The Principle of Position

What you DO will position you for where you’ll GO. It matters what you do with your time, your talents, and your treasure. The daily decisions we make seem mundane and monotonous; the sun rises and sets and every day often feels like the day before and no different from the day after. The details are dull and doing what we’re supposed to do can seem boring and meaningless. But doing what’s right matters. Obedience to the Lord, walking in a manner pleasing to Him matters. Integrity, honesty, and faithfulness to our responsibilities are important. The little decisions that come with loving God, living right, and serving others are essential, even when they feel repetitive and unrewarding. In our second installment studying Ruth, we find Ruth in Ruth 2:2-3 choosing to take initiative and find work to provide for her and Naomi. For two widows with no outlook for the future, that one choice might’ve seemed all-too-obvious, but we should note: Ruth could’ve stayed back in her homeland with her hometown support network already in place. Ruth could’ve chosen to make her own way in Moab following the death of her husband, brother-in-law and father-in-law. Instead, Ruth chose to stay with her mother-in-law to serve her and to submit to her. Ruth chose to honor her MIL and in so doing she positioned herself to be blessed. There’s a principle repeated over and again in Scripture—that the blessing of God comes when His people choose to walk in righteousness and justice, when they choose follow Him. That repeated principle carries over into our lives, also. When we choose to walk in a way that pleases God, when we choose to walk in obedience to Him (in this case, to honor our parents and the adults in our lives, to serve those in need, to represent the poor and marginalized), then we position ourselves under His umbrella of protection and covering. Ruth was in the right place at the right time to see God’s blessing in her life. She was doing what she knew to do (work to find food for her and Naomi) until she knew what she NEEDED to do. This Principle of Position was true with Lot, who walked away from Abram and towards Sodom, only to find his life and family disrupted and ultimately destroyed by the sin and corruption in which he chose to live. He POSITIONED himself away from God’s blessing and missed God’s perfect will for His life. Oppositely, notice David who was with the sheep when his brothers came looking for him. He was operating in faithfulness, tending his father’s sheep, working where he was supposed to be, and was able to be found when his time for promotion came. Had he not been faithfully attending to his responsibilities, no matter how mundane or unattractive, then he might’ve missed his destiny to be anointed as king of Israel. In another time and place, David WASN’T where he should have been, and as a result he chose to commit adultery and later, murder—if he had been where he should have been instead peeping at Bathsheba from his rooftop, then who knows how his story might’ve been different? And who knows how Ruth’s story might’ve been different had she made different choices? Thankfully, she chose to walk in integrity and honor and service to her MIL, and by doing so, she put herself in the right place to enjoy God’s blessing. And we can’t ignore the fact that the *right place was a field, and the *right task was gathering grain behind Boaz’s reapers. Being in the right place and doing what’s right isn’t very glamorous, and the accolades don’t usually come for the people in the background. Sometimes the route isn’t so clear, even when you’re walking it. Ruth didn’t know the outcome of her decision before she went out that morning; she didn’t even know where to go when she asked Naomi if she COULD go. She just went to do what she knew to do until she could see what she NEEDED to do. When Boaz came up and saw her, he was stirred by her faithfulness, her servant’s heart, her honest, hard-working reputation, and he rewarded her.  He blessed her with a blessing from the Lord. He gave her a favored place among his workers and access to more than she needed. He ordered his servants to be kind to her, to leave grain behind for her, and gave her a place at his table. To top it all, he served her! She worked for a full day, well-into the evening, and came home with more than enough for her and Naomi.

When it comes to answering questions like, “What Difference Can I Make,” and “What’s My Purpose,” we should remember that God is the main character of our story, that we will only find fulfillment in following His design and His plan for us… and that being where we’re supposed to be, doing what we’re supposed to be doing will position us for His blessing.

What we DO right now will POSITION us for where we’ll GO.