Joy in the Waiting

It’s been said before that if you take a person who lives an average adult lifespan of 70-75 years, they will have spent 3 years of their life waiting on things. While that figure might be a tad on the high side, we all know that waiting for things can be infuriating at times - even when we try our best to smile and survive. A survey conducted about 10 years ago found that the thing that people hate waiting on the most is grocery store lines and that people in urban cities spend on average 5-6 minutes waiting to check-out each time they go to the store. 5-6 minutes and people throw a fit. What a strange world we live in - but our world seems to gets stranger and stranger the deeper you dive.

In a New York Times article, journalist Alex Stone tells the story of how executives at a Houston airport faced and then solved a cascade of passenger complaints about long waits at the baggage claim. They first decided to hire more baggage handlers, reducing wait times to an industry-beating average of eight minutes. But complaints persisted. This made no sense to the executives until they discovered that, on the average, passengers took just one minute to walk to baggage claim, resulting in a hurry-up-and-wait situation. The walk time was not a problem; the remaining seven empty minutes of staring at the baggage carousel was. So, in a burst of innovation, the executives moved the arrival gates farther away from the baggage claim area. Passengers now had to walk much farther but their bags were often waiting for them when they arrived. Problem solved. The complaints dropped.

For the same article Stone interviewed MIT operations researcher Richard Larson, the world's leading expert on waiting in lines to discover the psychology behind our waiting. What happened at the Houston airport makes for a perfect illustration. Larson shared that we tolerate "occupied time" (for example, walking to baggage claim) far better than "unoccupied time" (such as standing at the baggage carousel). Give us something to do while we wait, and the wait suddenly becomes bearable.

This is why, so often, waiting on God feels like unoccupied time to us. We wait, but what is really happening behind the scenes of our life? Is God actually doing anything? Waiting on God implies developing a new perspective of what God is doing while we wait on him. We have to understand that waiting on God isn’t unoccupied time… It’s occupied. He is at work in our lives. He has a purpose for us!

While we may not like to wait, God has a purpose for us in our waiting. Waiting on the Lord is often where our faith grows the deepest as He is able to prune us and refine us and shape us into the people that He desires for us to be. While we wait it can be tempting to take matters into our own hands rather than trusting completely in God’s plan… As we trust in God, though, it doesn’t mean that we don’t have anything to do. Today as we continue looking at the book of Ruth we’ll be in Ruth 3 to see how God answers following a bit of a cliffhanger in chapter 2. Ruth has lost everything but traveled with her mother in law to Bethlehem. They arrive at the beginning of the barley harvest. She goes and happens to work in Boaz’s field. Boaz notices her. She discovers that he is a relative of her deceased father-in-law. He provides protection and food for her… and then the chapter ends. What will happen next? How will God continue to provide? Let’s look to God’s Word and see how God’s love leads us to rejoice.

Ruth 3 CSB

1 Ruth’s mother-in-law Naomi said to her, “My daughter, shouldn’t I find rest for you, so that you will be taken care of? 2 Now isn’t Boaz our relative? Haven’t you been working with his female servants? This evening he will be winnowing barley on the threshing floor. 3 Wash, put on perfumed oil, and wear your best clothes. Go down to the threshing floor, but don’t let the man know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking. 4 When he lies down, notice the place where he’s lying, go in and uncover his feet, and lie down. Then he will explain to you what you should do.” 5 So Ruth said to her, “I will do everything you say.” 6 She went down to the threshing floor and did everything her mother-in-law had charged her to do. 7 After Boaz ate, drank, and was in good spirits, he went to lie down at the end of the pile of barley, and she came secretly, uncovered his feet, and lay down. 8 At midnight, Boaz was startled, turned over, and there lying at his feet was a woman! 9 So he asked, “Who are you?” “I am Ruth, your servant,” she replied. “Take me under your wing, for you are a family redeemer.” 10 Then he said, “May the Lord bless you, my daughter. You have shown more kindness now than before, because you have not pursued younger men, whether rich or poor. 11 Now don’t be afraid, my daughter. I will do for you whatever you say, since all the people in my town know that you are a woman of noble character. 12 Yes, it is true that I am a family redeemer, but there is a redeemer closer than I am. 13 Stay here tonight, and in the morning, if he wants to redeem you, that’s good. Let him redeem you. But if he doesn’t want to redeem you, as the Lord lives, I will. Now lie down until morning.” 14 So she lay down at his feet until morning but got up while it was still dark. Then Boaz said, “Don’t let it be known that a woman came to the threshing floor.” 15 And he told Ruth, “Bring the shawl you’re wearing and hold it out.” When she held it out, he shoveled six measures of barley into her shawl, and she went into the town. 16 She went to her mother-in-law, Naomi, who asked her, “What happened, my daughter?” Then Ruth told her everything the man had done for her. 17 She said, “He gave me these six measures of barley, because he said, ‘Don’t go back to your mother-in-law empty-handed.’ ” 18 Naomi said, “My daughter, wait until you find out how things go, for he won’t rest unless he resolves this today.”

