Waiting As Obedience

An excerpt from today's instalment of She Reads Truth's study on Ruth, Waiting As Obedience:

This doesn't mean that things turn out exactly the way we think they should.  Had Boaz come back and told Ruth he wasn't able to marry her, God's plan would have gone ahead of hers.  He woudl have come through, provided for her, remembered His promise.

In your waiting place, cling to the hope that never once has our God left our story unfinished and unredeemed.  It may not look how we expected but, as with Ruth and Naomi, our story is His story -- it was then and it will be in years to come. We are only to wait, to trust, to obey. 

I've always enjoyed reading through Ruth. It's a great story and she is my favourite female Bible character. However, this study has helped me go beyond just reading this book as a story, and extract lessons from text. There are so many things to learn in there and so many things I admire in Ruth - her obedience, trust, faith, patience, humbleness, inner strength, loyalty, and diligence are but a few things that come to mind.

Washed, renewed, and made anew.

"He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit." - Titus 3:5

"Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come." - 2 Corinthians 5:17

Though we are broken, You love us and make us whole.
Though our sins are scarlet, You make us white as snow.

Walks with K

I've been taking K out for daily walks (as long as it's not raining) ever since the weather warmed up and summer arrived. (What happened to spring? I feel like we went straight to summer once winter finally finished.)  Anyway, we are generally out and about for about an hour (weather dependent), but lately our walks having been getting longer and farther. I really enjoy the time we have outside together and having her there makes all the difference (even if she generally falls asleep for at least a little bit).

I went for a walk by myself yesterday, but it just wasn't the same without her and I was home within 15 minutes. I got too bored, heh.

The Word. Werd.

I came across a Bible Study website for women today, #SheReadsTruth. According to their site, they been around for around 2 years now, but they are new to me and I'm happy to have found them. They are currently going through the book of Titus and have already completed 6 days of their reading plan. I read the first instalment today and so far so good. I'm behind and will likely remain behind (as opposed to trying to read through 6 days in 1), but I'm okay with that. I'm excited to see where this study of the Word will take me. I just need to keep with it.

I'm also currently trying struggling to keep up with my New Year's resolution of reading through the entire Bible this year. I've tried this before in the past, but have never been able to do it. To help keep myself on track, I've been trying to follow the Discipleship Journal Bible Reading Plan (hey if John Piper used it, it has got to be good), but in all of the readings except for Psalms, I'm failing miserably. (Have I mentioned I'm struggling?) As per usual it has been hard to find the discipline to be consistent, but I can't let this deter me from continuing on. I just need to keep with it.

Thank goodness for new mercies everyday.

Werd.