A season of humbling

I talked a little bit last week about the study on Ruth that I am doing with my women's small group. We have moved on to chapter two where we are looking at the depth of Boaz's generosity toward Ruth, especially considering her current station. As a widow and a Moabite she is considered the lowest of low in Israel. Yet Boaz took it upon himself to show her grace and kindness after seeing how selfless she was when it came to helping her mother-in-law, Naomi.

Throughout all of this Ruth is completely humbled, even stating in chapter 2 verse 13 that she had less standing than a servant girl and was therefore unworthy of his excessive kindness. This season of Ruth's life, from an outside perspective, looks like rock bottom. Widowed, away from her home land, partnered with a bitter mother-in-law, working by the sweat of her brow, and a foreigner. But those of us who have read the book of Ruth in it's entirety know that God is just setting Ruth up for amazing blessings. All of which stemmed from her willingness to trust and follow God even when things looked like they couldn't get any worse.

Kelly Minter, author of this particular study, talks about how she thinks that maybe the Lord took Ruth on such a humbling journey because He knew the heights to which he would one day bring her. She continues on saying that nothing prepares us for enormous blessing and impact like a season of humbling. Lets look at Jesus, the ultimate example of humbleness. He who was created from the very nature of God but took on the appearance of man and humbled himself by becoming a servant (Phillipians 2:6-8)...not too far off from where Ruth was sitting when we last checked in on her! Because he was willing to serve others before self, God exalted him to the highest place. Talk about enormous blessings!

If you are in a season of humbling and feeling like less than a servant, I encourage you to dive into scripture and see what God has to say about those who are humble. Look at Matthew 23:11-12, James 4:6,10 and 1 Peter 5:5-6 and be lifted up. Read the story of Ruth and be encouraged by the fact that God values the meek and low in spirit. If you allow yourself to be humble in His name, He will lift you up. What a blessing!