Sunday 26 Feb 2012

Sunday Reading: Ruth 3:1-5

Key Verse: Proverbs 3:5
5  And she said unto her, All that thou sayest unto me I will do.

Devotion:
This is one of those things that I did not spot reading through Ruth just a few weeks back, but one that I got from reading someone else’s advice. The advice I read was that I should read chapter 3 to find out what Naomi did for Ruth and that would help to understand how we should be more willing to take good advice from others... How many times have you been confronted by something that you did not quite get or did not quite know how to handle? Did you seek advice, or did you do the ‘man thing’ and storm ahead and see what happened?

How about a scenario that goes something like this? ...”but asking for advice is not always as easy as it sounds for some of us.” “Is it because we are too proud to ask?” “Well, not always.” “Well, is it that we are too shy to ask?” “Well, not really, it is more a case of I don’t want to mess things up by asking and getting a negative response; I mean, they have offered but I still don’t want to chance breaking the friendship that I have now”...

I wonder how many times you have been confronted by something like that or indeed have gone there yourself. Ruth was a stranger in a strange land but she was doing what she knew was right by following Naomi and following her ways. She had seen the good side of Naomi’s God through her actions and she wanted to get to know more. Ruth did not go ahead with all of this just because she was afraid and in a foreign land but rather because of her love and respect for Naomi. It was that love and respect that allowed her to follow Naomi’s advice in order that she could find happiness in her life. And it was Naomi’s love and respect for Ruth that encouraged her to show Ruth their ways and to explain how she would be able to find a husband.

This does not mean that we all have to be in a position where we are looking for a partner before we will get the help that we seek from those around us but it does show us that people are normally more willing to help us than we do realise at first. When God brought Eve to join Adam it was not just a case of supplying a need but rather fulfilling a joint role in the perfect way. God is the one who does know what is best for us and He is the one who will supply others to give us the support we do require and seek from others. Trust Him to allow someone to give you the advice you seek. Look for that support in the Christians around you that He has brought into your life. He has done it for a reason and we need to start trusting Him to see why...

Points to Ponder:
Do you find it hard to ask for advice?

Are you inadvertently turning God’s advice down?