In the Field of Grace

by Tessa Afshar

“Then the Lord asked me, ‘Do you think he understands? Do you think he knows what your world is like now?’ “‘No, Lord,’ I replied. ‘How could he? He only knows his mother’s womb. His world is too small. I could use every word the world has to offer and he would still not perceive our world. He has to be in it to understand.’ “‘No more can you understand My kingdom,’ He said to me. ‘No more can you perceive where your wife and daughter and newborn son reside now. Yet that world is no less real than your own.’ ”

“Chance is God’s way of showing up without making an announcement.”

She thought of how the Lord had directed her path, drawing her step by implacable step to Bethlehem. She did not comprehend His ways or why He had wanted her here. She only knew that He had never forsaken her.

Boaz laughed. “I thought you might approve. We shall call it the Mount of Olives. What do you think?” “It’s perfect!” “It will be many years before the trees will mature and bear fruit. But they will be here long after we are gone. They will be a reminder of our lives, yours and mine, of the hard stony years, and the sweetness that God created in spite of them.” Ruth reached for his hand. “I could not imagine a better way to be remembered. I hope our descendants will understand that without the stones, there can be no oil. I pray they will learn fortitude and faith when they look at these trees you dream of planting.” “Who knows? Perhaps, one day, hundreds of years from now, a great-great-great-great-grandson of ours might sit under the shade of those trees and find comfort in his hour of need.”

There is only one measure of true success, child. How close you remain by His side. Does the dust of His feet get on your cloak because you follow so close? Does the sound of His whisper reverberate in your ear because you have drawn so near? Are you obedient to that voice, day after day, hour after hour? That’s how I measure success. Do you understand?”