Today, I am identifying with Hannah and Ruth, two faithful women from the Old Testament.
Hannah pops out of obscurity long enough for us to see her tenacious faithfulness. Then she fades into the obscurity of history again. You can read her story in 1 Samuel chapters 1 and 2.
Hannah is faithful to God even when no one else in her family is. Her faithless husband loves her but doesn’t trust God to provide children so he marries another woman. The second wife doesn’t fear God enough to treat Hannah well. Yet through it all, Hannah continues to worship God and pray to Him faithfully.
And because of Hannah’s faithfulness, God honored her by answering her prayers and making her fruitful. God blessed her with 4 sons and 2 daughters, and one of her sons was the great prophet Samuel.
Ruth also was drawn from obscurity to fruitfulness through her faith. She was of the nation of Moab, who were the enemies of Israel. You can read her story in the book with her name.
Ruth’s story begins with her loving and supporting her mother-in-law, even after the death of her husband. God honors Ruth’s loyal love by adopting her into the house of faith. But notice even after God enters the story of Ruth’s life, she still lives a quiet and obscure life. She has an ordinary story as a wife and mother.
Yet, her ordinary story has a key role in God’s Grand Story. God blessed Ruth with a son whose great grandson became the famous King David. It is from David’s line that Jesus Christ, the Messiah, comes! Ruth was an outsider who found herself gathered into God’s Grand Story.
Yes, God has a Grand Story that He is working out in all of human history. God’s story begins with Him walking in a garden with the children of His creation. Sin separated Him from His children. So God became a man to walk with His children on the earth and show them The Way back to Him. And God’s Grand Story ends with God finally and fully dwelling with His children in a new heaven and a new earth!
I identify with these women because the story of my life feels quite ordinary and often insignificant. But I am irreplaceable in the full telling of God’s Story. I count! What I do matters! I am significant!
You count!
What you do matters!
You are significant!!