Wilted Hope – Is She Wrong To Dream?

02/17/2011 at 11:50 (Uncategorized)
Tags: Boaz, Hagar, Happily Ever After, hero, Hollywood, I'm worth more, Life after the honeymoon, manipulate, Ruth, Sarah and Abraham, Shannan Parker, societies corruption, wilted flowers

The man sees her, then lays wilted flowers at her feet as payment for her.  Will she accept his minimal offer?  Will weariness cause her to relinquish hope?

Is it so wrong to dream?  Is it such a crime for Ruth to long for a hero?  To envision her knight riding in and rescuing her from the emptiness in her heart, and the black void in the back of her throat that swallows her breath before it reaches her lungs.  If only she could be the one to captivate him.  If only she didn’t bear the shame of a once has-been.  Oh’ she was radiant next to her forever love.  Since death’s sting, she’s now dirty from the fields and darkened by the burning day’s sun.  Her hands are no longer lovely, but callused from the chaff she has to weed through.  Years have passed and her eyes have witnessed society’s corruption.  Hope of obtaining anything more than her present circumstance is thin.

But there is a thread of faith still coursing through her blood. If she can just press on one more moment, one more hour, one more day, then maybe change will come.  If she had completely given up, she would no longer get up in the morning and taste a morning meal.  If she allowed the internal switch to flip to off, she would not even permit her eyes to open, but she does.  She gets up.  She stands to her feet, grabbing her aching heart as she forces air deep, deep, deep into her lungs.  Ruth tunes her ears to listens for the voice that’s been comforting her in this long winter season; and He speaks, “I walk with you.”  As long as she can hear Him, she knows she will be ok.  She whispers back, “Please guide me on the perfect path You have for my life.”  Then Ruth proceeds to live.

I’ve been told that because my standards are so high, the field of possibility for a “hero” is narrowed greatly.  Maybe so, but to broaden my standards would mean accepting the serpent’s lie spoken so long ago in the garden.  “Did God really say…?”  “Surely you will not die.” (Gen 3:1-4) To settle for what society says is good enough would make me like Sarah, who offered her maid Hagar to her husband Abraham to obtain her promised son.  Sarah tried to manipulate God and therefore planted tainted seed, and we are still paying a high price for her action today.

Ruth waited eleven years for Boaz to find her, to be her hero.  She waited and let God work out all the details that would turn her broken and tired heart into a heart that danced with joy again.  Even after she and Boaz met, there were still obstacles to overcome.  Before Boaz could rightfully marry Ruth, he had to get the first “close relative” in line to forfeit his right to her.  Boaz was a man of high honor, so he did so according to custom and law – he legally bought her.  She captivated his heart so much that he paid to support both Ruth and Ruth’s mother-in-law, Naomi.

Not unlike today, Ruth lived in a time when immorality and corruption infiltrated the land, but she remained a woman of virtue.  Though I’m sure her wait seemed long, and she witnessed many other widows being blessed with new lives, Ruth remained faithful to Naomi’s God and He blessed her far beyond what she could dream.

This story tells me that I’m not wrong in praying for a hero to rescue me.  My definition of “hero” is not like what Hollywood depicts.  I don’t believe in their “Happily Ever After” stories.  There is real life after the honeymoon and that life can be made wonderful.  My hero is not perfect, just God’s perfect for me.  He is not a reincarnate, nor a replacement of Warren.  He is his own man and he seeks God the best he knows how.  He recognizes that God is his source of courage and strength.  Because of this, he is courageous and strong – as he taps into his source.

“Then she said, “Sit still, my daughter, until you know how the matter will turn out; for the man will not rest until he has concluded the matter this day.” – Ruth 3:18

I would rather go to my grave hoping, than to settle for the counterfeit before the real.  Only God knows what His best is for me, and only God can put His stamp of approval, which is His peace, on the real.  So, I will “sit still” until I’m worth more than wilted flowers.

~Shannan Parker

2011, Keeping It Real!

*Read the entire story of Ruth, NKJV.