Ruth 4:1-4a
We have all encountered times in our lives where we had to take a “step of faith” not knowing how things would turn out. I remember coming to Emmanuel almost 14 years ago to be the lead pastor here. I was coming off of almost 17 years of youth ministry, much of which God really blessed. I remember a specific conversation I had with my wife Tami where she asked me, “You do well with teenagers, but are you sure that you can work well with adults?” ? Over the years, we have had a good laugh on that one. Of course, her question was a legitimate one. When I came to Emmanuel, I didn’t know how it would go, but I took a risk and trusted the Lord. While I haven’t been perfect, making plenty of mistakes, God has been faithful to me, my family, and our church family.
At this point in the story, Boaz knew that he wanted to marry Ruth. With that decision, came a lot of other ripple effects including property responsibilities. He was NOT the first family member in line to “buy” the property of Elimelech, so he used great wisdom to leverage an opportunity that he felt God had put onto his heart. Meeting his relative at the town gate, he cleverly presented his case to the relative. First he brought in new information not yet mentioned in our story - Elimelech, Naomi’s deceased husband, still had property in the area that was now for sale. As the nearest relative, this man had the first right to buy the land (Leviticus 25:25), which he instantly agreed to do. Then, Boaz reminded his relative that in order to purchase the land, he also had to marry the widow of the man who had inherited the property (vs. 5 | Elimelech as father to Mahlon as son). This stipulation caused instant discomfort in Boaz’ relative leading him to relinquish his “right” because he did not want to complicate his own family inheritance. He may have thought that if he had a son with Ruth, then her children would get a portion of the inheritance that he wanted to give to his current children.
Boaz made the “hard effort.” In other words, he did not allow an obstacle to deter him from his opportunity. How many times do we see the obstacles being greater than the opportunities? When I came to Emmanuel, I had already been “turned down” by other churches. In fact, my youth ministry was larger than some of these churches, which you can imagine inflamed my pride. Just before I began to look for a new church to serve in as a lead pastor, I remember the last day of our outreach night. When I came home that night, I told my wife that this was the last time I would ever pick up kids again at that church. That was a year before we left to come to Emmanuel. I had been prematurely convinced that God was done with me in that church when he wasn’t. It would have been really easy to see that “obstacle” as a reason to “give up” on his calling for my life. Instead, I waited until his timing and the opportunity was crystal clear.
How quick are you to “give up” on what God has laid on your heart to do? I’m so glad that we have the tenacity of Boaz to study. He was a man of great integrity, but it didn’t stop there. He took that “shining character” and combined it with “unstoppable passion” to get what he felt was God’s will for his life. There are a lot of people who are “good” people in the sense of having strong character, but how many of them combine that testimony with tenacious passion? How many of them stretch their brains to find solutions to problems? How many of them “push” their employees to help them to “grow?” How many of them take the time to invest in something that might take a lot of time before they see the “returns?” I think you get the point. Boaz didn’t give up when he was met with an obstacle. Be like Boaz.
At this point in the story, Boaz knew that he wanted to marry Ruth. With that decision, came a lot of other ripple effects including property responsibilities. He was NOT the first family member in line to “buy” the property of Elimelech, so he used great wisdom to leverage an opportunity that he felt God had put onto his heart. Meeting his relative at the town gate, he cleverly presented his case to the relative. First he brought in new information not yet mentioned in our story - Elimelech, Naomi’s deceased husband, still had property in the area that was now for sale. As the nearest relative, this man had the first right to buy the land (Leviticus 25:25), which he instantly agreed to do. Then, Boaz reminded his relative that in order to purchase the land, he also had to marry the widow of the man who had inherited the property (vs. 5 | Elimelech as father to Mahlon as son). This stipulation caused instant discomfort in Boaz’ relative leading him to relinquish his “right” because he did not want to complicate his own family inheritance. He may have thought that if he had a son with Ruth, then her children would get a portion of the inheritance that he wanted to give to his current children.
Boaz made the “hard effort.” In other words, he did not allow an obstacle to deter him from his opportunity. How many times do we see the obstacles being greater than the opportunities? When I came to Emmanuel, I had already been “turned down” by other churches. In fact, my youth ministry was larger than some of these churches, which you can imagine inflamed my pride. Just before I began to look for a new church to serve in as a lead pastor, I remember the last day of our outreach night. When I came home that night, I told my wife that this was the last time I would ever pick up kids again at that church. That was a year before we left to come to Emmanuel. I had been prematurely convinced that God was done with me in that church when he wasn’t. It would have been really easy to see that “obstacle” as a reason to “give up” on his calling for my life. Instead, I waited until his timing and the opportunity was crystal clear.
How quick are you to “give up” on what God has laid on your heart to do? I’m so glad that we have the tenacity of Boaz to study. He was a man of great integrity, but it didn’t stop there. He took that “shining character” and combined it with “unstoppable passion” to get what he felt was God’s will for his life. There are a lot of people who are “good” people in the sense of having strong character, but how many of them combine that testimony with tenacious passion? How many of them stretch their brains to find solutions to problems? How many of them “push” their employees to help them to “grow?” How many of them take the time to invest in something that might take a lot of time before they see the “returns?” I think you get the point. Boaz didn’t give up when he was met with an obstacle. Be like Boaz.
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