“Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without a redeemer.”- Ruth 4:14 (ESV)
“Lord, I crawled across the barrenness to you with my empty cup. . . . If I had only known you better, I’d have come running with a bucket.”- Nancy Spiegelberg
Max Lucado bases Chapter 6 (“Grace on the Fringe”) of Grace on the Old Testament story of Ruth and Naomi. Just as the two widows returned penniless to Naomi’s hometown of Bethlehem, we anticipate a bleak future in the aftermath of our ministry downsizing or vocation loss, as Pastor Lucado describes:
“Hope the size of a splinter. Solutions as scarce s sunlight in an Alaskan January. This is life as war zone.”
Ruth’s story, the author notes, is our story. While Ruth had buried her husband, we have buried our dreams, desires, and aspirations. We too are out of options. Others may view us as marginalized and discarded. We may view ourselves that way as well. In contrast, Max exhorts, God sees in us “a masterpiece about to happen.”
Pastor Lucado concludes that we need to believe and trust in that promise. Like Ruth, we need to get busy. Inactivity and despair are not viable options. Our ministry downsizing or vocation loss is an opportunity to receive and extend God’s grace.
Today’s question: Are you drawing on God’s grace with a cup or a bucket? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “The shank of shame”