This morning we encounter an interesting and at times difficult text for us to understand. We see that God once again provides for Ruth and Naomi through the kindness and generosity of Boaz. In their waiting, God is faithful and God is with them. Today, God continues to provide. God continues to be with His people. During this Christmas season, we celebrate the ultimate way that God has provided and that is by sending His Son to this earth. The birth of Jesus demonstrates the kindness and generosity of our God and fills our hearts with unending joy - let’s give Him thanks for sending His Son today.

Pray

While we may not have our usual time this morning to dive as deep into this passage as we’d like to, we’ll look at this chapter of love and joy and try to uncover 2 Ways to Have this Joy as we draw near to our God. First, we

Draw Near to God Fully Cleansed (1-5)

This whole chapter happens under the shield of darkness and it begins with a plan from Naomi to her daughter-in-law in order to help her “find rest” and be taken care of. We have to disconnect from our American context and background this morning and strive to understand Ruth’s world some 3000+ years ago! In this world, if you were a widow, you needed either children or a husband. Ruth had no children - so Naomi is saying that she needs a husband. It’s interesting that Naomi chose to use the word rest as what Ruth needs… The rest here is in reference to the security, protection, and benefits found in a marriage union. In order to be prepared for this potential rest or union, Naomi tells Ruth to go get ready and get with this plan. She must be cleansed before she draws near to Boaz.

We’re not just talking about taking a bath here. This isn’t your typical shower after a long day of work or a workout - this is a ceremonial cleansing to prepare for something serious and to demonstrate that your time of mourning is complete and you’re looking for this protection and rest in marriage. The motivation for getting cleaned up isn’t first and foremost her smell - it’s to show Boaz that she’s ready for the next step, if you will.

She’s going to wear her best and go to the threshing floor where there likely were many people and families - not just these 2 - and lie down by his feet. What’s going on here? Progressive Christians and non-Christians love to spice this story up but we don’t see sinful activity taking place. We don’t see anything happening before the marriage union - after all, Boaz will share in verse 11 that Ruth is a woman of noble character just like the Proverbs 31 woman. What’s going on here? We see a Moabite woman draw near to an Israelite man. We see a poor peasant draw near to a rich ruler. We see a young widow draw near to a middle-aged man. We see risk here but we also see hope and love.

James 4 tells us about the importance of drawing near to God

James 4:8 CSB

8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

How are you and I able to draw near to our God? It’s not by coming up with a clever scheme with our mother-in-law and sneaking into a crowded sleeping area in the middle of the night - the only way that we are able to draw near to our God is to be fully cleansed by the Word of God and the Blood of our Savior. We can’t achieve this by our own merit or effort… We can’t cleanse ourselves - unlike Ruth’s story of redemption in this text, we require outside help to be redeemed. See, it is Jesus who serves as our High Priest and Who gives us access to our Father

Hebrews 4:14–16 CSB

14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens—Jesus the Son of God—let us hold fast to our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin. 16 Therefore, let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in time of need.

