The Gift of Being an Abrupt Surprise
7 When Boaz had finished eating and drinking and was in good spirits, he went over to lie down at the far end of the grain pile. Ruth approached quietly, uncovered his feet and lay down. 8 In the middle of the night something startled the man; he turned—and there was a woman lying at his feet!
-Ruth 3:7-8
Ruth took an audacious step—and her act of faithfulness meant an abrupt and surprising wake-up for Boaz. Sometimes, throughout history, following God’s lead means abrupt and surprising wake-ups for the people around us.
Maybe we’ve been merrily going along with someone else’s habit of gossip, and today it’s time to abruptly and surprisingly act faithfully, to declare you’re done with those conversations.
Maybe we’ve been quietly in the background while office politics have skewered someone around us. Maybe today it’s time to abruptly and surprisingly stand up for the person who’s been wronged.
Maybe we’ve been far away from God and from church and from practicing faith and everyone around us is also far away from God and church and practicing faith. Maybe today it’s time to abruptly and surprisingly let folks know that your life is going in a new, Godward, direction, and they can come along if they’d like.
Every now and then, following God requires courageous actions that result in surprising wake-ups for the people around us as we do something that they would not have expected. In many of those instances, it’s something we’ve been thinking about for a long time. Occasionally, it’s as much a surprise to us as it is to them.
And sometimes the thought of their abrupt surprise keeps us from doing what we know it’s time to do. But today, maybe it’s time to look at Ruth and go do that something that might mean an abrupt and surprising wake-up for someone around you.
Is there something that you’ve avoided doing because people around you would experience it as abrupt and surprising? Name it, pray about it, and go do it!
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