|
Day 20: The Redeemer Who Honors Quiet Faithfulness
Scripture:
But Boaz answered her, “All that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told to me, and how you left your father and mother and your native land and came to a people that you did not know before.
Ruth 2:11
Obedience is not always loud. Often times, obedience is quiet and unseen. Faithfulness and obedience aren’t always visible and obvious. But faithfulness and obedience are not rewarded according to how flashy or showy they are. Bigger is not always better. In many cases, the quiet unseen faithfulness speaks far louder than some act of great service.
Week 3 reminds us that the Redeemer sees. Today we see that He doesn’t just see the loud or the impressive. He sees the quiet, hidden, faithful steps no one else notices. Jesus is better because He never overlooks what the world ignores. You might be ignored today, but as you will see, this doesn’t matter because Jesus will honor your quiet faithfulness.
Ruth didn’t set out to be a hero. She didn’t set out to go on a mission of attention or to become a celebrity. She wasn’t looking to have a book written about her in the Bible. She was merely seeking to be faithful in whatever small capacity the Lord had called her to. For most of the time, her faithfulness showed up in simply coming home with Naomi. There wasn’t a lot of glamour to her steps on that long and dusty road. It wasn’t a great band that was following her, banging her drum and calling out her name. But it didn’t matter, because what mattered the most was simply being faithful.
Perhaps today this is where you are at. You haven’t set out to be considered impressive, but just to be faithful. Faithfulness is hard when it goes unnoticed. Quiet faithfulness is one of the sweetest yet most difficult places to live. Quiet faithfulness doesn’t get your name in the lights or on the cover of magazines. I would imagine that most of us don’t really care about that, but if we’re being honest, we like to have our faithfulness seen. We like to know that what we’re doing matters, and that it’s not going unnoticed.
This is where our lesson meets your longing, for the Redeemer sees the faithfulness you’re tempted to believe doesn’t matter. And Jesus is better because He never judges your faithfulness by how impressive or flashy it is to other people. He loves it because it’s done to Him. And He loves it because you belong to Him.
When things don’t seem to be going this way, we can be tempted to help them along. We might start speaking about the ways we’re helping others or the good things that we’re doing. We cover what we’re saying with the veil of thin humility, but deep down we just want people to notice us and what we’ve done. The journey of quiet faithfulness is so hard because the fruit often takes long to come.
It could be that our passage meets you here. You want to walk in faithful obedience, but you also want the attention and reward that your heart seeks. And as you see other people who are getting noticed and praised, the struggles in your heart grow deeper and more intense. You can even get to the point in which you no longer really care about faithful obedience, but just want reward and recognition.
There were a lot of ways that Boaz could have seen Ruth. He could have viewed her as the Moabite foreigner who needed to stay out of his field. He could’ve seen her as an obstacle, somebody who was sucking up a lot of resources. He could have viewed her as someone who was not worthy of his time, or somebody who is making too many demands.
But how does Boaz see Ruth? He sees her as one who is faithfully obedient. One who was willing to leave the recognition and security of her past life for a new one in which she would be unknown. He sees how she has cared for Naomi and all of the effort she has put into trying to provide for her. What stands out to him is not how many accomplishments or achievements she has, but rather how she has cared for someone in deep need. Unlike most who would overlook Ruth’s quiet faithfulness, Boaz does not.
Boaz honors Ruth’s faithfulness. Her seemingly small acts of service in love are not missed by him. He does not take lightly what she has done, even though from the world standpoint it isn’t a whole lot. But isn’t this what Jesus does with us? Isn’t it Jesus who is always paying attention to the hidden faithfulness and who recognizes and rewards it? Was it not Jesus who saw the one who gave in secret? Isn’t it Jesus who sees the faithful sufferer and the unseen servant?
And isn’t it Jesus who hears the prayers you pray that no one hears, the service no one applauds, the sacrifices no one knows about? See, Jesus is better because He sees every hidden act of faithfulness and treasures it. Nothing done in love for Him is ever wasted. You will never have to worry that your faithfulness and efforts aren’t used by Him.
There is no shame to unseen obedience. If you think that your obedience has to be great and well known, then think again. Jesus takes great delight in even the smallest act of obedience. And this is where the story meets you today. You may feel like your obedience is small, hidden, or unnoticed. You may feel like your faithfulness doesn’t matter because no one sees it, no one applauds it, and no one celebrates it. You may wonder if the quiet sacrifices you make, the prayers you whisper, the burdens you carry, or the love you give in secret are worth anything at all.
But the Redeemer who sees is the Redeemer who honors quiet faithfulness. Jesus is better because He never overlooks what the world ignores. He sees the long road you walk with no applause. He sees the kindness you show when no one is watching. He sees the obedience you choose when no one will ever know. He sees the faithfulness you offer when you feel tired, unseen, or unappreciated. And He delights in it.
Your quiet faithfulness is not wasted, not forgotten, and not small to Him. The Redeemer who sees you is the Redeemer who guarantees your obedience will yield the right fruit. Not because of you, but because of Him who will see it to the end. Even if you are tired, keep on obeying. Even when you are worn down and beat up, don’t give up, for He will never forget any act you do for Him.
Pastor Josh Gerber
|
