Yesterday, I received an email from one of my friends in which she shared how God spoke to her about resting in His promises. Contents of that mail stayed in my mind the whole day…and I kept on asking Lord to give me a word to encourage her while she waited on her promise. And at night, while flipping through my Bible, I came across the book of Ruth and a verse caught my attention…and I knew this word is not only for her, but myself and many others out there.

Ruth 3:18 says, “Then said she, Sit still, my daughter, until thou know how the matter will fall: for the man will not be in rest, until he have finished the thing this day.”

We know the context. Naomi is back in Bethlehem with her daughter in law. In chapter 3, we read Naomi asking Ruth to go to Boaz,  so that he will take care the responsibility of Ruth as the nearest redeemer. She obeyed her mother in law and did exactly as she said. At night, Boaz found Ruth at his feet and promised her that he’ll do what ever he can in the morning. In those days, if a man dies, the closest relative is supposed to redeem his inheritance and that includes his family too. Ruth’s husband had a closer relative. But if he failed to perform his duty towards the widow…then Boaz agreed to do the responsibility of the next nearest kinsman.  Seeing Ruth, Naomi is telling her “Wait, my daughter, until you learn how the matter turns out, for the man will not rest but will settle the matter today.”

There is a lot of spiritual truth behind the book of Ruth. But today, I would like to describe few thoughts from that verse. Waiting is not a never ending season of your life, though it always seems like one. Today, I would like to encourage all those are in that season with this..”Rest, my child…until you know how it turns out, because your nearest kinsman will not rest until he has finished your matter in His day”

If He has asked you to be still and relax in His promises…do it. I know its the most difficult thing to do. When he said to be still…does he mean completely still,,,do I need to do something at least…some steps of faith at least..All these questions may rise in our minds..But  if you look at the lives of the Israelites, there were times in their lives when God asked them to stand back in their positions and see the deliverance of God. Do not forget that there were other times when they were asked to fight the battle in faith and see the victory. In all those times,  victory was attained by God, but they were expected to show a measure of faith..to be still at some times and  to act other times.

If we look at the key verse, we ‘ll see that there is a time limit to wait and that is until you see the result. So there is an outcome for this waiting period. But don’t think that when you are at rest, the promise keeper is also keeping still. He is at work. He wants to give you rest while he is working in favor of you..He is arranging everything in place for you…right circumstances, right people, right doors….best opportunities. Your matter is important for Him. He cannot find rest until He takes care of your stuff. His day is coming, even though you may not see it today.

When you are resting in His promises, you may not see anything moving in favor of you…Let me share something from my own life to explain that. Two years back, my husband got a job opportunity from a client he is working for. He was in a consulting position at that time. We had a promise from God that He is going to open a new door in his job and when this opportunity came up, we thought this is that promise being fulfilled. Every thing was worked out well, but at the end that door was closed. We were in a desperate condition. We even thought whether we heard it right from God. If it was a promise…then how come it did not work out…after all we did not go after it…that opportunity just came to us. It took us some time to accept things just the way it was. But during those rainy days, God asked us to be still and wait for His promise. The senior managers who gave my husband that opportunity moved out of the project and we thought…now there are no more chances.

But then last year, one of his managers got a bigger position in another company and moved out. While going , he asked my husband whether he would like to join. Long story short…today my husband is working for that company. A much better opportunity than that closed door…something that we could have never dreamed of. While we were resting in His promise..He was working in favor of us. He settled our matter in His perfect day.

Today, if He is asking you to be still…relax and remain still…Till when?? until you receive what He has promised..Remember Your redeemer cannot rest until he settles your matter…You have been at His feet and He has redeemed you paying the full price. You are His inheritance and He will do His responsibility as the nearest kinsman. So be strong…your promise is coming.

God Bless,

Rani John

For the past few days, I have been asking Lord a lot of ‘whys’. “Why is it so difficult for some people to understand the grace of God? Why are we not seeing miracles like new testament times? Even when life is full of impossibilities, people still look to the world for solutions and not Jesus..Why?” . It is so wonderful when He explains your concerns with an answer from the scripture.

For today’s devotion, lets read from the book of Luke chapter 8:43-48. Let me explain the context a little bit. Jesus was on his way to Jairus’ house. A large crowd was following Him and a woman who had bleeding for 12 years came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His garment. Jesus turned and asked “Who touched me?”.

In verse 42 we read that a large crowd was pressing against Him, but when Jesus asked who touched him, the crowd denied. How could they follow him without touching Him? In my imagination, I can see those streets..Lots of people on the sides…people running out of their houses to meet Jesus…some are running to catch up with the crowd..One is saying to the other,”Don’t you know Him…He healed the man who was demon possessed”. “I wish I could be healed “ another woman said. Some followed because it was just fun to be in the crowd. Some wanted to have a glimpse of this man who is hated by the Jews..No matter what their intentions , there were many who touched Him…but in that large crowd…one..just one..received the power. Now what was so different in her touch that she received something which others did not..Listen to what the Holy Spirit explained.

