Tag: God's provision

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Making a Home Away From Home

Ruth 1:16 (ESV)—But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God.

While on vacation, I’ve stayed in studios with tile floors and beach access, downtown apartments with charming brick walls and dark-stained wood trim, lodges with mountain views, and motel rooms with king-size beds but only a sliver of space to walk around said beds. These homes away from home can of course come with problems. Mattresses with not an ounce of padding. Lack of outlets to plug in electronics. Suffocating smoke smell on every surface.

But that’s the thing about homes away from home, they’re not always comfortable, or clean, or luxurious. The same applies to our temporary home on earth. Money becomes tight. Cars break down. We lose our jobs. Yet, like Ruth, we have a choice about how to deal with the hardships. Do we make our home on earth, or do we make our home with God?

Naomi and Ruth, after loss of their husbands, pondered these questions. Naomi, whose husband came from Bethlehem, urged her daughters-in-law, Ruth and Orpah, to stay in Moab, their homeland, and marry Moabite men. Orpah chose the home most familiar to her; Ruth chose not only Bethlehem, not only Naomi, but also, and most importantly, God. A Moabite widow, Ruth’s life became ripe with hardships. Rather than despair, she made her home with Elohim instead of multiples gods, and God’s provision served her well.

In making her home with God, Ruth gleaned food from the field of a righteous man, a kinsman-redeemer, no less. This man, Boaz, accepted her proposal of kinsman-redeemer and praised her for her high character, working with a closer kinsman-redeemer before being able to marry Ruth. After Boaz and Ruth married, they became parents to a son, Obed, who became “the father of Jesse, the father of David” (Ruth 4:17, ESV)—a genealogical line that continued on to Jesus!

Like Ruth’s earthly home, ours has its share of hardships. But if we make our home with God while on earth, our earthly home becomes a place where God can create a beautiful story that ends with us residing in our eternal home.

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Watching the Eagles: An Adventure Along the Mississippi River

An eagle swoops down to fish in the Mississippi River.

A crisp wind blows across the Mississippi River in Clarksville, Missouri. Remnants of snow cover the ground. Chunks of ice float in the river. People walk along the sidewalk in the riverside park, their gazes toward the water. Photographers view the surroundings through super telephoto lenses.

Though the winter has brought about temperatures cold enough to freeze the Mississippi River in places, the lock and dam churns the water with enough force to break up the ice.

Despite the cold, I do not slip on my gloves or bury my hands in my pockets. Instead, I grasp the camera hanging around my neck, ready to capture a moment.

Hundreds of eagles perch in the trees across the river. Some stretch their wings, circling overhead. Others swoop down toward the water to scoop up fish in their talons, only to have to fight off another eagle. Sometimes they fly away with their catch; other times the fish falls back into the river.

This scene from our annual trip to watch the eagles reminds me of God’s provision. He has provided a spot on the river for the eagles to feast during the winter. For certain, I don’t need a super telephoto lens to see God’s provision. It’s on display in nature, ready to be seen.

Does the eagle soar at your command and build its nest on high?

—Job 39:27

Who provides for the raven its prey, when its young ones cry to God for help, and wander about for lack of food?

—Job 38:41

But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

—Isaiah 40:31