The only reason this is possible is because of Jesus and His love for us in coming to this earth, living a sinless life, and dying in our place! This is what we celebrate at Christmas time and the life and death of Jesus should provide our hearts with uncontainable joy because we are now able to draw near to our Father not through our own goodness, not through taking a long shower, not by trying really hard, not by cleansing ourselves by our own actions… but we are able to do this exclusively through the atoning work of our Lord and Savior and His blood that was poured out on Calvary in our place. 1 John 1:9 tells us that our God is faithful and just to forgive us from our unrighteousness if we confess our sins.

Draw Near to God Faithfully Committed (6-18)

The majority of this passage is spent looking at this encounter between Ruth and Boaz. Boaz is out guarding his harvest with others and has eaten and drank and is winding down for bed while Ruth is watching to see when to approach him. If you have kids, you’ve probably played the “are they asleep yet” game! You get them in bed but they roll around or you’re rocking them but their eyes are still fighting to stay open and you ask your husband or wife, are they asleep yet? Here’s Ruth trying to approach Boaz the way Naomi told her to at the perfect time and eventually it happens and she lays down by his feet. Several hours likely pass and perhaps a gust of wind tingles Boaz’s exposed toes and he see’s Ruth casually laying down next to his feet! As if that weren’t enough, Ruth shares that she desires Boaz to take her under his wing as her family redeemer.

Ruth is committed to Boaz. She has done something shocking and risked her character and her position as a servant in his field - but she has demonstrated her commitment to this man and Boaz acknowledged this by pointing out that she has pursued him rather than someone younger. She has pursued someone who is the son of Rahab - who didn’t have exactly the best reputation. He shares that she is a woman of noble character and that he is in fact a family redeemer but that there is another redeemer with a better claim. Perhaps this was a 1st cousin rather than a 3rd cousin, we aren’t told but there was an order to this redemption that we’ll study more in depth next week.

Here we see that Boaz commits himself to Ruth and continues to provide for her. He gives her 6 “measures” of barley. In chapter 1 there was darkness, famine, and loss… all of these things have been provided for due to God’s providence demonstrated through Boaz’s kindness. All parties benefit here! Ruth was committed to Boaz and Boaz was a faithful and willing redeemer - we are able to draw near to our God because of the faithfulness of our Redeemer.

We can’t make a straight line from Boaz to God or from Ruth to ourselves but we can see glimpses of parallels here. We see a picture of God’s character and love in this true story. In the midst of our waiting, we can draw near to our God through faith because of Jesus. What is the result whenever we place our faith in Christ? We experience the reward of redemption. We experience the joy of belonging to Jesus.

Application

When you draw near to Jesus, there is joy that surpasses all understanding and breaks through the darkness of despair in our lives!

John 15:11 CSB

11 “I have told you these things so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.

The result of God’s love in the life of a Christian is a life filled with unstoppable and incomparable joy. This is the promise of our God and this is what He has done by sending His Son to the earth

Isaiah 42:16 CSB

16 I will lead the blind by a way they did not know; I will guide them on paths they have not known. I will turn darkness to light in front of them and rough places into level ground. This is what I will do for them, and I will not abandon them.

The KJV renders this as “I will make darkness light before them and crooked things straight.” Church, God hits straight shots with crooked sticks. He saves sinners. He extends grace to the lost prodigal and the legalist with outstretched arms. The love of God is seen most clearly in the work of Jesus Christ and as you come to Jesus by faith, you experience supernatural joy that finds its source in Him. God sent His light into this world so that He would be glorified and so that we might walk in the light instead of the darkness. Jesus destroyed the darkness and calls upon His people to continue to be light in a dark world. How do we do this? How do we allow our light to shine? By not only experiencing but also through displaying Christian joy in our lives. The result of experiencing God’s redemptive love is a life of joy - how do we know this? Earlier in John 15 Jesus told His people that they must abide in Him and His Word… whenever they do this they will produce fruit. See, joy in John 15 follows obedience. Ruth’s joyful redemption will follow her obedience to her mother-in-law. In the life of a Christian, you will find joy and satisfaction not by rejecting God’s Word and pursuing your fleshly desires… but through obeying God’s Word and dying to self and taking up your cross. This doesn’t mean that everything is easy - but it does mean that Jesus desires to change you today and that starts by obeying His Word.

