WHAT SHOULD I BE DOING?

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations."

Jeremiah 1:5

When you find your WHY you won't hit snooze anymore! You find a way to make it happen. -Eric Thomas Over a few weeks, I have been having conversations with many, many family members because there was a specific question that kept running through my mind and it was "how did they choose your spouse?" It sounds pretty simple you meet someone and fall in love, have children; you heard it all before. Give it more thought and you will realize that it is a deep question. The person that you were then(when you first got married and fell in love) you are no longer, how did you know that this would be the right person for you when you change? The latter is rhetorical because you could never know. Sometimes for example I want cookies and cream, then I may want strawberry and other times I may want vanilla. God says He knows the plans He has for each of us before we were formed and specifically for Jeremiah He said "I ordained you a prophet (your why) to the nations (your who)." With asking this question I realized that many of them did not know the answer themselves and what also surprised me was that even my Christian family members did not pray or ask God for direction on their who and what made this even more baffling was they did not know their why. I pondered and prayed on this for weeks and months. This saddened me...a marriage ordained by God, something to show His glory is being misused, misunderstood and misrepresented. How can we as representors of the Kingdom change this? We first should define our why and our who because it leads us to our purpose in God's plan. In the case of Ruth during her era, there were specific cultural or traditional steps that should have been made like taking care of the elderly, being respectful, obeying the law and honouring certain people. Ruth's mother-in-law did not sound like she was wealthy or fortunate but she was favoured. Ruth married into a Christian family and honoured the God they served, she obeyed what she was taught and understood cultural behaviour. She acted this out when she said "entreat me not to leave you, or turn back from following after you; for wherever you go, I will go; and wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God, my God- Ruth 1:16. She had already loved, honoured and respected the values Naomi showed her, Naomi represented God, she allowed God's glory to be shown in her actions. But one thing I would also like to point out is the tragedy in this story. For Ruth to find her Boaz this guy that redeemed her she went through some trials, circumstances and hardship. This is the part we do not like, this is the part that is hard and sometimes where we may fall prey to the enemy devices. The hard time can be the waiting season, it can be hard times or battles in the finances, family and your home. Ruth lost possibly the man that she loved and wanted to spend the rest of her life with, the plans that Ruth had for her future now had to change, she had to pivot. She had no children or home of her own; she could've gotten disgruntle, angry at the God that Ruth served, she could've gotten depressed or she could've become a harlot. She had other options that could've been easier at the moment. She chose God-obedience, she chose to honour and respect. You may ask how did she know what to do? She knew based on what had been taught. On the contrary, we are being taught to be so independent of laws, cultures and rules that we could miss our blessings chasing what we think are dreams or being our person. When I think of Naomi I think of my gran who is an elder and sometimes unable to do the things she once found so easy. For example, I carry out the weekly task of escorting her to the grocery store this seemed minor until I realized how many people did not notice her. In another person's day-to-day movement in the store, they are picking their tomatoes and onions but I disregard an 80 yr old lady trying to do the same thing and bump her, she may stumble and possibly fall. At that moment, all may be well but later she may realize that she has a pain in her hip that was not always there. Imagine Naomi out in the field trying to glaze corn, wheat or barley; in the scorching heat and no one to share her life with, after a long day no one to talk to. God saw the sacrifice Ruth made and knew once she walked in obedience He had to bless her. Every one of us has a different purpose and plans for our lives and the answers to what our purpose is will differ as well. In letting two prophets know their call God did two separate things; He spoke directly to Jeremiah telling him how He will use him and with Ezekiel God physically took him to a location and spoke to him. Understanding that the word, the Bible is our example, a guide to help us live will help us on this 'Journey in Christ.' There is a story for every situation we experience in our daily lives. There is a scripture about children, marriage, respect, honour, love, friendship, hardship, culture, parental guidance and so much more. Sometimes I do believe in obeying or acting the word out in our lives it can feel difficult and possibly we may believe it is undoable and as a result of this notion not follow it through. God told Jeremiah "I ordained you a prophet" but did you know that if Jeremiah was not a child of God he likely would still know things and be able to tell you your future? Hence there are false prophets, seers, clairvoyants or psychics. We must understand that God has an appointment for each of us from we were being formed in the womb, but because of free will God cannot make us trust, believe, follow or obey His plans. In Deuteronomy 30:15-20, God says there are options set before you life or death, blessing and curse and He says choose life so you and yours who love me will not be cut off from me spiritually and will receive the blessings that I give to those that are apart of my Kingdom (paraphrased). Every time I used to read that passage I did not fully understand it until the Holy Spirit revealed to me that death meant spiritual death, which is technically saying that when you pray to a God you are not in a relationship with you are dead to Him, he cannot hear you, you are mute. I remember a bad break-up I said to my ex that he was dead to me, that is powerful. I actually never looked back, missed or spoke to that person again. I understand how God would feel trying over and over again with someone but you don't want to be in the relationship but still want the benefits. That is just wicked and mean! Your choice was death but you still want what God gives when you choose life. God not only ordained Jeremiah as a prophet but He also wanted him to speak to nations "S". In understanding your why to pay attention to what is being said. God said to NATIONS, not this nation; there is a difference. I had a meeting with my Pastor one day and before the meeting, I realized I did not have anything specific to ask or talk about. I knew I had a problem that I wanted to discuss but I did not probe and ask specific questions about the situation. I took a moment to pray and ask God about the situation and based on my prayer I had points for our conversation. From that day on every meeting, I not only took a paper and pen I started recording our conversations. I did not want a watered-down conversation or an assumption of what was said. It is so crazy how our mind works, hearing things that were not said, misunderstanding something based on intonations. Believe me, the mind plays crazy tricks and that can also happen when you are in prayer, devotion or communion with God.

Further, in the book of Ruth, she was given instructions and I think this is when it gets really specific and it takes being attentive. In Ruth chapter one she honoured Naomi and sacrificed being home with her family to be with Naomi, then in Ruth two, she continued to walk in honour although the situation got real. She went into the fields and worked with no hope for a better future. While working, minding her own business, not getting into gossip or any problems and helping Naomi this guy saw her blessing Noami and was intrigued. He found out about her before Ruth even noticed him. Then in Ruth chapter 3, Ruth was given specific instructions from Naomi. How are we supposed to know which instructions to follow? When you are obeying God's word you will be following His instructions and through God or who God may use like a parent or a pastor or even a mentor you will be walking in obedience. Ruth did not know in following Naomi's instruction she would've gotten married to one of the wealthiest men in town. By culture there was another man that was supposed to redeem Ruth, there was someone that turned her down before marrying Boaz. The plot is thick. Ruth lost her husband, sacrificed her life, worked in the fields and listened to an old woman telling her what to do. You know sometimes our flesh could rise to make us upset at things we need not get mad at but Ruth did not walk in the offence. She followed instructions. She was told 1. wash 2. anoint yourself 3. go to the threshing floor where Boaz was 4. do not let yourself be seen until a certain time 5. after he had already eaten, drank and is laying down uncover his FEET, and lie down, he will tell you what you should do. How did Naomi know what he would say or do? At this point, the Lord was using Noami to speak or instruct Ruth. Had Ruth not obey or did part of what she was instructed her results would've differed. What I am saying to you today is, as we wait on the Lord for our spouse, our next move, on a home, on children or whatever it may be seek scripture for the situation and be reminded that God has a plan for us, from before we were formed in the womb and His plans are of good and not evil. Ruth found her why then she found her who. Ruth found her purpose and walked into God's plan and changed destiny. "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord."- Jeremiah 29:11

#walkingingodspurpose #fulfillingdestiny #gettingmyboaz #beingobedient