She realized that she has a need

This woman had the problem of bleeding for the past 12 years. I think that is more than enough to realize one’s  need. She was in a desperate condition. In her first few years of sickness, she might have had some hope..at least there could be some doctors…some kind of treatment for my case..I will find out that one special doctor who can heal me..Every time she saw one..she thought “This is it”. And at the end of this 12 years..she realized that she has a need that still remains as a need after all these years of toil..

She remembered that nothing in this world will solve her problem

Its not that she did not try…She tried for years…she spent a fortune on treatment…she saw great physicians…few days of hope, treatments…then back to her old condition. ITs never wrong to try your best to find solutions…but when you see that solutions are not coming from the places you  sought help from…remember its never meant to come from them…Your help is coming from Him and Him alone.

She reminded herself..”Its through Him”

We do not know how this woman came to know about Jesus. Some one might have shared their testimony with her. From that day onwards, she started asking people about this Jesus…Each miracle she heard about Him, added a new dimension in her faith. Till then, her knowledge about Jesus was from the experiences of others. But that day, when she heard that He is passing by..she did not want to miss her chance to make this her testimony. So she ran with all her strength…One more step and I’m close to my miracle…and that gave her the strength to face the challenges on her way.

She recognized His power

I do not know from where she got this idea about the fringe of His garment..we do not see any miracles mentioned that way..It was her faith and confidence in Him that made her think that even a touch on the fringe of his garment would heal her. Oh !!! I admire her faith..We all believe that if He touch us, we’ll be healed…but this woman is saying..if at all I touch the edge of His garment…that is enough..What a confidence.

Explaining all this, Holy Spirit asked me..now you understood why one received..even when many touched? If there were at least few in that crowd with the same revelations as this woman…the question would have been…”who all touched me?”

Even now, many are part of the crowd..some are close to Jesus…yet do not recognize the power released through the touch of faith. In that crowd, He recognized that ‘one’…who touched with unusual faith. Be that special ‘one’ in the crowd…for whom He’ll stop and ask..”Who touched me?”

God Bless,

Rani John

And David inquired of the Lord, saying, Shall I pursue this troop? Shall I overtake them? The Lord answered him, Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them and without fail recover all.

                                                1 Samuel 30 :8

The other day, our pastor was teaching from the book of Samuel, chapter 30. He was explaining to us how David strengthened himself in the presence of the Lord, in spite of the challenge he faced at Ziklag. When David and his troop returned to Ziklag, they found that the Amalekites had destroyed the whole place and had taken their wives and children as captives. David and his men was greatly despised and wept until they had no more strength to weep.

David was greatly troubled because his own people were thinking of stoning him to death because of their grief in losing their families. For David, the grief was double folded because he not only lost his family, but he is about to lose the trust of his own people… and he could not take it any longer. But we read there that he encouraged and strengthened himself in the Lord his God.

While pastor was explaining how each one of us need to find our strength in God alone while facing similar Ziklag experiences, God revealed to me another thought from the same scripture which was exactly what I needed to hear that day. In verse 8, we read David inquiring the Lord about his next step in the midst of his challenges. When I read that verse, few questions started stirring up in my mind.

Why did David ask God about his next step? After all, he was God’s anointed…and his need was definitely legitimate. God will never want his chosen to be without family and possessions ..would He?? If it was me, then I would have said…bringing back my family is the greatest priority of my life and I’m sure God would never be a hindrance in that…God would love to see the enemy defeated. He’ll love to see the victory through his anointed. So why should I ask His opinion…The answer could be yes and yes alone. I would have just prayed a long prayer…”Lord, here I’m leaving to bring back your people…be with me and make me victorious.. Defeat the Amalekites and show them that You are with me…Let these people of mine also start to trust me…Amen”

Instead, David inquired of the Lord. How did he have the state of mind to ask God when everything was lost…I do not know. David definitely knew his position in God. He knew that he had favor in God’s eyes…but he did not take that position as an authority to do what he wanted to do. He knew that obeying God was his first priority whether he recover all that is lost or not.

As a king, David has seen many other victories and he had all the resources to fight this battle too..Especially when his family was involved, the defeat of the Amalekites would bring more pleasure to him. Yet David knew that unless he has the approval of His LORD..he cannot win this battle. The will of God mattered a lot to David and also in the outcome of the battle. So he asked..”Shall I pursue this troop? Shall I overtake them?”

Dear child of God, when we are faced with challenges…how often do we say..there is no better way out of it other than what I’m feeling right now…and I know that its the most rightful thing to do at this time. We forget to ask God his opinion regarding our next step. Today, examine yourself and find out your reasons for not inquiring the Lord. That day, when God asked me the same question…I had couple of reasons and that explained why some of my battles were lost. Find out yours….because God says..He do not want us to be defeated..He wants us to be victorious and retrieve everything that was lost…but He expects our willingness to trust in Him for the victory.

God Bless,

Rani John