Finding refuge in Him

Quote that says:

Let’s straighten our shoulders, not because we have it all together, but because we choose to take refuge in the One who does.

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As the credits rolled on the movie and the closing song played on the screen, I sat back in my chair for a few lingering seconds, soaking in what I’d just seen. Several of my friends and I had taken our families to see an animated movie that focused on the life of David. Even though it was enjoyable and entertaining to experience this vivid display of King David’s early life, he was not the one my thoughts centered on. I kept thinking about Bethlehem Ephrathah, the town where he lived and shepherded and was anointed by Samuel.

This place is not often considered beyond Advent and Christmas time. The little town of Bethlehem—whose name combined with Ephrathah means House of Bread and fruitful—is where Joseph and Mary travel to, according to the edict of Herod. Here our Good Shepherd was born in a stable, perhaps not too far off from where around one thousand years earlier, a young man shepherded his own flock of sheep. And years before that, a young woman made a series of choices that changed the trajectory of her life and family forever.

Typically, when I read Ruth’s story in the Bible, I am struck by her words to her mother-in-law Naomi. Her loyalty is impressive and life altering. Ruth left so much of what she knew to take hold of the unknown. I’ve made those choices through moves out of the country and back into it, in taking one job over another, and even in saying yes to what everyone else says no to.

Yet, what grips me even more in my current season is the magnitude of the mundane, the steps we take that don’t seem so significant. Like in the choice that Ruth makes to humble herself and glean from a wheat field in order to provide for her mother-in-law. Her inconvenient and seemingly insignificant choices positioned her in the field of a man who could change everything. And not just because he had the financial ability to do so, but because he knew the one who did.

“May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.” Ruth 2:12 NIV

I don’t often think about my daily choices like that. My work may be deserving of repayment, but is my rest and desire for refuge from life’s storms deserving of reward? Ruth’s choice to leave her people was a monumental transition on multiple levels as she grieved the death of a husband, a brother-in-law and a father-in-law. The she adds to it by choosing to leave her gods and make Naomi’s God her own.

I often diminish the ripple and impact of my little daily choices to stay hopeful and push through, to trust and take rest, even when the to-do list is piling up. Ruth made a choice to participate in gleaning and gathering a little grain to make ends meet. And in doing so, she not only positioned herself to be repaid for her work, but her desire to find refuge in God positioned her for reward. Imagine that, getting rewarded for tucking up under the wings of God.

This is what gave me pause in that movie theater. Because that reward wasn’t revealed through the beautiful romantic story that played out with Boaz. The blessing unfolded into something more lasting and eternal. Because of her choice, she was able to bring redemption to the land of her mother-in-law’s family, Bethlehem Ephrathah, the place that would see the anointing and birth of a king and the King of Kings.

As my schedule gets fuller, and my kids grow, and tasks increase, I don’t want to underestimate or minimize how the little things position me for more. I don’t want to grow so strong in my independence that I fail to learn how to submit and trust and take refuge. Because when I make the choice to step under God’s banner of love over me, not only am I shielded, but I put myself in place to receive all that God has for me and the generations after.

This perspective shifts the way I view my circumstances. It shines light on all the dark places that seem beyond the reach of redemption. It allows me to straighten my shoulders, not because I have it all together, but because I choose to take refuge in the One who does.

What about you, friend? What choices are positioning you under the mighty wings of God? What does He want to redeem in and through you as you rest there?

A black and white portrait of DaySpring contributing author Jenny Erlingsson.

Jenny Erlingsson is an Alabama-born speaker and author of romantic fiction and creative non-fiction. When she’s not ministering in Iceland with her Viking husband or mothering her adorably feisty kids, she can be found writing and reading in the margins, with a side of Icelandic chocolate. Find her work at http://jennyerlingsson.com.