you have experienced?” Truly God has begun to restore me in profound and personal ways, but I believe redemption is in the cards for everyone who would receive it. I believe scripture shows us that God is always in the process of writing comeback stories, even if we can’t see it. Like a novelist working late nights by candlelight while everyone else slumbers, God is masterfully penning the poetic prose of your unique redemption story. Even so, I do believe some people never get to realize or see it come to fruition mainly because they didn’t position themselves for it. They didn’t align their lives with God’s story so his redemptive purposes could flow through their story in ways they would wish.

One summer, Kristi and I took surfing lessons on a vacation to San Diego. The instructor gave us what I thought was an entirely too simplistic set of directions for how to “catch a wave” and ride it into shore. At first I chalked it up to her West Coast laissez-faire persona as she said with a bro-ish draw, “All you have to do when you see the right wave is turn your board around, get in position, and paddle with the current. Before you know it, you’ll be riding some rad waves.” 

There’s no way it’s this easy, I thought to myself. Just get in position and paddle with the current? To my surprise, she was right. Her simple instructions were all I needed to navigate the waves I faced.

Catching the wave of redemption in your life is not dissimilar to this. No matter what you try to do, you can’t stop waves from battering the shore. The moon’s gravitational pull ensures the faithful and steady stream of the foamy, cresting tide. God has a gravitational force of goodness that ensures redemption stories will be written. All you and I have to do is get in position to catch ours.

The book of Ruth holds some keys as to how we can do this.

Ruth’s story opens up with a woman named Naomi and a man named Elimelek retreating from their hometown of Bethlehem because a great famine has struck the region. This would seem to be a normal response, right? Leave the dry and desolate place to find food and water so you can provide for your family. Completely understandable. The only problem is that they not only left their hometown, but they left the Promised Land and went searching for something to satisfy their needs in the pagan country of Moab. Long before this, God had given His people a promise that He would always provide for them in the land of Canaan -- even if it didn’t initially look that way. Here is a family living in what would become the epicenter of this promise, the birthplace of the long awaited Messiah. Out of desperation and a lack of trust, they pack up their things and travel three to four days across the rugged terrain of the Judean desert to the godless country of Moab. 

The first step to positioning ourselves to see the redemption God wants to bring about in our story is to immerse ourselves in the places where the presence of God can minister to us. The presence of God is a deep well, full of living water that satisfies the very crevices of our soul where nothing else is able to reach. The temptation for many of us is to leave the place we currently reside because it has slowly dried up around us. We begin to take things into our own hands and try to control the outcome of our story by looking to things or people other than God to satisfy the longing in our soul. What this leads to, however, is an even deeper entanglement with desolation. You see, what would be plain to every ancient hearer of this story is that while Bethlehem was dry, Moab was even dryer. It was a desert region and would have been just as affected (if not more affected) by this famine. I always wonder why this wasn’t plain to Elimelek -- or maybe it was and there was another motivation for leaving God’s presence and protection for Moab.

The Jewish Talmud teaches that Elimelek struck up a strategic alliance with the King of Moab. In return for provision and food for his family (of which the king was sure to have plenty despite the famine in his own land), Elimelek would take the King’s granddaughters, Orpah and Ruth, as wives for his two sons, Mahlon and Kilion. The nation of Moab had been a nemesis to Israel for centuries now, so maybe this alliance would usher peaceful relations and open up trade routes for not only Elimelek’s family, but for the entire nation of Israel. The only problem with this is God had given specific instructions to the people of Israel to never align themselves with neighboring nations through intermarrying because their pagan practices would inevitably lead the people of God astray. Despite this warning, Elimilek chose to do just that.

When you read the beginning of the book of Ruth, you can’t help but notice all the names mentioned within the first couple paragraphs. Naomi, Elimilek, Mahon, Kilion, Orpah, Ruth. Names in scripture, especially Hebrew names, hold significant meaning. To gloss over them is to miss hidden clues God is trying to communicate through the story. Many times in Western American culture, we choose our child’s name by what linguistically rolls off the tongue easily, what sounds cute or unique, or what won’t be used as fodder for bullying by their grade-school friends. Unlike our common naming practices in the 21st century, ancient biblical parents would spend months praying for a name for their child to be revealed to them from God -- one that would embody the God-ordained purposes their child would live out. Encased within someone’s name was a clue to their destiny. 

Each name, however, was double-faced. Like two sides of the same coin, the meaning of one’s name had both a light side and a dark side. Embedded was both your superpower and your greatest weakness. Your name held the key to two different trajectories your life could take. Like Robert Frost once wrote in his famous poem, “two paths diverged in the wood” and like the poem, the decision-making power for where your story would end up lay in your hands.

In the story of Ruth, the first name we encounter is Elimilek, which means “God is my king.” Unfortunately, the story begins with grave tragedy, and I’m not referring just to Elimilek and his sons dying. There is a tragedy even earlier and even graver than that in the story. Rather than trusting God as his king, his provider, his protector, and his strength, he chose to look to another king, an earthly king, to shelter him and his family from this storm. This is where the tragedy of Ruth begins, for nothing else is written about Elimelek from here on out. We have no account of his life, his faith, or his story. The story could have read, “There was a famine in the land of Judah, but Elimelek trusted God as his King and The Lord proved Himself to be faithful and mighty in Elimilek’s life.” Elimelek could have been heralded as one of the mighty warriors of faith, immortalized on the “Wall of Faith” in Hebrews 11, but that’s not how it played out. We know nothing more about Elimilek other than this “strategic alliance” didn’t work out for him. We only see the tragic end of someone who trusted in “chariots and horses” rather than trusting in the Name of the Lord our God (Psalm 20:7).

As I  work with many people who have experienced tragedy and trial, I find it’s not usually the initial brunt of tragedy that derails us from a powerful and purposeful life. It’s often the decisions we make in the aftermath. It’s often linked to how we will answer this one question: “Will I trust The Lord to provide for me in this dry place? Or will I look to something or someone else to be my ‘healer and sustainer’?” 

Nothing reveals to us more what is sitting on the throne of our life like a dry and desolate season. Nothing reveals to us more who we look to as King and Lord of our life like a devastating situation. Nothing reveals to us more who we are looking to for comfort and satisfaction like a trying time. So what I have found is the greatest determinant for the redemptive destiny God desires for your life is the power of your own choice. The choice as to whether or not you will put the pen in God’s hands and trust Him to not only write your redemption story, but also to provide your very needs right now -- not just physical, but also emotional and relational. He has invited you to partner with Him in the redemption narrative He is writing in your life. The pen is in your hands. The choice is yours. Will you align yourself with Him? Will you turn the pen over to the master story-teller? Will you position yourself for redemption?

We’ll keep exploring how to do this in the days to come.

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION AND JOURNALING:

1. When have you had to borrow the faith of someone else? How can holy inspiration from the heroes of faith help you when your faith feels small?

2. In what ways do you long to see redemption in your story? Where do you see God aligning redemption for you?

3. What is being revealed in this desert season when it comes to who is sitting on the throne of your life? Where are you turning to for comfort rather than resting in the promises God has for you?

PRAYER:

Lord, give me the courage to step into the redemption story You have for me. Where my heart may be skeptical or cynical, give me the faith to believe You have good things in store for me. Reveal to me areas of my life where I’ve replaced You on the throne. Expose the idols I’m holding onto. Show me areas where I’m resorting to coping mechanisms and dependence on created things rather than You, my Creator and Sustainer.