Rest, Don't Sweat It

Ruth 3:18

18Then she said, “Sit still, my daughter, until you know how the matter will turn out; for the man will not rest until he has concluded the matter this day.”

God does not want you to “sweat”. Sweat here does not refer to your body sweat, but to your self-reliance or self-effort.

God does not want you to believe that if you don’t do anything, nothing will happen. That may be true for someone without God in his life, but it is not true for you because you have God. And when He is in the picture, the God-factor changes everything! When you are resting in Him, He works for you. In fact, when He works, you end up with more. He is the one who is giving to you. It is not about you trying to give to yourself.

This is what happened to Ruth in the Bible. After labouring in the barley fields from morning to evening, she was able to glean only one ephah of barley (Ruth 2:17), which was equivalent to a 10-day supply of barley. Certainly, this amount was a blessing to her.

But when she rested at the feet of Boaz, her kinsman-redeemer, and did not labour, she received six ephahs of barley (Ruth 3:15), which was equivalent to a 60-day supply! When Ruth sought her own blessing, she obtained only one ephah. But when she sought the blesser, she received much more.

Ruth’s blessings did not stop there. While Ruth rested and sat still as her mother-in-law Naomi had instructed, Boaz, who was the owner of the barley field, went to work, initiating actions, executing them and speaking on Ruth’s behalf. Right through it all, Ruth continued to sit still and rest. Eventually, Boaz, the barley man himself, married Ruth. (Ruth 4) That meant no more measured wealth of six ephahs, but the yield of all of the barley fields in total!

Beloved, Boaz is a picture of Jesus, our heavenly kinsman-redeemer. When we rest in the Lord, He will not rest. He will work on our behalf. What do we do? We just enjoy being loved by Him. Be at rest. If salvation, the greatest work, comes into our lives just by us resting in His finished work, how much more all the other blessings!