But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay.” (Ruth 1:16) Note, she was staying right where she was, with Naomi.
Here: (Pronoun) In this spot! Right where I am!
Let me set your mind at ease, from the very beginning! Yes, I know today’s verse isn’t Jesus speaking or being spoken to. Yes, I know these words were spoken by Ruth! Also, as I begin to flesh out what God is showing me about this little word, I will be focusing on how we need to live now, where we are. Yes, I know that Colossians 3:2 tells us to set our minds on things above, not on things of earth. However, He also has us living life right here, right now, and He does expect us to do it well. So, I think our lives here on earth need to be a “both, and” scenario…not in looking around and focusing on the muck we face but forgetting about heaven, but in seeing our experiences on earth through a godly, heavenly lens. If you’ll notice the “H” for today’s post has 2 distinct halves, but it is still one “H”! We are living in this world, but we are not of this world! So, we need to learn to walk on earth, in lock-step with Jesus!
Couldn’t this verse easily be Jesus speaking to us? “Don’t walk away from my protection. Stay right here with me, and we’ll do this life thing together.” Couldn’t it also just as easily be us speaking to Jesus? “Don’t walk away from me, Jesus, no matter what! There’s no way I’m walking through this whacked-out, dark and crazy world without you.”
You see, He promised to never leave us or forsake us (Dueteronomy 31:6), but He didn’t promise that He wouldn’t let us walk away from Him. He gave us free will, but created us to need Him. My friend, He knows where each one of us is today…what we think and feel, what we need, and what we’re going through…and He has gone ahead of us, to provide for us!
A dear friend recently challenged me to live right where God has me, even when it’s a place/time I wouldn’t have chosen for myself! She challenged me to embrace it, to feel the feelings of it, and not hide from it. Sometimes, “right where we are” (on vacation, out with a lifelong friend, having a sticky sweet moment with one of our children, etc.) is where we want to be. Those “here” moments are easy to embrace! Sometimes…we wouldn’t choose where we are…with a bad diagnosis, mourning the loss of a friend or family member, having a disagreement with our spouse or child, watching a child stray from God’s care, etc…but God is still there, and He still wants to use that experience to grow us. Sometimes, our “here” moments are mundane… 13 loads of laundry to wash, 3 grouchy kids and one with a snotty nose, being a mom who didn’t sleep last night…again, errands to run and an empty gas tank, nothing to cook for dinner and no desire to cook it, etc…but God is in those, too, and He wants to use them for our good and for His glory!
So, here is my friend’s quote. I love it, and it feeds me and spurs me on! “Right here…and only here! Right now, and never again!” WOW! What depth in that short sentiment!
As my mom always says, “Everything happens for a reason,” and those reasons were ordained for us before one day of our lives ever came to pass! Instead of wishing our days and our troubles away, we must choose to walk with God, right where we are!
Jesus, please help me to walk in my “here” every day of my life! Help me embrace where you have me and learn from it…even when I don’t like it! Help me be able to feel good things and bad things…to thank you more for the good things, and to trust you more in the “bad” things! Help me to be intentional as I live this life you have given me…to savor moments with friends and loved ones, and to walk rough roads with those I love, as well! Help me experience you in the good, the bad, and the boring! In Jesus’ name, Amen!