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Making the Best of It

by Jerry Ousley  
1/01/2016 / Christian Living


"Put your back into it Jerry!" It was my Dad speaking. He had decided to raise a hog so as to make bacon, ham, sausage, and pork chops for the family. It was just after harvest time and he got this brilliant idea to ask one of the farmers in the area if he could go over the field and get the corn that the combine had missed. With that permission granted he took a Sunday afternoon, loaded up us kids in his old pickup truck and headed out to the field.

The bad thing about this arrangement was that it had rained a day or two before and the fields were a bit muddy. But Dad just knew that his old pickup truck would do just fine. He pulled into the field and we all jumped out and began gathering corn. We threw it into the back of Dad's old truck until it was full. "That ort'a feed that hog for a while," Dad said, feeling good about saving money on feed for the animal. We all climbed back into the truck, tired from gathering all that corn. Dad started her up, put her in gear and let out on the clutch. But the truck wouldn't move; it just sat there in the same spot spinning the tires and digging in deeper and deeper.

That's when I had to put my back into it! And it wasn't just my back but every muscle I had in my body! Covered in mud somehow all of us together pushed that truck out.

Gleaning fields was a common practice in Biblical days. Naomi and her daughter-in-law, Ruth, had come from Moab to Israel after the death of Naomi's husband and her two sons, one of which was Ruth's husband. Naomi had given Ruth the liberty of staying in her own country, freeing her from her marital obligation. But Ruth had refused and traveled to Israel with her mother-in-law.

Once there they were welcomed by friends and neighbors and was allowed to return to their old house, but the land that had belonged to Naomi's husband had been sold. They were in poverty. Naomi, still grieving over the loss of her husband and two sons, and now this, well, it seemed more than she could take. She allowed herself to be swallowed up in depression.

However, Ruth refused to live in defeat. They had to have food and so she set out to find a way to support them. It was harvest time so after securing permission from her mother-in-law, she found a field that was full of servants, paid to reap the harvest. Behind them came those who were allowed to glean after the servants. Ruth found her place among the gleaners and began her task.

In life, which of these two women are we like? Difficulties come to all of us. It comes in different forms like an accident that keeps us from our work, a sickness that threatens our very lives, or temptation to flee our difficulties in drink or drugs. No matter our financial status, whether we are at the top and have plenty, or we are at the bottom, deep in poverty and debt, we all experience times of difficulty. When it comes are we like Naomi who fell under the weight of her burdens or are we like Ruth; willing to get out and do what she could to make the best of the situation?
We can become overwhelmed because it seems life beats us with blow after blow. In those times we are given a choice; we can choose to just give up and let the woes of life suck us down into the pit, or we can look up from our pit of woes and begin climbing one step at a time.

Paul made the best of it. Remember when he received the Macedonian call? He was obedient to the Lord and crossed over into Greece. The first place they stopped, after a very successful day of sharing the Gospel, they were arrested. They were beaten and locked in a cell, fast in the stocks. What a predicament! I believe that I might have been tempted to doubt God and the vision. But not Paul, no sir-ee! In fact we are told that at midnight he and his partner, Silas were praying and singing hymns to God! And the Lord delivered them read it for yourself in Acts 16.

We have such a choice to make in our everyday life. Problems, trouble, and despair come to each of us. Will we be like Naomi and just give up, or will we choose to be like Ruth and make the best if it?

Jerry D. Ousley is the author of ?Soul Challenge?, ?Soul Journey?, ?Ordeal?, ?The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional and his first novel ?The Shoe Tree.? Visit our website at spiritbread.com to download these and more completely free of charge.

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