Joy is a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22) and a mark of a disciple of Jesus Christ. If you claim to follow Jesus, but you’re miserable every single day of your life, there’s something wrong! Matt Carter says, “Joy in Jesus is inseparable from knowing and following Him.” Today, are you following Jesus? Do you know the Jesus of Scripture? Even when following Him looks insane or costly, as it did for Ruth in our text this morning, are you willing to do what He demands? If so, then your life should be marked by a joy that this world can’t understand or compete with. Our problem, often times, even as Christians, is that we don’t like to wait.

During the Christmas season, we’re familiar with waiting. Lindsey and I have been progressively wrapping presents for our family and some are for Gabriel and even at 2 years old, Gabriel looks in our living room at some presents and he wants them to be opened. He doesn’t want to wait 3 more weeks to open them and maybe this is you! We don’t like waiting to unwrap our presents. We don’t like waiting to get something we know is coming. We don’t like waiting for things to go our way for a change. Here’s what Jesus alone can do: Jesus changes your heart in your circumstances. In this season of life, people are busier than ever and waiting on more things than ever before. What do we do while we wait? This is the question of Christmas.

Abraham waited 25 years for God to come through on His promise of a son.

Ruth waited potentially years to remarry and she waited on Boaz for a long period of time.

The Israelites waited for God to speak for over 400 years… and God spoke supremely and finally through His Son, Jesus Christ.

During Advent, we continue to wait on His return, but we wait with hope because our God keeps His Word and promises.

See, this world can’t take away our joy because God gives us joy. Our joy is not found in a place or a present… it’s found in a person and His name is Jesus! Jesus alone can give you joy while you wait. He will give you joy while you wait on God to answer your prayer. He will give you joy while you wait on another person. He will give you joy while you wait your food at the restaurant even when you’re in a hurry. He will even give you joy while you wait for your bags at the airport. Why? Why can we have joy during these situations where others might throw in the towel and lose their happiness? Because Christian joy isn’t the same as circumstantial happiness. God’s Joy knows no ends and offers limitless benefits for His people.

Are you experiencing His joy today? If your answer is no or if you are being tempted to not have that joy, I want to close with 3 reasons why we can have joy today, tomorrow, and each day until Christ calls us home.

You can have Joy in Your Waiting Because of the Love of God

God’s love satisfies the searching in our heart. Your waiting isn’t purposeless - it isn’t unoccupied! God works on His people in their waiting. He loves us enough to not leave us where we’re at. He provides for us while we wait. He loves us while we wait. You can rejoice because God’s love seeks, seals, satisfies, and saves.

You can have Joy in Your Waiting Because Jesus Redeems Sinners

While you wait, you have joy that Jesus has saved you as a Christian. Even though we will have difficulty in this world, Jesus promises to be with us. Just as Ruth was able to experience joy from her redeemer we are able to experience joy because we know that our Savior redeems lost sinners. Regardless of what we face in this life, and regardless of how long we have to wait, we are able to experience His otherworldly peace because of the redemption He alone brings to our lives.

You can have Joy in Your Waiting Because One Day Your Waiting Will End

While we wait on Christ to return, we don’t have unoccupied time. We have a job before us! The Christmas season reminds us of the eternal plan of our God to seek and save lost sinners. The joy of God’s love and Christ’s Advent must motivate us to use our time, talent, and treasure to share the Gospel message with others. We can rejoice today as we know that our God is at work and that our waiting - on Christ’s return and on a resolution to our present problems - will one day come to an end! We can have joy today because our Savior came.