The Joy of Rambling

Today in my study of Ruth, Boaz is the hero. Boaz saves the day. But it is not Boaz. It is God’s provision. God’s divine intervention. An unlikely savior when all else is lost. The author of the devotion is quick to point out that God comes through after we’ve exhausted all our resources. Why? Why does He make us wait?

I remember when the kids were small, maybe two and five, I had been working as a freelance graphic designer for a few years. My clients had begun taking their projects in-house to save money, and I was not great at selling myself to new customers. Slowly my income was drying up and I started to panic. It was time to go back to the security of an office job. I applied for every position I could find. I went door to door, dropping my resume at every local organization. If I was going to work outside of the home, I needed to be close to the kids’ school and daycare. I wanted to be accessible for an emergency or school program during the day. That was my only stipulation. I was a single mother. 

By September of 1998 I was broke and in debt. I was waiting on payment from a few clients and doing jobs for a few others from whom I wouldn’t see compensation for at least a month. I sat, distraught on my couch one morning, crying out to God. There had been one job I’d applied to weeks before that I was sure had my name written all over it. I was confident this was my job and God’s provision. But there had been no response.

As the frozen Minnesota winter months approached, my credit card was close to its limit, and I began to wonder where on earth this God was, who I claimed to trust. I was done. Broken. I finally let go of my efforts and surrendered the situation to Him. What else could I do? I knew my fretting was helping no one, and my efforts were yielding no results. I could not do this on my own. I was defeated. I was defeated. But God was just getting started.

A few days later as I scoured the paper for any job to put food on our table, I saw an ad that again, looked perfect. And then I realized it was the same perfect job I had applied for months earlier.

I looked up the company in the phone book—yes, this was 1998—and made the call. I discovered that the position had not been filled because the department head had been on an extended vacation. They were now just getting around to posting it again. I told the Human Resources manager I had applied originally. She had no resume for me on file, so I faxed it over to her as soon as I hung up. Within an hour I got a call back requesting an interview. And that is the job that kept me gainfully employed for the next ten years. That was my Boaz. That was God doing for me what I could not do for myself and getting all the glory as a result.

During my first month of work, I finished up some freelance jobs on the side, got paid for a few others and received a paycheck from my new employer that covered my current expenses, allowing me to use the other funds to pay off my debt.

Who am I to doubt the hand of God?

“God loves to do the unlikely and the impossible. He shines brightest when things are at their darkest, because that is when there can be no other explanation but His goodness.”

That quote came from my study this morning by author David Ramos, who has created a book of 18 devotionals (link below), called “Daring with Ruth.” It perfectly describes many moments in my life when I was at the brink of giving up. May I never forget God’s faithfulness. Especially as I move forward into the dark unknown of Jim’s Alzheimer’s. 

https://a.co/d/62CC7KJ