Abounding Grace

At times growth comes through those experiences that have you feeling like you’ll never get to see the light of day once again. Those that shatter the very little remaining faith one has in human interaction. The kind that trigger your body reflexes into flight yet making an exit is not an option for the given instance. All the while, as God calls you to greater and more that has you wondering whether He’s referring to the same person😂😂.

Great people, that has essentially been the last nine months with the variation of it  continually pushed to a greater intensity. God has called me to deal with the darkest of experiences so that He could call me out to enjoy the sunshine without holding back. Consciously striving not to drown in it because well🤷‍♀️, sons reign💪🏼.

It has been quite a mash up on all fronts as some of these journeys that He’d graciously let me in on, got to have me out in the cold longer than I’d bargained buckled up for. It looked like one of those that the end seemed far from sight. I remember chatting Him up with a deeper level of rawness, like I needed that cheat sheet if my not getting out of this place indicated that I kept failing these tests He’d set before me. I kept crying out to Him, “Papa I need to be out of this cycle ASAP.” Given how catastrophic it could be jumping out of a moving train, I was definitely not going to step out of this one. While in that back and forth, full of frustration, He gave me the bigger picture; He disciplines those He loves.

I knew it was going to be for my good, all the murk plus more as it seemed to me. I wanted out, at the same time to enjoy the new thing that would be birthed at the end of this one. Papa was gauging my faithfulness even as I laboured in the yard, as He kept showing me with outstanding precision the orchards and abundance He’s calling me to. I leaned in closer and to be honest because He was all I had and He continues to be my everything.

I mean it though. HE WAS AND STILL IS ALL I HAD. Through assignments that I deemed outrageously demanding yet greatly satisfying, to Him redefining the trust He needed out of me, to an unseen move in the little that was left of my social circle( we can call it a semi circle for  purposes of this illustration 😂😂) and eventually Him calling me to a place of greater intimacy with Him.

I remember thinking out loud as I lay on my bed concerning Ruth. She must have been one bold woman to walk into the unknown with such great confidence. An unshakable trust of a God she herself didn’t know of, even after suffering such a great loss with no hint of restoration. Like girl 👀👀. How do you even? 🙆🏽. Didn’t she get moments whereby her heart mourned over things that felt beyond her? Was she at 💯 on a constant? Or was it the outlook that I have nothing more to lose and trust seems like the best way out? I have so many questions to ask Ruth concerning her resolve. We’ll possibly catch up on St Peter’s street in the after life.🙃

What stands out for me though was this:

Even as she blindly trusted with nothing in sight for her and possibly ridicule surrounding her. Even as she chose to obey instructions and guidance given to her for this unfamiliar safari in unfamiliar land, at no point did she sit to lick her wounds. She did not at any point let it define her. She chose to trust with the beautiful twist to this being that love found her.😭☺️

Nope this isn’t one of those find your Boaz pep talks. Quite far from it, beautiful ladies indulging in this piece. Let’s be candid. Boaz isn’t the only kind to find you. There are Davids, Elijahs, Jonahs, Abrahams, Jacobs, Joshuas, the list goes on and on. God’s already graced you for the pick and the season that comes with it. So enter rest and remain in Him.

As I digress🙈.

God showered her with experiences that must have seemed too surreal as she walked through every bit of it. A typical zero to a hundred real quick switch.🤓 She got into the bloodline of Jesus just because she chose to trust! Just because! 😭🙌🏼

She proved herself faithful through every bit of the journey and my oh my! A restoration like no other!! Exceedingly abundantly above all that she could possibly imagine! It was never transactional with her. This did not necessarily mean that she did not have desires, things that her heart longed for. She possibly chose to be graceful through it as she let her God know about it.

I could only imagine her reminding herself over and over again   ” You, God, are all I need! You have taken care of me before, even when I didn’t acknowledge you and now more than ever, I know you’ll bring it all to completion.” She probably stole away moments while on that field trying to get some heads of barley or as she helped out her Mother-in-love, Naomi, just to remind herself about this God that she chose to serve and live for.

My creative juices run really wild where this story is concerned. It feels like having a front seat to watching a flower bloom into the most beautiful of its kind. Ruth transitioned from a lonely, hurting, very possibly a social outcast as a widow TO a mother, a tycoon and part of Jesus’ family tree in what seemed like overnight.

I honestly am in awe at the much that the Bible portrays of her, a gracious woman who derived strength in God and trusted His timing. You see Ruth had every opportunity and reason to birth this prematurely. Plenty of moments to choose to do it in her own strength even possibly feel entitled to it, nothing stopping her. However, she chose to enter rest and trust. She chose to grow in this season; to wait on (serve) God and it was totally worth every bit of it.

This, friend, is an example of how Papa would want us to handle ourselves even as He gracefully breaks and moulds us into the sons He needs us to be. Sons stepping into the assignments set ahead in His authority without tipping our crowns just because the Refiner’s fire got a tad bit hotter. As graceful as a swan they say? Whatever we’d prefer to liken it to, the core of it being; tap into His abounding grace.

 

So be a happy camper like Ruth.

Stand out because of your faithfulness and choice to trust.

Lean in and commune with Him.

Enter rest and allow God to bring to completion the good works He began in you.

Tap into His grace that abounds and is always sufficient.

Step forth and reign child!

 

Much love,

Kate❤️❤️