Encouragement

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If you listen closely to the night sounds on the farm property I live on, you can hear something amazing. Perched high up in a tree outside our bedroom window is a pair of horned owls. A few Saturdays ago my husband beckoned to me to come quickly and see a sight that many seldom get the opportunity to do. As he pointed to a limb high up in the tree he directed my eyes to a view I have never witnessed. It was then I met Boaz and Ruth.

There perched high on a branch as if to be enjoying the rays from the sun were these two beautiful owls. I have heard them at night call out to each other, but I had yet to see them. We recently moved into the farmhouse and life here seems so much more peaceful and less disconcerting.

As I studied the way they had placed themselves high on that branch right next to each other, I could not help but sense the bond these two creatures had. Since my husband enjoys collecting owl paraphernalia, it was especially a joy to him to see such a wonderful sight. One thing I have learned to admire about the owl is they have the most highly developed sense of hearing of all birds. Did you know that owls have one ear that is located lower than the other? This is so they can pinpoint location in a precise manner.

Also as we evaluate the eyesight of the owl, we must be reckoned once again with their very nearsighted vision that allows them to hunt close to the ground. As I contend with my own nearsightedness I have never thought it to be an asset until now.

In the bible we read about Boaz and Ruth and how they first met as she was gleaning what was left from the crops he had harvested. Naomi had sent her to go and glean that they may have food to eat. The heart of Boaz was immediately taken by the words of this woman as she blessed him in his passing by of her. He inquired to whom she belonged. Finding out that she was a widow and related to a close relative he immediately took favor upon her. He told her to come and glean his fields regularly and basically stay with his maidservants. He requested she drink from the jars of water his servants had drawn.

As Ruth was bowing before him she asked why he would show such great favor to her, a foreigner. His reply was that he knew all the good she had done towards her mother-in-law since the death of her own husband. She left her own mother and father and chose to stay with Naomi, her deceased husbands’ mother. She worked for her and cared for her as if she was her own. None of this had gone unnoticed to Boaz. Boaz then replied,

"May the LORD reward your work, and your wages be full from the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to seek refuge."

Ruth 2:12 NASB

As you read on you soon see that Ruth becomes the wife of Boaz. As I read this passage, I always reach for a tissue when I think of how God watched over her and gave her a man like Boaz who loved her and cared for her. I think of how she was rewarded for her faithfulness to Naomi and for her service to God.

As I watch the little owl family up in the tree outside my home, I too feel I have been rewarded. I named them Boaz and Ruth because it seemed most appropriate. As my husband and I sit and listen to them converse in the evening, we cannot help but think that perhaps as they glean from the goodness of God all around them, they too have joyful hearts. Joy in not only having the gift of each other, but the reward of being cared for and loved by their great Creature. It is exactly how Gaetan and I feel when we ponder upon the goodness of God and the blessings He has given us; the gift of each other and the reward we have received in surrendering our lives to Him.

Copyright © 2005 Passion House Ministries, Jane E Morin

http://www.passionhouseministries.com

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